The BEST Grilled Wisconsin Beer Brats Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Should you soak brats in beer before grilling? ›

The first secret for making the most flavorful beer brats is soaking them in beer (and sliced onions) before they even hit the grill! This step infuses the brats with extra flavor while also adding moisture to help keep them from getting dried out on the grill. A win-win!

Before grilling the brats, parboil them on the stove or in a cast-iron skillet on the grill. This will help to precook the inside of the brats and make sure that they don't burst open on the grill, releasing all of the flavorful juices.

THE RIGHT TEMPERATURE FOR THE PERFECT BRATS

Your brats should be grilled slowly over medium-low heat (between 300 and 350°F) for the best results.

After grilling, I put the brats, onions, and 1 bottle of beer in the crock pot on warm and they held nicely for the party.

Sure, some recipes suggest that you poke or score the casings, because it might prevent the sausages from bursting at the ends, while helping the interior cook slightly faster and more evenly. However, you should skip that step and simply cook the sausages at the right temperature for the proper amount of time.

Also, while some people recommend piercing the sausages before cooking to prevent them from bursting, I find that the beer bath eliminates that threat without sacrificing all of those precious juices that escape through the holes.

Grill brats with the lid closed, turning often with tongs, until charred in spots and an instant-read thermometer registers at least 160 degrees, about 20 minutes.

“The whole deal with soaking them in beer,” Miesfeld told me, “is about keeping the brats warm until you put them on your hard roll. If you're cooking brats on a charcoal grill, which is the only way you should be doing it, and there's nobody standing there with a hard roll, there has to be a way to keep them warm.”

However you choose to cook bratwurst, be sure the sausages are cooked all the way through. They should register 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, or you can cut into one with the tip of a paring knife and check that the meat is no longer raw and dark-pink; it should be moist and juicy and very light pink.

Any beer will do, but pale lagers work best. Boil in the beer bath for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the brats turn white. Once your brats are cooked through, you'll want to sear them to achieve the crispy skin and grill marks we all love.

How do you know when brats are done on the grill? ›

You will know the brat is done when it's warm to the touch. Cooking a bratwurst requires thorough cooking at higher temperatures; cook to an internal temperature of 152°F which means 290°F while cooking the brat. After the brat is cooked, maintain a temp not higher than 190°F to keep warm.

Thaw product prior to cooking. Preheat grill to medium-low. Add sausage. Cook, covered, for 15-20 minutes until sausage is browned and the internal temperature is 160°F, turning links often.

Sindelar said parboiling speeds up the unfolding process and can result in a mushy meat texture, the development of rubbery casings and separate the casing from the sausage. So, there you have it. It's settled science.

Let simmer for 10 minutes. You can boil and simmer the liquid and brats either inside on a stovetop or outside over a grill.

These awesome brats are simmered in beer with onions and spices to make them bursting with flavor before finishing them off on the grill. Place the grilled brats in hot dog rolls, and top them with the tender onions and mustard, or serve them alongside German potato salad.

The Flavorful Benefits of Boiling Brats

According to professional chef and cookbook author Jim Mumford, plopping brats into a vat of beer is much more than Midwestern splendor. “Boiling brats in beer just makes sense because it tightens the collagen casing on the sausage,” he explains.

The beer flavor is all through the brats and the onions, loved it!