How to Cook Bratwurst in the Oven - Easy No Grilling Method (2024)

FAQs

How to cook bratwurst without a grill? ›

Pan-frying: Heat your pan to a medium temperature before adding six tablespoons of water and the bratwurst links. Place the lid over your pan and cook the brats for about 12 minutes, turning them frequently.

Bratwurst cooking time

Bratwurst sausages should take around 35 minutes to bake in a 400ºF oven. Make sure to check them every so often to prevent overcooking.

Place the sausages over medium direct heat. Be careful to not put the sausages over anything higher than medium heat to avoid having the casings crack open. Cook for 3-4 minutes per side until the casing is browned. Once brats are browned, they are ready to eat.

No poking or prodding

Poking holes in your sausage will not only let a good deal of the juices and fat escape, resulting in a dry sausage, but this technique will also diminish the sausage's flavor.

Avoid Poking Holes in the Casing

Poking holes in the casing of the brat will result in a release of all of the juices and flavors. You'll also end up with overcooked meat because all of the juices have been released.

How long to cook brats will depend on how hot your coals are, and how many you are using. Or how high you have your gas grill set. However, typically grilling brats for 15-20 minutes is ideal. You will know the brats are done when an instant-read thermometer shows 160 degrees.

They should register 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, or you can cut into one with the tip of a paring knife and check that the meat is no longer raw and dark-pink; it should be moist and juicy and very light pink. Here are the details on three of the most popular ways to cook bratwurst.

Place the brats at least ½ inch apart on the baking sheet. Basically, you don't want them to touch because they won't cook evenly. Check for doneness by using a digital cooking thermometer. Brats are done when they reach 160F.

These sausages are meant to be fried and should never be boiled. Boiling the uncooked bratwurst will boil out the spices and destroy the flavor. Oven cooking (as with pellet "barbecues" which are actually ovens) is acceptable but yields a dryer sausage. Start with a cool grill and use medium-low flame.

What makes brats taste better? ›

Don't Use High Heat

One common mistake many people make when it comes to making brats or any grilled food is turning up the heat. While some people like their food burnt, overcooking the brats loses all the flavor. A high heat will burn the brat and cause the skin to rupture, and all that tasty juice to leak out.

Grilling brats is easy! As I mentioned, you can skip the boiling, and head straight to the grill to get started. Preheat one side or zone of your grill to medium-low heat. Put the raw, fresh brats over that zone, and cook gently, turning the brats over a few times, until the interior temperature reaches 145 degrees F.

Just keep in mind you may need to use more butter. Liquid – I love to cook brats in a pan on the stove with water; the butter and onions do all the flavoring. However, if you're looking for a bit more oomph, you can use beef broth or beer as your liquid.

That's best done over a medium-low heat of the grill. Sindelar said parboiling speeds up the unfolding process and can result in a mushy meat texture, the development of rubbery casings and separate the casing from the sausage. So, there you have it. It's settled science.

Parboiling speeds up the process that can create a mushy meat texture, develop rubbery casings and separate the casing from the sausage. Proteins unfold slower in the medium-low heat of a grill. That environment creates more opportunities for the meat proteins to properly bind with the fats, seasonings and the casing.

Brats should be boiled prior to grilling or frying because unlike hotdogs, brats are a thicker sausage and can cook unevenly. Boiling brats also reduces the overall grilling time - an important consideration when trying to feed a hungry crowd.