Making brats

twilliams

Hey ladies and gents,
Just looking for a little suggestion. So my brother in law got a hog from his job and he gave it to me. I only got the rear hinds and loins and maybe a little trim. I am using that to grind and make into brats. Is this ok or are brats used with a certain section of the hog. It is pretty lean so i will have to find extra fat.

skibumben

twilliams Inthink you should be fine, but I do like a 70/30 mix lean to fat in brats.

Jonathon

The loins won’t have a high enough fat content, when trimmed they are basically fat-free, I think less than 5% but don’t quote me on that. The trim you get will usually have a really high fat content though so make sure you push to get as much of that as you can!

That is very nice of your brother by the way, my brother never gave me an awesome amount of food!

twilliams

Jonathon hes a manager on a hog farm, the load of hogs he got this one came off the truck injured so they cant keep it. Also in turn since it was down locker plants wont butcher it even though it was fine when they loaded it on the semi. Meat is perfectly fine. Their hogs are typically not very fatty. I will just buy some extra fat from my local locker plant or wait til i get my whole hog processed that i have ordered for this coming October, all though i didnt really want to wait that long to make the brats.

Jonathon

twilliams well that is a heck of a day as far as I am concerned! What seasonings are you thinking of using? If you haven’t tried it yet Hatch Green CHili is now one of my favorites!

Brianh

I just made some brats with the Excalibur Apple Brat seasoning and they are outstanding!

Jonathon

Brianh YES! That is one of my favorites and it is so underappreciated! Add some cheddar cheese next time you make them, it makes them even better!

Brianh

Jonathon I’ll try that cheese next time, hadn’t though of that!

twilliams

Jonathon the number two for sure flavors are gonna be reuban and philly steak and cheese. Was gonna pick 2 more flavors, well maybe one more since you mention hatch green chili. I just gotta figure out how much sour kraut to add for the reubans. Will be making 12.5lb batches.

Parksider

The Philly steak will change your life if you put some high temp cheese in there…just sayin’

Joe Hell

Parksider I’d also recommend some sauteed peppers and onions! I was thinking about making a philly cheese style pizza tonight

twilliams

Parksider unfortunately most of my family dont prefer heat, im kinda limited

twilliams

Joe Hell dried or fresh?

Joe Hell

twilliams Either way would work…if going fresh I’d recommend sauteing first to remove some of the excess moisture and to guarantee it will cook through. Dried vegetables would certainly work too.

twilliams

Joe Hell any recommendations on amounts for a 12.5 batch

Joe Hell

twilliams You might a similar number to what you would add for the high temp cheese. 1-1.5 lbs of fresh ingredients to a 12.5 lb batch should be plenty…same for saurkraut in the Reuben, making sure to squeeze excess liquid and saute. If going the dried route I’d use 1/4 of that amount.

Jonathon

twilliams You have 3 good ones there! If you like a sweet brat sometimes that Apple one that Brianh was talking about is seriously good! Supreme Pizza is another great one. I feel like Bratwurst have the best overall seasonings. Like maybe not the #1 seasoning but that is probably the category with the most great choices.

twilliams

Jonathon so after grinding all the hog i ended up with 61 pounds. I think i will get enough pork fat to go up to 75 to even the batches out. With that being said splitting up the batches into 12.5lbs i get to pick out 6 different flavors. Let the fun begin

akdave

Please post a review on your flavor tests with 6 different batches on Brats, I have also been doing 12.5 lb batches on my snack sticks because it is 1/2 package of seasoning and 1 full stuffer tube. Brats are on my list for next week.

twilliams

akdave will do. So many to choose from. At this moment i am thinking, Reuban, Philly cheese steak, Hatch green chili, blue ribbon, jambalaya and was suggested apple but not so sure on that one. Interested in the feta and spinach.