Charlie's Brätwurst

This is Herr Ros5e's secret recipe for preparing Brätwurst. The secret behind Charlie's secret is to pre-cook the brats by boiling them, then just grilling them to give them a nice toasted exterior. Most people think of brats like hot dogs, and just throw them on the grill raw. By the time they're cooked, they're completely dessicated, the skins are like leather, and all the nasty grease and oil has been trapped and curdled inside. With Charlie's method, the brats are moist and tender, and the skins are lightly toasted to a nice crunch.

Schritt 1

Here's the little beggars, fresh from the local grocery store. To prepare them, take a toothpick and prick the skin in order to let the fat and oils escape without splitting the skin. I do about five evenly spaced pricks along the lengths, on four sides.

Schritt 2

Get a large pot of water boiling. Once it's got a good head of steam up, drop the brats in. Keep an eye on the pot while it comes back up to a boil again, otherwise you might have a big frothy mess to clean up.

Schritt 3

Here I've put a lid on the pot to get it back to a boil quickly, but cracked a bit open so that the steam can get sucked down the exhaust vent in the stove.

Schritt 4

Ok, we're really steaming now. Let these guys simmer for about 30 minutes until they're cooked. Charlie cooks these for 45 minutes, but that's because the Berghaus is up around 8,000 feet, where the boiling point of water is a lot lower, so it takes longer to cook.

Schritt 5

And here we are, all cooked up. You can see that the skins aren't split, even though the meat has pushed out of the ends. These are actually completely edible at this point, but the best is yet to come!

Schritt 6

Ok, so now onto the grill, which has been hotted up to medium high.

Schritt 7

Be careful to toast them evenly. My grill heats around the outside, so I've got the brats arranged to get the best toasting action.

Schritt 8

As they toast the grease starts coming out and burning off in the flames.

Schritt 9

Now we're really burning off the grease. You can see the grill flaming as the grease burns off. Be careful, you only want to toast the skins, while the holes you poked in the brats earlier allow the grease to drain out and burn up in the flames.

Schritt 10

Ah ha, we're done! The brats have a nice toasted exterior, but because they were already cooked they're still nice a juicy inside. Here are some serving suggestions:

• If you use buns, be sure to scoop out the insides to make room for the brat. You don't need to eat the entire loaf of bread.
• I prefer it simple - just Dijon mustard and sauerkraut. But you might want to try some other kinds of sauces.

Schritt 11

Here we go! This is the perfect brätwurst sandwich! A nice pickle, some cole slaw, or German potato salad on the side is also very nice.