Skip The Grill And Cook Bratwursts This Way For A Juicier Bite

It's true that many grilled meats taste delicious, but sometimes, even when you have the nicest, high-end luxury grill, it just doesn't make sense to use it. For example, it might be 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside, or conversely, only 20 degrees where you live. It might seem like a shame not to use your grill, especially if you have some beautiful, fresh, plump bratwursts to cook, but there is another way you can prepare these sausages that will deliver an incredibly juicy bite. If you've never baked your bratwursts before, oh boy, are you in for a treat.

Using an oven-safe skillet, you're going to brown the brats first for a few minutes on each side on the stove, and then add one very important ingredient: a bottle of your beer of choice. This can be any kind — light or dark, pilsner or lager, whatever — but make sure it's one you enjoy because it will impart flavor to the sausages. It also helps ensure that the brats stay juicy and moist while discouraging splitting throughout the cooking process, so in a way, beer is really the unsung hero of this procedure.

After baking the bratwursts and flipping them halfway through, you might want to broil them for a few minutes as well, as this adds color (and therefore even more flavor). And be sure to use a meat thermometer to check that they've reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

A deep-sided, oven-safe skillet will make it easiest to achieve sizzling but oh-so-moist brats. Cast iron is your best bet, but stainless steel, carbon steel, and even some nonstick cookware will get the job done, too (but if you're opting for the latter, make sure it can withstand the high temperatures used for broiling).

The reason we recommend an oven-safe skillet is that you're going to start the brats on the stove but then finish them off in the oven, and there will still be liquid from the beer in the pan, which you'll want to keep surrounding the sausages as they continue on their cooking journey. It's helpful if you don't have to stop and move them to a prepared tray in between, and it'll be a lot less messy without liquid sloshing around on a much shallower baking sheet.

Another great thing about using an oven-safe skillet to prepare bratwursts is that after the sausages are done cooking and have been removed, you can add a little oil right into the same pan and cook up onions and peppers (you can even use a frozen vegetable medley), incorporating the leftover flavor from the brats. From stove to oven and back to stove, the oven-safe skillet is a workhorse that makes cooking bratwursts a breeze.