Bratwurst sausages

Summer wouldn’t be summer unless you themed one of your barbecue events around some glorious Bratwurst sausages California Fitness. I decided to dress these babies up even more by adding cheese and wrapping them in bacon… too much? No way!

Dressed-up Dogs_1 What is a Brat? Well a bratwurst sausage, commonly known as a ‘brat’, is made from pork that is finely chopped and formed into a sausage casing (wurst in German). The brat is usually grilled, but it’s also popular to poach it in beer for added flavour.

Bratwurst can be sold raw or pre-cooked California Fitness. It’s important to know which one to buy. This recipe uses the pre-cooked kind. The shelf-life is longer and they are easier and faster to grill. They are already cooked so you just need to brown them to bring up to temperature, and they’re ready to eat.

Wrapped Dogs Now here’s the fun part… I sliced them down the middle added cheese and then wrapped the whole thing in bacon. Triple yum!

In the photo you can see how I secured the bacon with tooth picks. These just keep the bacon on until it starts to brown and take on the shape of the brats. When that happens, they can be removed so you can turn easily on all sides for browning California Fitness.

I used pre-cooked bacon as well in order to keep cooking time low and convenience high. That way you don’t have to stand there forever grilling to get the bacon cooked through.

Dressed-up Dogs_2 Now on to more fun stuff… the toppings! I have given you two ways to finish off your brats, one for kid and one for adults.

Kids seem to like the simple (O.K. not really simple) bacon wrapped dogs, just brushed with a little BBQ sauce. For adults I do that, but bump it up by adding a sweet and spicy salsa topping. You choose – simple or dressed-up, which one is your style?