Porch,

I grew up in Wisconsin, the home of the Brat. The key is to use a fresh brat, never a precooked one and to simmer them in beer and spices before smoking or grilling. 

Loose Recipe for Brats:

5lbs of Fresh Brats, take a fork and poke holes in them, 28 holes per brat, to be exact and you must use a 3-pronged fork. 

Beer to cover the amount of Brats you will be simmering and 9 extra for the chef to drink. 

7 fresh garlic cloves smashed with the side of a large knife, not chopped just smashed. 
3 quartered onions 
1 to 6 oz of hot sauce
Any other spices you want to toss in. I have found that there is a direct correlation between the amount of beer you have drunk and the amount and variety of different spices that you will put into the simmering liquid. 

Simmer, do not boil, the brats in the beer, garlic, onions and hot sauce for 30 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit in mixture for at least 1 hour. This allows the brats to absorb the flavors of the beer, onions and hot sauce.  

Smoke at a higher heat than normal so they do not dry out or grill over a moderate fire. 

I would recommend grilling the brats if you use this simmering method, the shorter cooking time and the higher heat will sear the brat and keep it juicier. Smoking may have a tendency to dry it out.

Serve on Brat buns, somewhat like a French roll, with Koops horseradish mustard, chopped onions and hot pickled peppers, peppers are optional.

Learning to smoke, but already knows how to grill Brats, in Chicago,
Gary
 
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Yes, that is the secret, 28 holes with a 3-pronged fork. The reasoning behind the three-pronged fork is solid, you want the holes spaced out enough so there is even absorption of the soaking liquid in the brat. A fork with 4-tines is too close together and a 2-pronged fork will not allow enough of the liquid to penetrate. 

The issue of the 28th hole is complicated and shrouded in mystery. The story goes that in 1842 at the junction of two rivers that would later become Sheyboygan Wisconsin, Chief Patawatami's son, Dances with Brats, met the pretty young daughter of a German sausage maker. Neither parent wanted them to marry, but like headstrong youths through the ages they decided to get married anyway and were secretly united by an itinerant Rabbi/Mohel who had just arrived from Minsk. 

Both parents were very upset by this and there was almost a war between the German settlers and native Americans, when the two fathers finally came to their senses and saw how in love their two children were they decided to unite the two groups forever in peace and harmony.   

During the closing ceremony of the peace treaty/wedding reception the finest marksman from the Patawatami tribe and the finest German sausage maker demonstrated their respective arts. The grand finale was a sausage, which was now being referred to as a Brat in deference to the Chief's son, being tossed 300 feet into the air and the marksman piercing the end of the sausage with his arrow. This was the 28th hole, making odd even and securing peace in the region for hundreds of years. 

By the way, this story is not about Al Gore, irrespective of what his publicist may say. 

Regards

Blowing smoke in Chicago,
Gary  


