Slow Cooked Wisconsin Brats in Beer

To celebrate the 4th July weekend with friends, we headed out to Governor Dodge State Park in Wisconsin. We organised a “planning” meeting beforehand, a good excuse to eat and drink together while nailing down some crucial details – the food and drink.

“I’ll cryovac some slow cooked Brats in beer for Friday night dinner” said Steve, a friend and chef.

“Now THAT’S a once in a lifetime sentence” I replied.

I love setting up an outdoor kitchen, everything is much more contained. There are obvious limitations to cooking while camping, especially over a small stove. Storage is confined to a single cooler and food safety integrity is maintained using ice. However it has its advantages. Everything is small batch so we don’t overeat, at least until the Smores course anyway, and everyone symbiotically floats around camp pitching in to help. We set the table as we would at home with place settings, cutlery and a vase of handpicked flowers.  All this goes on while the children run around in circles unable to contain their excitement at living outdoors.

So when Steve suggested that his contribution this weekend would be slow cooked Brats in beer, there wasn’t a complaint in the house. He made them at home in his slow cooker, then did his chefy thing – cryovaced them in plastic and put them on ice to transport them. The Brats arrived neatly packaged in their vacuum shrink bag, ready for quickly reheating and caramelizing over our camp fire. This recipe anyone can make at home, no campfire necessary.

In addition to the brats which fit our month of summer simplicity appropriately, we used Birchware compostable wooden utensils for this camp dinner. Birchware utensils are manufactured from 100% birch trees and contain no dyes, bleaches, or glazes, are completely compostable but in our case we tossed them into the campfire. No clean up required and a healthier conscience regarding waste.

Ingredients

14 bratwurst sausages
3 bottles beer
2 cups / 3 onions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp classic BBQ rub ( or try Steve’s blend: granulated garlic, granulated onion. celery seed, smoked paprika, paprika, black pepper, salt)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup sauerkraut

Put the brats, beer, onions, bbq rub, brown sugar into your slow cooker and give it a good stir.

Replace the lid and cook on high for 5 hours, stir in the sauerkraut after 4 hours of cooking time and replace the lid.

Once cooked, you can serve immediately on a toasted bun and top with some of the onion and sauerkraut mixture.

Alternatively, leave to cool and heat on a grill or under the broiler to caramelize at a later date. The onions, sauerkraut and liquid can also be reduced by heating in a small pan on the hob.

Zen Moment

“If you wish your children to think deep thoughts, to know the holiest emotions, take them to the woods and hills, and give them the freedom of the meadows; the hills purify those who walk upon them.”

– Richard Jefferies