Outdoors
Grillin’ time: meat n’ mash
The Pointer
sseam113@uwsp.edu
It’s finally spring time, which means it’s time to break out the briquettes and scrape off the grill. Grilling can be a really easy and delicious way to cook your food when it’s nice out, but many people feel intimidated by the open fire.
What you’ll need:
-Brats (1-2 links per person, my brat of choice is Johnsonville)
-Potatoes (1 per person)
-1 large onion
-½ pound bacon (optional)
-your favorite spice
-Beer (if you’re of legal age)
First off, make sure your brats are thawed. Grilling anything that’s frozen makes the process lengthier and more difficult, especially brats since the casing of the sausage rips easily when they’re frozen and placed on a searing hot grill. But first, the potatoes.
After thoroughly washing each potato, cut them into small, bite-sized pieces. Try to cut them to a uniform size, as they will cook more consistently. The larger the potatoes are cut, the longer they will take to cook on the grill. After you have your taters cut, place them on a greased sheet of aluminum foil along with a handful of diced onion and sliced raw bacon, if you’re the bacon type. Toss some Italian seasoning or garlic powder over the potatoes, garnish the top with a few slivers of butter and wrap the mixture completely in foil.
After you have the potatoes sealed in foil, put it on the grill. They will take roughly 30 to 45 minutes over a hot flame; the foil prevents burning as long as you turn the potatoes every 10 to 15 minutes.
Brats don’t demand as much preparation, but do require more attention on the grill. After your potatoes have been on the grill for about 15 minutes, add the links. A common mistake is to burn the brats on the outside and leave them raw on the inside; the best way to combat this error is to keep the brats away from direct flame. If you’re cooking on a gas grill, it helps to turn down the flame a bit (medium should do the trick), or move the brats to the side without the super-hot orange coals with a charcoal grill.
The best way to avoid burning your brats is to simply keep a watchful eye on them. If flames start shooting up from grease, move the brats to another part of the fire until the fire subsists; flames will burn the outside and tear the casings.
After about 10 to 15 minutes, your brats should be done; they should have an internal temp of 180 degrees. When you take them off the grill, they’re good to eat as is, although a proud Wisconsin tradition is to soak the brats in beer and onions after they’re done grilling. Many grillers will also soak them before the grilling process, but I find that flare-ups increase dramatically since there is so much fluid in the brats, ultimately making pre-soaked brats a little tougher to keep from burning. All you need is about two or three bottles of beer and about a quarter of a chopped onion; keep the pot on a low burner and soak the brats in the warm beer for about 10 minutes. The type of beer really doesn’t matter; I usually go for the cheap stuff as the taste isn’t drastically altered unless you use a very dark or flavorful beer.
Your potatoes should also be done by this point, so remove them from the grill and carefully open the foil. If they’re still not tender, you can either rewrap them in foil for more time on the grill, or put them in a bowl and finish them in the microwave.
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