Bratwurst help

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LOUSANTELLO
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Bratwurst help

Post by LOUSANTELLO » Thu Aug 25, 2016 12:52

Well, after much success with Italian Sausages and cured product, I wanted to make some fresh pork bratwurst. I looked up a bunch of recipes and noticed alot them to have eggs and milk in them, which kind of shocked me.......but I followed the recipes anyway. Me personally, next time I will cut down slightly on the white pepper and caraway, but here's the real question. My daughter is allergic to dairy products, although she will eat eggs. What exactly is the milk used for in a recipe? Does anybody have a decent brat recipe without eggs? The last recipe I used had salt, white pepper, toasted caraway, nutmeg, ginger, garlic, marjoram, sugar, egg and milk. Thanks
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Bob K
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Post by Bob K » Thu Aug 25, 2016 13:04

Here is one without milk and the egg white (binder) is optional

http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... /bratwurst

Many of these contain no dairy products

http://lpoli.50webs.com/Sausage%20recip ... BRATWURSTS
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Re: Bratwurst help

Post by MatterOne » Sat Sep 10, 2016 23:30

LOUSANTELLO wrote: What exactly is the milk used for in a recipe?
I wondered the same thing myself. I'm not sure how accurate this is, but it seems that traditionally, cream was used rather than milk, and it's purpose was to add a certain richness to the sausage.

My theory is that people now use milk mostly to add the white color to the sausage, making it look more traditional. But, I could be totally wrong about this.

While it's far from the traditional German bratwurst, I do have a recipe for a "Wisconsin style" brat that I've gotten many compliments on. I'd be happy to share it if you'd like.
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Re: Bratwurst help

Post by BriCan » Sun Sep 11, 2016 03:28

LOUSANTELLO wrote: Does anybody have a decent brat recipe without eggs? The last recipe I used had salt, white pepper, toasted caraway, nutmeg, ginger, garlic, marjoram, sugar, egg and milk. Thanks
This may or may not be to your liking but I can vouch that is a true authentic recipe given to me by a very good German friend who's Godfather is in the trade in Germany

Munich style Bratwurst -
70% veal,
30% pork belly,
2% salt,
0.3% pepper,
0.1% ginger,
0.05% mace
0.1% lemon zest
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Post by Bob K » Sun Sep 11, 2016 12:23

Matterone-

By all means share your recipe! If you have pics, post those also
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Post by redzed » Sun Sep 11, 2016 18:49

My latest bratwurst recipe is here:
http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=7892

I was very happy with the spice formulation. I'm currently in Austria and sampled three different bratwurst sausages and none matched the flavour and texture of mine.

MatterOne, first of all welcome to our forum. We are pleased to have you aboard. And yes, by all means, post your bratwurst recipe! You can never have too much bratwurst.
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Post by MatterOne » Mon Sep 12, 2016 00:11

Thanks, redzed!

There's a lot going on in these brats, but I've dialed them in to almost exactly what I'm looking for. Like I said, these are far from a traditional German bratwurst.

Ingredient...................MG/KG

Pork Shoulder...............1000
Salt...............................20
Ground Coriander.........2.3
Paprika.........................1.7
Ground black pepper....1.8
Rosemary.....................1.5
Garlic powder...............3.0
Onion powder..............2.0
Sugar...........................4.0
Cayenne pepper..........1.6
Sage.............................1.0
Ground mustard............0.6
Nutmeg.........................1.2


I use a coarse (10mm) grind for my brats. Traditionally, bratwurst have a finer grind (sometimes even emulsified), but Wisconsin-style brats are often coarser and I just prefer the texture of the coarse grind. Add beer or water until proper consistency is reached, and stuff into 32mm hog casings.
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Post by MatterOne » Tue Sep 13, 2016 00:19

Here's another recipe from a good friend of mine, as written by him. You could certainly omit the cream if you'd like.

5 lbs Pork Shoulder
2 Tbs salt (use a little less)
3.5 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp white pepper
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sage
a pinch of cinnamon
1/2 cup heavy cream

I don't know what kind of salt he used, but if you weigh it out to 18-24 grams per kg depending on how salty you like your food, you'll be good regardless of what type you use. For what it's worth, I use canning salt for any recipe going by weight. It's free of iodine and is very finely ground.
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Post by sausagemaneric » Sun Sep 18, 2016 19:52

My son is anaphylactic to dairy products and I have made the Bratwurst recipe in the Rytek Kutas book for years using Soymilk in place of whole milk. Last time I made it i used skinless chicken thighs instead of veal and pork using Soy Milk and kept the rest of the recipe on track. Poached them in 180 degree water according to his instructions and they were amazing! Real plump, juicy and flavorful. Many compliments.
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Post by jjnurk » Tue Jan 16, 2018 15:02

I plan on making some brats this weekend, as traditional as possible, poached, nice white color, etc. Some of the recipes that I've encountered call for egg whites as binders, others use the whole egg. Does that just become a preference or does it really matter?
Lots of good looking recipes here and on youtube.
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Post by Kijek » Tue Jan 16, 2018 19:48

jjnurj,

Egg white is often added to sausages to increase binding of ingredients. It should be noted that only the egg white possesses binding properties. The egg yolk is a good emulsifier but contributes to more cholesterol and calories.


I'm guessing it's a personal thing, I'd use only egg whites, up to you.
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Post by redzed » Wed Jan 17, 2018 18:34

Any reference to "bratwurst" is quite overarching, covering so many different types of sausage. Any fresh sausage can essentially now be called bratwurst. If you want to make something close to an original, don't look at recipes for Johnsonville brats, but for specific regional German wursts. My next one will be a Bavarian Stockwurst, which is essentially the same as a Munich Weisswurst, except it contains beef rather than veal. Start with the German recipes in Marianski's collection, and don't be tempted by the Americanized Heinz 57 versions, that include every spice on the shelf.

A couple of tips: Add about 5-8% pork skins, boiled, chilled and ground through the 3mm plate. The wurst will have a softer, fluffier texture and a nice mouthfeel. For lemon zest you can easily substitute a few drops of lemon extract. And it's worth to spend the money and use mace rather than nutmeg.

Have fun experimenting this weekend and let us know the results. Wishing you the best of the wurst! (Sorry, but I could not help it :lol: :oops: )
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Post by Kijek » Thu Jan 18, 2018 12:32

Redz, how long would you boil those pork skins for?
What are you looking for to really soften them up or leave a little chew to them?
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Post by redzed » Thu Jan 18, 2018 17:54

Boil the skins gently for about an hour, until very soft. When the ground pieces are mixed into the sausage they will not be visible. And as I noted above they are there to provide a soft fluffy texture, so that is quite the opposite of making the sausage chewy.
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Post by Kijek » Thu Jan 18, 2018 20:05

That's what attracted me to the idea, the soft fluffy texture. Thanks
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