Homemade Brats

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Twist opposites. So if link #1 is clockwise, spin the next one counter-clockwise. 

Spin them at least one and a half times. 360 + 180

Get em cold. I only clip mine apart after they've been fridged for a bit to make them firm.

Slice fast. No serrated blades. Use your sharpest knife or scissors.

Beware the temptation of bacon sausage!! ;)  Pork bellies are GREASY and all that grease stays in the casing for a hot mess.  You have to really trim that fat to make it work. :)
 

-Princess
When I cooked em I left them in a strand.  I was afraid to cut em into individual links, thought they would untwist.  Is there a secret to them staying twisted?

I wanna do a breakfast sausage with bacon someday, would you like bacon, sausage or bacon sausage?
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Yes sausage making is very fun and the fial product is amasing too. Now the more you make the better you will get. I have made a bunch and it is really fun and after you try the kits afew times you really need to go and get the Sausage Bible by Rytec. There are many good recipes for some really good sausage in there too. Or just ask the good folks here and they will share with you some of the best recipes that I have found anywhere. You have to love this place and the good folks here.
 
When I cooked em I left them in a strand.  I was afraid to cut em into individual links, thought they would untwist.  Is there a secret to them staying twisted?

 
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I have been putting in the frige or freezing them twisted. They seem to stay ok. I also snip them apart on the grill.
 
 
Twist opposites. So if link #1 is clockwise, spin the next one counter-clockwise. 

Spin them at least one and a half times. 360 + 180

Get em cold. I only clip mine apart after they've been fridged for a bit to make them firm.

Slice fast. No serrated blades. Use your sharpest knife or scissors.

Beware the temptation of bacon sausage!! ;)  Pork bellies are GREASY and all that grease stays in the casing for a hot mess.  You have to really trim that fat to make it work. :)
 

-Princess

 
A faster/easier way than twisting every link in opposite directions, is to just twist every-other link.  Basically when you start, you pinch two links and twist the 2nd one.  The beginning of the 2nd link is also the end of the first, so they both get twisted. The end of the 2nd link is the beginning of the 3rd. Then you pinch two more and twist the 4th link.  Just as before, the beginning of the 4th link is the end of the 3rd and the end of the 4th is the beginning of the 5th.  This way, it does not matter which way you twist the links.  It makes it a lot easier than having to remember which way to twist each link.
 
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A faster/easier way than twisting every link in opposite directions, is to just twist every-other link.  Basically when you start, you pinch two links and twist the 2nd one.  The beginning of the 2nd link is also the end of the first, so they both get twisted. The end of the 2nd link is the beginning of the 3rd. Then you pinch two more and twist the 4th link.  Just as before, the beginning of the 4th link is the end of the 3rd and the end of the 4th is the beginning of the 5th.  This way, it does not matter which way you twist the links.  It makes it a lot easier than having to remember which way to twist each link.
Yeppers- the method that PantherFan posted is the way I twist mine. I shared my twisting tip with my little bro (he makes the sausages at the grocery store where he works) and he likes this method better than the "twist one way, then twist the other" method-especially since he makes upwards of 120-150 pounds of brats and italian sausage links a week.
 
O.M.G.

Do you know, I have been making sausage MY WHOLE LIFE and I have never thought of that?!?!  PantherFan83? I could just hug you right now.

Wow... you rock, my friend!! 
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A faster/easier way than twisting every link in opposite directions, is to just twist every-other link.  Basically when you start, you pinch two links and twist the 2nd one.  The beginning of the 2nd link is also the end of the first, so they both get twisted. The end of the 2nd link is the beginning of the 3rd. Then you pinch two more and twist the 4th link.  Just as before, the beginning of the 4th link is the end of the 3rd and the end of the 4th is the beginning of the 5th.  This way, it does not matter which way you twist the links.  It makes it a lot easier than having to remember which way to twist each link.
 
Twisting every other is how I learned to do it too.  Harder to explain than it is to train, even I got it the first time I was shown.  I just finished my first run of Wisconsin Brats, 25# worth of them.  I cured 12.5 pounds and made all of that into Brats for the smoker and hung them at 140 degrees till internal temp was 100 (about 1.5 hours) then at 180 to 190 till internal temp was 165. 

The uncured went into Brats and Brat patties (awsome for B-fast, Fatties, or burgers).  These got wrapped and frozen. 

Nothing better than opening the door to the smoke house and seeing rows of links hanging from the ceiling
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The smoked brats just need a simmering (never boiling) bath in beer and onion then a little touch up on the grill so the pigskins are crispy on the outside.  Brats + Little spicy mustard + little Kraut = very fine day in Texas!   

If I have time, I save the beer and onions, add some chicken broth and kraut, let it come to a boil, make some cheater dumplin's (Bisquick) and drop them in.  Put the Brats on top of Kraut and a dumplin and you'll know, why many of us Cheese-Heads get a little over-sized.
 
Thanks for all the help guys..and gal(s).  I'll keep all this in mind for my next batch in a few weeks!!
 
I'm not a twister, I'm a tie er. I use butchers twine and tie every link as I make them. You can leave them tied together or You can cut them immediatley into individuals and they will hold better than twisting. I found when twisting I hung my sausage to cook and some of the twist ends had come loose and the meat had oozed out the end. I cut  butchers twine into 5 inch lengths and keep them in a ziplock container. It is more time consuming to tie but when your already investing the time to create some home made sausage, its well worth it.
 
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When I cooked em I left them in a strand.  I was afraid to cut em into individual links, thought they would untwist.  Is there a secret to them staying twisted?

I wanna do a breakfast sausage with bacon someday, would you like bacon, sausage or bacon sausage?
PDT_Armataz_01_11.gif
Lugnutz,

You want to do "bacon sausage", and Princess says the fat on the belly is a problem, which I'm sure is true.

I'm thinking you're wanting sausage to taste like bacon----sounds GREAT!

So since you already used a 5 LB pork butt to make this, how about trying the following.

Grind up 5 pounds of pork butt. 

Mix 2 1/2 TBS of Tender Quick real well into those 5 lbs of ground pork.

MIx any other seasonings you want into it (just make sure you don't add a premix to it that also has cure in it).

There should be about 2 TBS of brown sugar mixed with it.

Put it in the fridge over night at about 37˚/38˚.

Then stuff away & smoke it to 165˚

Sound good?

If you do this give us a report---Might try it myself.

Anybody see anything wrong with this---Yell Quick!

Bear
 
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I have been making sausage (Kielbasa) approx 15yrs. I'm sorry the recipe is not available. It took me a long time to achieve my recipe which I would like to manufacture in the future. There are recipes on the internet that can help you. I have attempted recipes on the internet and was not impressed but I found they give you the basic ideas of what ingredients to use. After making alot of bad sausage (via internet recipes) a good word of advice is to use cure, take a recipe cut the ingredient amount in half and keep the recipe simple and start from there. Recipes with a gazillion ingredients dont work for me. You can add or delete ingredients as you make test batches. It took me a few years to figure that out so now you have a jump start..... 

I built my rig out of a oil drum. They are available here in the carolinas when people change from fuel oil to gas or when land becomes developed and the old homes are removed. Its a pig cooker and I built a sausage hanger for it. I have a grate I place over the burner which allows me to place wood chuncks over the burner for smoke but I want to try that amaze-n-smoker in my cooker. My wood chucks dry out and dont give enough smoke. Just another kink in the chain. good luck......
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If time is not a concern....

Cook 1lb or two of bacon. Drain real well, pat it dry on paper towels even, chop it up tiny and pop it in the fridge overnight to get it nice and cold.

Mix THAT in with all the stuff BearCarver suggested and follow his lead. You get EVEN more bacon flavor, but also some of that tasty browned fat crunch that makes bacon sooooo goooodddd....

Good luck!

-Princess

 
Lugnutz,

You want to do "bacon sausage", and Princess says the fat on the belly is a problem, which I'm sure is true.

I'm thinking you're wanting sausage to taste like bacon----sounds GREAT!

So since you already used a 5 LB pork butt to make this, how about trying the following.

Grind up 5 pounds of pork butt. 

Mix 2 1/2 TBS of Tender Quick real well into those 5 lbs of ground pork.

MIx any other seasonings you want into it (just make sure you don't add a premix to it that also has cure in it).

Put it in the fridge over night at about 37˚/38˚.

Then stuff away & smoke it to 165˚

Sound good?

If you do this give us a report---Might try it myself.

Anybody see anything wrong with this---Yell Quick!

Bear
 
If time is not a concern....

Cook 1lb or two of bacon. Drain real well, pat it dry on paper towels even, chop it up tiny and pop it in the fridge overnight to get it nice and cold.

Mix THAT in with all the stuff BearCarver suggested and follow his lead. You get EVEN more bacon flavor, but also some of that tasty browned fat crunch that makes bacon sooooo goooodddd....

Good luck!

-Princess

 

 
I thought about that before, but if I was going to cook bacon before I added it, I would add it to the recipe Lugnutz already used, as an added thing. My recipe above would be what I would call "Buckboard Bacon in a Casing", and I wouldn't add cooked bacon, because that would be adding cured stuff with stuff I'm curing, plus the bacon bits would be cooked twice.

If I do it, this would probably be my recipe:

5 lbs ground pork butt

2 1/2 TBS of TQ

2 TBS of Brown sugar

2 tsp of CBP

2 tsp of garlic powder

2 tsp of onion powder

Mix real well, and put in fridge over night.

Stuff in casings, or form into logs without skins.

Smoke to 165˚ internal.

Bear
 
You all are given me way toooo many ideas LOL !!! and that aint a bad thing unless your my wife havin to put up with all this LOL    I have one I want to try soon and wife says..hell yeah do it.. when I do it I'll post the whole shabang!

Thanks guys you are all so great!
 
 I was afraid to cut em into individual links, thought they would untwist.  Is there a secret to them staying twisted?
I've not made sausage yet. However, I just last night an episode of Good Eats with Alton Brown about making sausage. (Episode 108) Maybe you can find it on line or something. He says if you just put the strand in the frig for an hour or so after they have been twisted it will set up and not come undone.

My next cooking purchase is a grinder. I can't wait to give making my own sausage a try. It looks awesome!
 
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