No, not those brats, these brats:
And there were some you don’t see in the picture hiding behind the pot o’ beans. Enough for leftovers for several lunches during the week.
Not much in the way of anything special was done for this meal. The beans were a bacon and pepper-less version of smoker beans, and no drippings were added as I haven’t figured out a way to rig up the beans under the grill on Bubba Ho-Keg yet. Besides, brats don’t drip very much anyway, so no point in going to the effort. The salad was a variation on the Insalata Caprese from the other night; the tomatoes and mozzarella were chopped instead of sliced, mixed with the other ingredients, and left to set for about 30 minutes before tossing with the foo-foo salad. Very tasty. Only disappointing feature of this meal were the onions (foil packet on grill); they would have been much better if they had been grilled rather than foiled.
Didn’t stop anyone from enjoying the meal though…
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Looks awesome, especially the beans. Maybe the onions would be better in a loose tent of foil instead of wrapped?
They probably would have been better if I had put them on the grill sooner, and not on the top rack to start (it was removed before the picture was taken).
shhh… never tell people how good it could have been…
just tell them how you want to try a new way next time
Sage advice. Mmm… sage…
With 9 inches of rain here since last Friday my yard is a swamp and dreams of going outside to start the Steel Keg experience are delayed yet again.
What kind of Brats were those? They do not look like the Johnsonville packaged type.
They were the Johnsonville variety, obtained at the local Costlyco. They are the type in the foam tray, not the all-plastic wrap package.
Sorry to hear about the downpour. One of these days you’ll actually get to use the Big Steel Keg…
Some day indeed! At least the basement is still dry for which I am very thankful.
From the Bubba Board I got a MAPP torch to do the lump starting, what do you use? I could search but it’s easier to ask!
I generally use fire starter squares made of wood fiber, recycled newsprint, wood waste and paraffin (at least that is what the product spec sheet says). They are non-toxic and don’t impart any discernible smell to the charcoal or food. If I don’t use those, it’s because I was firing up some all-wood briquettes in a chimney, which doesn’t happen very often with Bubba Ho-Keg.
I see. I am going to be new to charcoal and thought 80% of my cooks will be fast dinner cooks at higher temps so best to get it going and close it down to save fuel. As a scientist I look forward to experimenting!
I don’t worry about charcoal start-up times too much as I generally use the time between lighting the match and actually putting food on the grill to do other prep work for the meal. And you might start out with high heat grilling, but the real fun begins when you learn to cook indirect at a slower temperature then find yourself doing a nice low-and-slow cook that takes several hours. At that point, the extra 10 or 15 minutes you save lighting the grill seems pretty trivial.
On the other hand, there is something satisfying about starting the charcoal with a flamethrower…