Storing the Brats
The rosemary brats should be kept frozen and can be thawed and kept in the fridge up to a week in a sealed package before cooking.
The smoked brats can be safely kept in the fridge for up to 45 days. Why the difference? Most of our smoked brats have a cure in them using celery powder instead of synthetic nitrates. This requires a short fermentation to set the cure properly and that requires a small amount of sugar for the beneficial bacteria.
In the case of the Rosemary Brats, there is no celery juice and no nitrates of any kind. Which is great but it also means that you have a little less time where they stay good stored in the fridge. The flavor and versatility of this brat is so fantastic, it's totally worth the trade off.
Cooking Brats
Pan Frying
Having a quick meal that can be prepped in one pan is super nice. Because the brats are pre-cooked, you don't have to worry about the exact temperature.
They are quick and easy to sear up in a pan - even from frozen, just add some of your favorite fat and cook over fairly high heat to crisp up the outside.
(Pro Tip: cut in half so they brown up more evenly -- cut in the middle, not split the long way)
From there, add any favorite side dish and you have a simple, easy to share meal!
Roasting
Roasting brats with veggies is a great way to add some texture and flavor without much work!
Oven Tips:
- We like to have the oven fairly hot, around 400 degrees
- Convect if possible.
- If you have enough fat on the pan, you can stir in the beginning to make sure everything is well coated and then just wait until the bottoms of the veggies are browned before stirring again.
- You don't need to worry about sticking if you used enough fat.
- Usually veggies getting stuck to a pan is caused by too frequent stirring, not enough fat (or both!)
Grilling
A traditional (and super easy) way to enjoy your brats. If you follow the steps below, you should be good to go!
- Light grill.
- Wait (or don't if the brats are frozen)
- Put brats on grill
- Remove brats
- Share brats with friend / neighbor
- Eat brats.
The key here is to not overcook the brats. Keep the heat low enough that it doesn't burst the skin, but hot enough that the skin crisps up. You don't want to cook over 150 degrees since then you'll really start to lose the good fats inside.
NOT Boiling
Really.
Don't boil your pre-cooked brats in water (or beer).
Look, we understand that's a traditional way to do it. But these brats have already been cooked long and slow at a lower temperature so that the good fats are kept inside of the brats.
Grocery brats use binders and phosphates to keep loads of extra water and fat inside of the brat. Or maybe they start off so fatty that the brat can tolerate the higher temperature of boiling water. But you don't want to eat our brats like that. Really.
Leave the water (or beer) for sharing with the meal. Your brats will thank you!
A Quick Tip:
The sugar-free rosemary brats are great with veggies. The trick to pan-frying amazing vegetables is to add a good amount of fat so they can caramelize and not burn.
It is super easy. Sear the brats and veggies in the same pan if you wish, faster veggies like Brussels Sprouts can probably be started at the same time as the brats. Heartier veggies, like carrots, you should start the veggies first and then add the brats to sear.
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