Cheap Bastid’s Brat Burgers

It’s Memorial Day weekend.  Time to stoke up the grill.  Foodie sites on the internet are full of recipes for a whole variety of burgers.  Emeril was on “Good Morning America” extolling the virtues of his burger offerings.  Yep, it’s time to stoke up the grill and cook up some burgers.

When did burgers have to take on such gargantuan proportions?  You see it all the time on “Triple D” (that’s Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives”) and on Adam Richman’s “Man vs. Food”.

I’ve gotten to the point where the “optimal” burger is about 6 ounces.  Combine that with bun, condiments and cheese and you’ve got plenty of food.  We eat too much and aren’t physically active enough and a well-cooked 6 ounce burger is a treat.  I’m old enough to remember when a “quarter pounder” either at MickeyD’s or off the grill was a big burger—and snarfing down two of them was a belly buster.

But I have a new “passion” for a burger that’s just a bit different.  Brat burgers!  Their secret is that they get a fantastic crust on the outside and stay incredibly juicy on the inside.

Back when I lived in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and other parts of the upper Midwest, I’d come across brat patties occasionally—essentially bratwurst without the casing—and from time to time I’d buy some and cook it on the grill.  Not too bad, but the “pre-made” patty often got over cooked and dried out just like it’s cased-cousin.

So I recently stumbled on an incredible solution.  Make your own patties!  Those looser, less precisely shaped patties that you make by rolling the meat into a ball and then pressing it into a patty with your hands.  It’s looser and, like ground beef, makes for a better, tastier patty.

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Recipe: Cheap Bastid’s Brat Burgers

Summary: Here’s a different take on the American classic burger–it’s brat burgers! Easy to make and incredibly tasty and juicy.

Preparation time: 5 minute(s)

Cooking time: 10 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 4

My rating 5 stars:  ★★★★★ 1 review(s)

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It’s that simple.  And this is surprisingly good.  Really flavorful.  The crust creates a great texture to go with the juicy meatiness inside. The kraut mixes in with the meat a lot better than when the meat is still in a casing.  It’s an instant Octoberfest in your mouth!  I’m salivating just thinking and writing about it.

The Cheap Bastid Test:  Well, the best brat prices I can typically find at the grocer are $3 a lb. on sale.  Ground pork is $2.99 a lb.  I’ve done them both ways.  For us, a total of 3 brats made into 2 patties is about right as is about 2/3 lb. of ground pork.  So, we spent about $2 for meat and a whopping $.89 for sauerkraut and about $.25 for the buns and a buck for the beans.  So, all total, the price was $4.14.  That’s not bad.

Enjoy your summer grilling!

That’s the Cheap Bastid Way:  Eat Good. Eat Cheap. Be Grateful!