How Long To Grill A Brat?

Baseball is here, summer is on its way, time to get that grill ready to go! Obviously, burgers and hotdogs are a prerequisite but if you're really a champion at grilling you've got to cook some brats.

Legend has it that brats were first invented by a group of hungry German sausage makers who were tired of eating plain old sausages. One day, they decided to add some beer to the mix because why not? Voila, the bratwurst was born!

If beer is actually a key ingredient in making brat then you're doing it wrong. Not only does it add flavor, but it also helps with the cooking process.

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How To Grill The Perfect Brat

If your brats aren't pre-cooked and you're going to boil them in beer I would advise against that. I know what you're thinking, "it HAS to be pre-cooked in beer." That's a myth, according to a Wisconsin man whose family may be responsible for the whole bratwurst craze.

It's no secret, cooking a raw brat is tricky. You want to make sure that you don't overcook your brats on the grill (or anywhere), but you also don't want them to be undercooked. If you overcook a raw brat it may burst. So, how do you know when they're ready? Grab a beer or five because apparently beer is your perfect timing mechanism.

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The Two-Beer Method

Here's what Fritz Usinger, owner of Usinger Sausage Company, told Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

I call it the two-beer method. By the time you slowly drink two beers is about the time it takes.
For beer one, the brats should be on the outer edges of the grill and rotated often, which gives the meat a slower cook.
Once the griller is on their second beer, they'll want to start moving the brat inwards to the center, hotter part of the grill, or turn up the heat of a gas grill.

There it is, the answer to the questions many grillmasters have pondered for decades. The proper way to cook a brat. Just remember, if you're ever in doubt about whether your brats are cooked properly, just drink another beer and everything will be fine.

[h/t MJS]