Tailgate/Labor Day Treat: Chef Kurt’s Beer Brat

Whether you are tailgating this weekend or at a Labor Day picnic, MSU Corporate Chef Kurt Kwiatkowski has the perfect beer brat recipe for you. He called in Friday and had this conversation. Click the play button below to hear the conversation.

Chef Kurt's Way of Grilling the Perfect Brat
A burnt brat is an unfortunate sign of impatience. The key to grilling a highly flammable food like sausage is to use medium-low heat and grill slowly. High heat is good for searing steak, but searing sausage may cause the brat to burst and the casing to split, releasing all its good juices.
My favorite method is to poach or cook the sausages in beer before grilling. This has the added advantage of adding flavor to your brat. Put a couple of bottles or cans of beer in a 10x10 pan and you can put it right on the grill. It can even be one of those aluminum disposable pans.
After cooking the brats in beer, grill them until brown (about 4 minutes on each side) turning with only tongs. Piercing the casing with a fork is a big no-no! Poking a brat will release the juices and result in a dried-out brat.
Top with your favorite toppings such as a nice country mustard, grilled onions and peppers or the classic sauerkraut.

The Chef calls in a gourmet recipe every Friday around 8:25 am and tailgate tips during the football season. Find him on Facebook here. And Twitter here.