Beer Braised Brats Sous Vide
Courtesy of Chef Dylan Benoit (Market Street Group, Cayman Islands)
Serves up to 20
INGREDIENTS
- 5 liters (10-1/2 pints) porter
- 5 liters (10-1/2 pints) lager
- ¼ cup (60 g) salt
- ¼ cup (50 g) brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) butter
- 8 to 20 uncooked bratwurst sausages
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced
- 4 bay leaves
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) fennel seeds
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) mustard seeds
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) black peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) caraway seeds
For finishing
- 1 handful hickory wood chips
- 8 to 20 brat buns
- Spicy brown mustard
- Apple Bacon Sauerkraut (recipe follows)
DIRECTIONS
- Put the beers directly into the SousVide Supreme water oven.
- Dissolve the salt and sugar in the beer
- Add all remaining ingredients to the water oven and set to 143.5F/62C.
- Cook the sausages for at least 30 to 40 minutes in the beer.
- Meanwhile, soak a handful of hickory wood chips in water for 30 minutes
- Preheat The Big Green Egg (or your grill) to 300F/150C.
- Once The Big Green Egg (or grill) is heated and the sausages have cooked, add wood chips to the Egg and wait for smoke.
- Once smoking, remove the sausages from the beer bath and sear them on the grill until colored on all sides, turning frequently so as not to split the casings.
- Steam or toast buns and serve with Apple Bacon Sauerkraut and spicy brown mustard
- Strain and reserve the beer braising liquid for soup stock.
Apple Bacon Sauerkraut (not a sous vide recipe)
Serves 8
INGREDIENTS
- 2 pounds (0.9 kg) sauerkraut
- 1 Granny Smith apple, julienned
- ½ pound (228 g) smoky bacon, roughly chopped
- 2 or 3 sprigs fresh thyme, picked for leaves
DIRECTIONS
- In a pan on the stovetop, sauté the bacon, briefly, to release some of its fat.
- Add all remaining ingredients and sauté for a few minutes more to heat through and soften the apples.
- Serve warm.