Spongy brats?

[Tex_77]

As calldoctoday said for fresh brats you don’t need a binder or high protein extraction. Those two things alone are likely causing your issue.

[Basscat]

The season was weighed using the conversion chatr. I suspect the sure gel.

[Dave in AZ]

How much water or luquid did you use?
For me, Sponginess is usually an indicator of too much water, in my experience. The sure gel just binds the water, but is not what causes the texture. The stronger protein extraction also will give that texture, but nowhere near as spongy as with water for me. If I do strong extraction but low water, 3% or less like the USFDA specs, it seems more dense to me, but with a sausage texture more than a chunky WI brat with particles. I actually like that texture better, so I always do at least medium extraction on brats.

I intentionally go to 15% water on some where I want that light, spongy fluffy texture. Thai green curry brats is one.

[salmonmaster]

Dave in AZ very well said. Too much water, lot’s of protein extraction, equals spongy product. Less water, good extraction, firmer product. Might be the carrot fiber, that I’ve never used, might work well for moisture meat, without so much bind. Now what about these green curry brats! We love yellow curry, probably would make a great brat. Did you find a premade mix, or did you make from scratch?

[calldoctoday]

Dave in AZ I have found the best results at probably 6 - 10% liquid, probably closer to 6% on the fresh brats, but more on the smoked brats.

[Dave in AZ]

salmonmaster
Thx!
I don’t use a premade mix for anything… for me, the spice sleuthing is the funnest part if cooking, and really in my mind is a huge part if what I think of as cooking. So I absolutely don’t want to give that up or just abdicate it to some company pre-mix! That might be easier for some folks, but I would feel like half my joy got stolen hehe!

Here is my writeup on those brats with my recipe construction notes. My kids liked the light fluffy texture that I got trying to maximize the amount of coconut milk in the brats.

https://meatgistics.waltons.com/topic/5821/pork-green-curry-thai-style-fresh-brats?_=1674420111470

[salmonmaster]

Dave in AZ thanks for link! Real good write up. I’m going to try it sooner or later, just add it to my list of things to try.

[Grimpuppy]

Sure Gel and protein extraction are not what you usually want in a fresh brat. On brats, I add seasoning before I grind, just because I want to mix as little as possible to prevent protein extraction. I like my brats with the texture of breakfast sausage. I season and grind twice through a 10mm plate then add about 4oz of water per #5 of meat to ease stuffing.

[Jonathon]

Basscat I agree with a bunch of the above posters,I think it is a combination of too much water in a fresh brat and protein extraction. We only want protein extraction on a cured sausage because it changes the texture.

[mdseaside]

One more vote for to much protein extraction. If you are looking for moisture retention I use carrot fiber works great.