anyone freeze bratts?

[MaryB]

I started making my own hot dogs, coarse ground all beef, natural casing with a light smoke.

[samari46]

Johnsonville brats,Italian sausage and Dietz & Watson weiners and franks all get frozen.Frank

[megasupermagnum]

Freezing is the only way I do it. It seems to me the flavors settle down, and blend after a while, which can be a good thing. I like to season mine a little strong, so after being frozen for a few weeks, they taste really good. I've never had any last a year, so can't say on the long term thing. All of mine get cooked first, almost always smoked too. I like the taste. I find the key is the same as making them fresh, don't over cook them. I wouldn't go above 200 degrees if smoking, and I like to shoot for lower. Somewhere in that 175-200 range. You usually see recommendations for 225 or even 250, but that's usually for only smoking an hour or less. I like to let them cook an hour, then smoke at least an hour. I like a smoky taste. I like to thaw in the microwave, then fry or grill hot, to get a nice crisp. They seem juicy to me. When I overcooked them originally, I found boiling worked really well, but did make them more bland.

All I do is wrap in freezer paper. I've heard wrapping in saran wrap first might help too, but I have no problems with freezer paper alone. I tried vacuum pack. They work good when the machine does. Seems like a lot of screwing around to me, so I never gave it another go.

[MaryB]

I don't have one of those cheap seal a meal things LOL I use a chamber vacuum sealer...

[DDriller]

I don't have one of those cheap seal a meal things LOL I use a chamber vacuum sealer...

One of these days I will get one of those good ones. Still trying to convince the better half we need one.

[Winger Ed.]

. They work good when the machine does.

That's been my problem with them. I've burned out 3 of them in way too short of time.
I went back to the name brand zip-lock freezer bags from the grocery store.
I push as much air out as I can, and they seem to do as good as the vac. bags did.

[JimB..]

That's been my problem with them. I've burned out 3 of them in way too short of time.
I went back to the name brand zip-lock freezer bags from the grocery store.
I push as much air out as I can, and they seem to do as good as the vac. bags did.

I’ve done this by putting the stuff in the bag and then sinking it in a pot of water, it squeezes out most of the water. But did just by a food saver. Going to hook it up to the gauges on my industrial vac pump and see how much vac it really draws. Didn’t ever occur to me to just hook that pump up to the canning jar attachment, but gonna try that too, probably collapse the lid into the jar, but we’ll see. I’m just starting to learn about this stuff, it’s interesting.

Oh, and meat or bread in the microwave is never a good thing IMHO.

[downzero]

Why do people not grill in the winter? I am originally from Illinois and have certainly fired up the grill in 0 degree weather. Now I live in the desert so I don't have to worry about that. But when I grill, the grill is 600-700 degrees. Why would I care if it's 100 or 0 outside?

[MaryB]

I used to grill/smoke all winter... now not so much, my body doesn't like the cold!