Parties and get-togethers are intrinsically connected with BBQs and grills. And what can be more popular than grilling those bratwursts to perfection? It is extremely important to cook bratwurst to perfection, or else it is impossible to eat. If they are undercooked, then there is a high chance of food poisoning if eaten. So, how to tell if brats are done?
The best way to know they are completely cooked is by checking the internal temperature when it has reached 160 F. The other way to know they are perfectly cooked is by touching them. Touch the fat part of your thumb and feel the hardness and now touch the skin of the brat; if you feel the same hardness and bounce, then you know it’s perfectly cooked.
You should be very careful while cooking them because if it’s overcooked, the outer skin will char, and the brats will spill, letting all the juices come out.
How to Tell if Brats are Done?
There are different ways to cook brats and several ways to know that the brats are perfectly cooked. The easiest and most common way to identify the meat is well cooked is by using a meat temperature checker. When the internal temperature has attained 160 F, you should know that brats are brilliantly cooked to perfection. Another way is through touch. All you need is to touch the fattest part of your thumb and feel its hardness.
Now touch the brat, and if you feel that same hardness and bounce, you know that the brat is perfectly cooked. Another way to know the brat is perfectly cooked is by the wiggle test. Once the cooking of brats is about to end, pick up the meat with a tong and wiggle it up and down. If the meat is slightly bounced, you know that the meat is cooked to perfection.
If you are cooking the bratwurst over a BBQ or a griddle, the brats should be grilled slowly to medium-to-low heat (300 to 350 F). To grill brats, the grill needs to be preheated. It takes around 15-20 minutes for the brats to cook. To know they are cooked perfectly, check the internal temperature to 160 F with a meat thermometer. Once it has reached this temperature, you know that the brats are perfectly grilled.
There are two ways to know brats are cooked properly without a thermometer: a touch test and a wiggle test. Touch the fatty part of your thumb with another finger and feel its firmness. Now touch the brats, and it is done if you feel the same firmness. The other way to know is to pick up the meat with a tong and wiggle it. If the brats bounce slightly, the meat is cooked.
Brats can also be cooked on the stove. When you cook the brats on a stove, start with low heat and gradually increase the heat. On a stovetop, you can either grill them on a grill pan or pan fry them on a flat-bottomed pan. If pan-frying, you must shareit for 10 minutes on each side. You know it’s perfectly cooked when the internal temperature has reached 160 F.
Cooking brats in the oven is the perfect alternative to grilling them. If you don’t have a grill at home or the weather is gloomy, roasting the brats in the oven is a great option. In the oven, the brats need to be cooked at 160 F. The oven needs to be preheated at 400 F, and parchment paper is placed on a rimmed sheet pan. After 15 minutes of baking, the brats need to be flipped over and baked again for another 10 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 160 F on the meat thermometer.
You can also eat brats by simply boiling them. You can boil the brats in water or beer as per your choice, as beer brats are quite popular. To boil the brats, the entire process usually takes around 10 to 15 minutes, or until it achieves the internal temperature of 160 F. By the time it comes to boil, it takes almost 20 minutes. It is preferred to close the lid so that it doesn’t take much time for them to cook. Also, it would overcook the brats if boiled for a long time.
You should always be very careful while checking the internal temperature of the brats. It is advised to use a thermometer with a thin probe so the sausage casing doesn’t have a big hole and lets all the juices spill out. Moreover, you should always have a general idea about how long brats would take time to cook so that you do not have to poke the sausages too many times.
Moreover, you should also know that the cooking time for pre-cooked brats won’t take much time as compared to fresh brats. The best way to identify them is that fresh brats are always pink and limp compared to pre-cooked ones that look pale and quite firm.
What do Brats Look Like When They are Done?
We all know that once the brats attain an internal temperature of 160 F, the brats are cooked. But it is also important to know the color of the brats once they are cooked to perfection. When the brats are cooked to perfection and seared properly, they will achieve that perfect golden hue when caramelized properly.
When the brats are cooked perfectly, they are white and firm to the touch. However, in some cases, brats also have that pink color in them because processed brats sometimes retain the pink hue even if they are cooked perfectly. Further, it also doesn’t matter if the brats have pink color in the center as long as the internal temperature is 160 F.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Are brats done when they split?
If the brats are cooked properly, they should never split. It is always advised not to cook the brats at an extremely high temperature. While cooking, if the brats are cooked at a high temperature, then the casing would split, and all the juices would come out, making it dry and chewy.
So if brats split, then definitely they are not cooked properly at all. Moreover, if the brats split while cooking, then all the juices inside the meat would come out, eventually making the meat dry and tasteless. And cooking the meat in high heat would overcook it.
What does undercooked bratwurst look like?
To know the brats are cooked perfectly, it is very important to understand the various temperature levels while using a thermometer to check the brats. The best way to know they are undercooked is by piercing the brat with a knife or a fork.
If the juices inside them run clearly, you know the brats are perfectly cooked. On the other hand, if the juices inside the meat would run out pink or bloody, you know they are undercooked. The inside color of the brats would always have a slight pinkish tint, but the outer skin should be a golden hue for them to be cooked perfectly.
What color should brats be on the inside?
When you buy the brats, you would know by looking at them if it is fresh or precooked. A fresh brat would look pink and limper from the inside; however, if they are precooked, they look firmer and pale. While cooking, the brats also have their inside color change based on the level of cooking. If the meat is rare, it will be pink inside at the center and have a soft texture. When the meat is cooked properly, it will have a golden hue.
What color should brats be when cooked?
When the brats are cooked perfectly, they will be caramelized entirely to a golden brown color. That perfect golden hue on the outer skin of the brats would let you know that your brats are cooked to perfection. If they are overcooked or cooked at high heat, the outer skin will burn or char, and the inside should remain undercooked, making it unable to eat.
The golden brown color would ensure that the juices are intact inside the brats and full of flavor. On the other hand, if they are still pink in the center of the meat, it would mean they are still undercooked, and if you eat them under any circumstances, there is a high chance of you suffering from food poisoning.
Conclusion:
Brats are a great choice of snacks and are extremely popular these days; however, it is very important to cook them to perfection. There is a fine line between perfectly cooked and overcooked or undercooked. So if you are not cautious or don’t know how to tell if brats are done, while cooking them, it would lead to overcooked brats which are unable to eat.
The best way to know they are perfectly looked at is by checking the internal temperature to 160 F with a meat thermometer. You can also know if they are perfectly cooked by touching them with the fatty portion of your thumb or by wiggling them.
