EQUIPMENT

1. MEAT! 1 HP Grinder
2. MEAT! 5lbs. Vertical Sausage Stuffer
3. MEAT! 20lbs. Meat Mixer
4. Smoker or Grill

Homemade Pepperjack Sausage Making Directions:

1. Remove the sausage casings from their original packaging. To remove excess salt, thoroughly rinse and set in cool water overnight, or for at least 1 hour in lukewarm water prior to stuffing.
• Pro Tip: Freeze the grinder throat as well. This will keep it from getting hot and will help with grinding the meat.
2. Cube your meat and fat into roughly 2” pieces and then partially freeze your meat and fat to make grinding easier. We’re using pork shoulder because it has the perfect mix of meat to fat ratio, and pairs very well with spicy cheese.
3. Peel and mince your garlic and onion, dice your optional ingredients and prepare your dry ingredients by mixing them together in a bowl.
4. Place your partially frozen meat in a separate bowl and add your garlic, parsley, onion and optional peppers or mushrooms. Mix until well incorporated and place back in the freezer if necessary to harden again.
5. With your meat and fat still partially frozen, put the small chucks through your MEAT! 1 HP Dual-Grinder. We are roughly using a 20% ratio of fat to meat, but feel free to adjust to your preference.
6. Grind all your meat and fat together using the fine grind plate. Make sure you evenly distribute the pork and fat as best you can
7. Once finished with grinding everything together, add your ground meat to the MEAT! 20lb Mixer and slowly add in your cheese, wet ingredients and dry seasonings while mixing.
• When adding your cheese to the mix we recommend paying attention to the size you’ve cut it down to. Smaller pieces of cheese will melt throughout the sausage, giving you a rich and moist brat. Larger chunks of cheese will keep their shape for the most part, and ooze out when you take a bite. Choose whichever you prefer or toss in a mix of both for variety.
8. Stop mixing when your meat mixture takes on a slightly tacky texture and all your ingredients are added.
• You do not want to overmix your sausage; it will take on a tough or rubbery texture.
9. Great job, you’ve made your pepperjack sausage filling. Now it’s time to turn it into a brat with the casings we been soaking.
10. Using the MEAT! 5-lb Stuffer, press your final meat mixture into the canister. You will want to make sure you get it packed down to remove any air bubbles from the meat.
• Pro Tip: We suggest throwing the meat into the canister with a little force and lightly packing it down every so often.
11. With the canister full, attach the casing to the stuffing tube. Leave an inch of casing hanging off and do not tie until you have pumped in some of the meat into the casing.
12. Twist off the size brats you want as you pump. We recommend 5-7 inches per sausage.
13. Using a sanitized sausage pricker or fine needle, prick sausage to pop air bubbles.
14. Hang sausages for 3-4 hours then place in fridge for a couple hours to allow casing to shrink and adhere to meat.

How to Cook Pepperjack Cheese Brats

When it comes to cooking Pepperjack Brats, there are two methods that stand head and shoulders above the rest: grilling hot & fast or smoking low & slow!

How to Grill Pepperjack Cheese Brats Hot and Fast

If you prefer a flame-kissed brat with a little bit of char, then grilling hot and fast is going to be your ideal method. Feel free to use a Kamado Charcoal Grill or a Propane grill, the main focus here is making sure the flame is able to touch the brats as they cook.

Start your grill with no diffuser and set the heat to medium/high depending on your grill. If using a charcoal grill, get a nice hot fire going with your coals.

After roughly 5-10 minutes when your grates are hot, toss on your pepperjack cheese brats perpendicular to your grill grates. Close the lid and walk away for at least 2-3 minutes.

When your brats have formed a nice even set of black grill marks and begun to take on a light brown sear, flip them over to the other side. Allow them to sear for another 2-3 minutes then check the temperature of one brat with a meat thermometer.

Once your pepperjack brats have reached 155 internally, you can pull them off the grill and allow them to rest for 3-5 minutes before serving on a thick brat bun.

How to Smoke Pepperjack Cheese Brats Low and Slow

If you like brats to have a smokey flavor with an unbroken crisp skin then low and slow on a pellet grill or smoker is the way to go. Keep in mind that your brats will take on a pink color and have no char if you take this method.

Set your grill to at least 180 degrees, feel free to increase the heat if you want to be done quicker. We recommend not going higher than 250 degrees if you want a strong smoke flavor.

Once the grill has come up to temperature and the grates are warm, place your pepperjack cheese brats on the smoker perpendicular to the grates. Ensure there is space between the brats to air can circulate effectively.

Allow the brats to smoke for at least 45 minutes flipping halfway through the process. Obviously, the time to cook will speed up the higher you set your smoker. Check one of your brats with a meat thermometer periodically. Once your brats have reached 165 degrees they are safe to pull off the grill, rest and eat!