Bratwurst

French Onion Soup Brats

French Onion Soup Bratwurst

French Onion Soup Brats is a bratwurst built on a 50% lean meat / 50% pork blend, using lean wild game or lean beef. Finish at an internal 160°F (71°C), stuff into 32-35 mm all natural hog casings, grind at 1/4". Exact amounts scale to any batch weight in the DeepWoodz Smokehouse app for iPhone and Android.

A brat that tastes like a bowl of French onion soup. The onion comes in four forms, because one is never enough: toasted onion powder and dried minced onion in the spice, beef base and cold beef broth for that deep soup flavor, and a real load of caramelized onions folded in at the end. High-temp Swiss stays in cubes instead of melting out on the smoker, so every bite has the cheese on top of the bowl. Make sure the onions are fridge cold before they go in. Warm onions melt the fat and you lose the bind. Use more or less onion depending on how the mix looks as you add it.

• Savory
• Cheesy
• Onion

Internal temp

160°F (71°C)

Casing size

32-35 mm

Casing

All Natural Hog Casings

What goes in it

• Kosher Salt
• Beef Base
• Toasted Onion Powder
• Dried Minced Onion
• Onion Powder
• Garlic Powder
• White Pepper
• Worcestershire Powder
• Coarse Black Pepper
• Dried Thyme
• Ground Nutmeg
• Mustard Powder
• Dried Parsley
• Ground Celery Seed
• Ground Bay Leaf
• Ice Cold Low-Sodium Beef Broth
• Ice Cold Dry White Wine
• High-Temp Swiss (1/4" cubes)
• Caramelized Onions (chopped, fridge cold)

Amounts are calculated for your batch weight in the app — including the cure, which is held at a fixed, food-safe rate.

The meat

Lean Wild Game · Lean Beef · Pork Butt · Pork Shoulder

Bear or wild hog: take it to 165°F and hold 3 minutes. Freezing, smoking and curing do not reliably kill trichinella — only heat does.

How it's made

1. Caramelize sliced yellow onions. Chop them and refrigerate until fully cold before you use them. Warm onions will warm up the meat and melt the fat.
2. Stir the dried minced onion into the cold broth and wine. Let it soak 10 minutes.
3. Grind the meat and pork through a 1/4" plate. Keep everything cold.
4. Mix the dry seasonings together. Add them to the meat with the broth and onion mixture, and mix until sticky.
5. Fry a small test patty. If it tastes flat, it needs salt, not more spice.
6. Make sure the caramelized onions are fridge cold. Fold in the Swiss and onions by hand, just until mixed, so the cheese doesn't smear. Use more or less onion depending on how it looks as you add it.
7. Stuff into 32-35 mm hog casings and twist into 6" links.
8. Refrigerate a few hours.
9. Grill over medium heat to 160°F, or vacuum seal and freeze. Don't poke the casings, so the cheese stays inside.

Before you start

• Venison to fat ratio and blends