For details please review the terms of the Privacy Policy. No matter how you dress them, sausages are always a how to grill brats option when you’re grilling for a crowd.
And when you really want to up your game, don’t go for just any sausage. You need to bring the brats. You also need to know how to grill brats – from choosing your bratwurst and seasonings, to getting the perfect cook on the Traeger, even down to toasting the bun just right. When you buy cooked brats, that typically means they’ve been pre-boiled. At the end of the day, an epic brat is the perfect combination of delicious meats, juices, and seasonings, all tied together inside an incredible casing. The quality of those proteins and the taste of your final product is going to depend on the fat and salt incorporated into your brat’s construction. Fat is the main component in any good brat, and it’s also what makes your brats nice and juicy.
When in its raw form, the lean portion of the meat will have a light pink color and the fat will be white. Our Traeger Rub is ideal for brats, because it will give you a slight hint of chili pepper and garlic while also adding an herby oregano and basil profile to your brats. The seasoning you go for is going to depend on your personal preferences or the recipe you’re following. Remember that you’ll only want to roll your brats in your seasoning of choice if you’re planning to toss them on the grill. Some recipes will call for vegetable oil, but this step isn’t necessary when you’re using a Traeger.
Other grill or cooking methods use oil simply because they operate at a very high heat, and the oil is necessary to keep the brats from sticking to the grate. Super Smoke setting on capable models. Smoking your brats adds awesome BBQ flavor. BRAISED BRATS If you’re braising your brats, place them in a beer braise at 275 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes to one hour. After an hour, pull them out, turn up the grill to 375 degrees and finish them off directly on the grate. For braising, my go-to is a good beer. It truly enhances the flavor of the brat.
In the summer, I’ll grab a Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy and in the winter, darker and stronger beers such as an IPA to infuse awesome seasonal flavor. If you’re using sauerkraut, throw it in the pan with the beer and brats. While you generally can’t go wrong with wood pellet flavors, certain hardwoods like oak offer milder, nutty flavor that doesn’t do much for brats. There are major differences between wood-fired brats and grilling brats on a gas or charcoal grill. Not just when it comes to taste, but how much easier it is to make them on a pellet grill.
Impress your guests with the juicy goodness by cooking on a pellet grill. Next up, it’s time to grill, giving your brats that caramelized Maillard reaction. Remove the brats from the grill, and set the temperature to 375 degrees F. The Maillard reaction is that wonderful series of chemical reactions that happen when your meat reaches between 285 and 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
At this temperature, all the sugars and amino acids in your sausages will be unleashed to create bold natural flavors on the inside and produce mouth-watering colors on the outside. Chemical reactions aside, everybody loves those sexy grill marks, right? When grilling brats, we recommend removing them from the grill once they’ve reached an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit. This will take about 12 to 15 minutes after braising or smoking them. Since brats are a smaller cut of meat, they only need to rest for about 5 to 10 minutes after removing them from the grill. But if you want to know a bit more about timing and temperature before hopping in the deep end, don’t stress.
Set the temperature on your grill to High and preheat with the lid closed for 10 to 15 minutes. Then, all you have to do is place your brats back on the grill, turning frequently until they’re cook to 145 degrees F. As mentioned above, this will take about 12-15 minutes. The USDA recommends cooking bratwursts to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s their official advice, but in our experience, an internal temperature of between 140 and 145 degrees Fahrenheit yields the juiciest brats. Once the internal temperature of your brats gets to about 155 degrees Fahrenheit, the delicious proteins in your brat will start to contract, squeeze out all the juices, and get a bit dry.
It probably won’t impress your friends, and it’ll take a lot of extra fixings to try and save them. Instead, we recommend you shoot for an internal temperature of between 140 and 145 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature, you’ll be able to ensure the brats are fully cooked through, while the bulk of your moisture has been preserved to ensure all those juices make it to a bun. Do not take your brats off the grill if they’re under 140 degrees Fahrenheit. They’re not ready and could make people sick and ruin your outdoor gathering real fast. A good bun can make or break a brat – and a great bun needs the perfect amount of toasting.