Homemade Jalapeno Cheese Bratwurst, my love of sausage making continues. I was surprised at how little heat there was in these brats, but they were jam packed with flavor!

Sausage making is easier than you might think, keep in mind that man has been making some 3000 years before Christ. They had only stone tools then and today you can get a decent grinder/stuffer for less than $100. There are no rules as to the flavor profile you can use. In the U.S. alone there are over 200 styles of sausage. The only rules you need to pay attention to are the “Kitchen Police”, “Keep Things Clean and Cold”.

Patti and I have set one night a week just for us. It’s our date night. We usually put something special on our Green Mountain Wood Pellet Grill/Smoker but sometimes we cook inside. We always eat outside on our patio where it is very comfortable with a rainforest theme.  Wood Pellet Patio Heater, little lights, candles, lanterns and surround sound. We enjoy a little wine, or strawberry margaritas using frozen strawberries for ice, good food, music and sometimes a dance or two…

Homemade Jalapeno Cheese Bratwurst
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

Prep Time: 1 1/2 hrs., and 1 ½ hrs. if you cold smoke the meat
Cook Time: 20 minutes @350* (177c)
Grill: Green Mountain Wood Pellet Grill
Pellets: Green Mountain’s Fruitwood Blend BBQ Pellets

Ingredients: Homemade Jalapeno Cheese Bratwurst

• 5lbs. fine ground pork butt, (we cold smoked the pork)
• 1/2-pound pork fat
• 1- cup cold water
• 8 oz. shredded cheese (we cold smoked ½ lb. pepperjack)
• 3 medium jalapenos, finely minced
• 1/2 cup red pepper flakes (optional, for additional heat)
• 10 cloves garlic, finely minced (we cold smoked them)
• 1- large sweet onion, minced
• 2 tablespoons sea salt
• 4 tablespoons coarse black pepper
• Casing of choice for stuffing, we used natural hog casing

Homemade Jalapeno Cheese Bratwurst
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

Cooking Directions: Homemade Jalapeno Cheese Bratwurst

I found that 5 pounds boneless pork butt works out great for sausage making. Just the right amount of fat for a lower fat sausage. But, for a juicier sausage you will want to add a little more fat. Trim fat from the outside of meat to your fat preference and remove all the silver skin you can. Slice into strips that will feed into your meat grinder.

For that “Kiss of Smoke” in the sausage you can “Cold Smoke” the pork and at the same time do some garlic and cheese. We cold smoked this for 1 ½ hours on our Bull Racks with a Wedgie for that “Kiss of Smoke”.

TIP: #1 The meat will cut easier if you partly freeze it.
        #2 I keep steel bowls in the freezer to place the meat in for each step to help keep it cold.

Homemade Jalapeno Cheese Bratwurst
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

Grind the meat using the large cutting disc running the meat into a “COLD” bowl. Place into the fridge in between steps. I ran the Cold Smoked Cheese and garlic through the grinder also. The cheese melted all through the sausage as it cooked.

Mix the seasoning thoroughly to ensure the ingredients are spread evenly throughout the meat. Back into the fridge as you set up the stuffer. You can let the seasonings blend overnight if you like. At this point you can take a taste test of your seasoned meat to see if you want to make any adjustments by placing a spoonful of meat into a skillet and cooking it.

If your taste test was good, load the casing onto the stuffing tube with the directions for the casing you are using. I used hog casing here. Start the stuffer and get the meat to the end of the stuffing horn to get all the air out of the stuffing tube.

Homemade Jalapeno Cheese Bratwurst
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

Tie a knot in the casing and start stuffing them and lay them out onto a Bull Rack tray. I put a little water into the tray to help the casing move as I am working on it.

Try to keep the air out of the sausage if you can, or it will explode as it’s cooking. You can buy a sausage pick for $10 or just use an ice pick, paper clip, tooth pick or a knife tip. Do this when you tie off your casing and/or twist into links.

To serve: cook as you would any brats.

I use a Maverick ProTemp Instant Read Thermometer (Our Store) for checking meat temps.

Note: I get a lot of questions about the kind of pellets you can use with a recipe. Keep in mind that a recipe is just an outline. Some you need to follow closely like when you are making bread, but most you can do anything you can dream, our favorite way to cook. Feel free to mix and match the pellets until you find a combination you really like. Also, you are only smoking at temps less than 250 degrees (122c), anything higher is cooking and there will not be much if any smoke, so it does not matter what kind of pellet you are using.

Homemade Jalapeno Cheese Bratwurst
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

 

 

Homemade Jalapeno Cheese Bratwurst
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

 

 

Homemade Jalapeno Cheese Bratwurst
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

 

Homemade Jalapeno Cheese Bratwurst
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

 

 

Homemade Jalapeno Cheese Bratwurst
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

About our Recipes

We do our recipes on our patio where we have a lineup of grills, including Green Mountain, Sawtooth, Louisiana, Royall, Memphis, Traeger pellet grills, Char Griller side box smoker, Saber, Charmglow, Char-Broil, The Big Easy, Pacific Living Outdoor Oven, Lodge Sportsman’s, Brinkman and Weber. I call it our “Wall of Grill”. Our grilling styles are healthy and low fat and will fit pelletheads, gas, natural wood and even charcoal purists. Almost any of our recipes can be done on any kind of good BBQ.

The important thing to keep in mind is TIME & TEMPERATURE. You can even do some of them in the oven or crock pot, but, then you lose all the flavors you get from cooking outdoors. But sometimes it does rain.

Remember that a recipe is simply an outline; it is not written in stone. Don’t be afraid to make changes to suit your taste. Take it and run with it….

Live your Passion and Do What you Love,
Ken & Patti

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Our Thanks To:

Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce
www.countrybobs.com

Maverick Industries, Inc.
1-800-526-0954
help@maverickhousewares.com
http://www.maverickhousewares.com/ 

Grill Grates
http://www.grillgrate.com/

Q-Stoves Outdoor Wood Pellet Patio Heaters
http://www.qstoves.com/
206-909-0397
vp@qstoves.com

Green Mountain Grills LLC
1 800 603 3398
Email: info@greenmountaingrills.com
http://greenmountaingrills.com/contact/

Bull Rack System
EarthWorks Supply
503-678-7744
http://www.earthworkssupply.com/

Maverick ProTemp Instant Read Thermometer (Our Store)

The Smoking Wedgie
Our Store: http://datenightdoins.com/store/Smokin-Wedgie-and-Sample-Packs-

Duck Fat
Our Store: http://datenightdoins.com/store/Gourmet-Duck-Fat-Spray-Can-7-Ounce-Free-Shipping-

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