Venison red brats

[megasupermagnum]

Every year I try new recipes for brats. Actually I don't know if I've ever made the same recipe twice, but this might be one I'll do again. The is one of the best I've tried. It's simple, but it's well balanced. Everyone has loved them. It is a recipe I got from honest-food.net I did make a couple of changes. Instead of pork shoulder, I replaced it with cheese. I just didn't use the Instacure, I hate that stuff. Use it if you want. It's pointless if you are hot smoking these. This is essentially a knock off of a Wisconsin red brat, and they are supposed to be smoked.

4 pounds venison
1 pounds high temp cheese
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons grams powdered milk
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons coarsely ground mustard seed
1 ½ teaspoons ground mace or nutmeg
1 ½ teaspoons dried sage
1/2 cup cold lager beer
Hog casings

Some notes. I did 8 pounds of deer meat with 2 pounds of high temp cheese, and I added a full Leinenkugel summer shandy bottle. I prefer creamy dark, but I had a leftover. I grind my meat twice. First grind coarse, then the second grind was through a 3/16" plate. This was about ideal consistency. I smoked these until done at about 225F.

[Wheelguns 1961]

They sound great! Do you by chance have a picture of the finished product?

[G W Wade]

Like venison recipes that do not require to buy a hog to make sausage. Last GREAT recipe someone gave me was 6# venison and 18# pork. LOL Need some fat for moisture but not 300% GW

[megasupermagnum]

Like venison recipes that do not require to buy a hog to make sausage. Last GREAT recipe someone gave me was 6# venison and 18# pork. LOL Need some fat for moisture but not 300% GW

The original recipe says 3 pounds deer and 2 pounds pork shoulder. I think that sounds reasonable, but I think these are ideal as cheddar brats. The flavor of these is not super strong. It tastes like what you expect Wisconsin beer brats to taste like. Wisconsin without cheese is just Michigan.

I'm still trying to perfect a good non-cheese German style brat. None of the recipes online are very good. One is pretty close, and hopefully I'll nail it next time. The problem is so many "German" brat recipes are basically your run of the mill American style brats that are bland tasteless trash like a Johnsonville. Real German brats are heavily flavored, cheese would only take away from them. Half the seasonings in them you don't ever see in American brats, so they are kind of alien to me.

[MaryB]

Real German brats are made with beef... veal usually... not pork. Town I grew up in had a meat market that made them with beef and they were off the charts good. All the German celebrations bought them... New Ulm, MN so VERY German in heritage!

[megasupermagnum]

Real German brats are made with beef... veal usually... not pork. Town I grew up in had a meat market that made them with beef and they were off the charts good. All the German celebrations bought them... New Ulm, MN so VERY German in heritage!

Would that happen to be the Nicollett meat market, Schmidts? I love that place.

[Winger Ed.]

I never really appreciated cheese in sausage, but the recipe looks very good.

I quit hunting a few years ago, but that looks like it'd be great with beef and maybe pork to offset/substitute for the cheese.
If I hadn't just done up 40 pounds of pork sausage, I'd be making it this week.

[MaryB]

Would that happen to be the Nicollett meat market, Schmidts? I love that place.

Love that place but no.

It was the grocery store on the west end of New Ulm... Randalls? No longer there... loved that place, had food, fishing tackle/bait... and the best meat counter in the area!

[megasupermagnum]

I never really appreciated cheese in sausage, but the recipe looks very good.

I quit hunting a few years ago, but that looks like it'd be great with beef and maybe pork to offset/substitute for the cheese.
If I hadn't just done up 40 pounds of pork sausage, I'd be making it this week.

I would consider just plain old 80/20 beef burger. Without cheese they might be a little bland, so I might try these seasonings with 3 lbs of meat, but I do like things flavorful.