Jordan Cooks!

I find people can be really particular about how they go about cooking their brats, and to a point so can I. If you let them cook for to long they’ll dry out and health concerns come into play if you under cook them. Everybody has a certain way they like to go about cooking brats as well, for me it’s all about the grill. Why the grill? Well brats and hot dogs speak nothing but summer to me, even if I’m having them in the winter, and summer food just does best on the grill. Typically I’ll give the brats a good run for about 7 to 10 minutes on the bbq before they’re done. Generally one rotation mid-way into cooking will help evenly cook the dog. Adjust the time if you’re dealing with large hot dogs or smaller ones.

Grilling for everyone isn’t always an option, perhaps it’s winter and making food in the snow doesn’t appeal to you. The next best option to me is the oven broiler. Put the dogs in a pan, line the pan with aluminum foil for easy clean up, and set the oven for broil. How close the brats are to the broiler will determine how quickly they’ll cook. Typically six inches between the broiler and the food is fine, but everyone’s ovens or stoves are all different so some experimentation may be needed on your part. It also takes 7 to 10 minutes to using this method, again sometimes depending on the broiler.

There are a few other options for cooking brats as well but they don’t usually turn out so good. Baking one or more typically dries them out to much. Like wise, the microwave will do the same, only giving the brat rubbery texture as well. I’ve never been a fan of boiling meat of any sort, you lose to much of the flavor and the nutrients. Surely that’s something you’re not concerned with if your eating hot dogs but still should be known. I would recommend sticking with broiler and grill as the best way to cook up a mean brat. Those are the best ways I’ve found to do it.

Store bought hot dogs can be a bit of a guessing game. None of them ever look all that appetizing and rarely do you ever know what the darn things are made of, usually the ingredients label lists couple dozen different things meat and animal parts included.  This is why when I do buy hot dogs they’re of the Beef or Turkey variety, less guessing that way. Well, last week I think I found the king of commercial hot dogs and no it’s not the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest ones, those things taste like rubber if you ask me.

No, I found Johnsonville brats and have fallen in love with them. They’re not perfect, no hot dog will ever be perfect in the eyes of the healthy conscious, but they pack a flavorful punch with the satisfaction of seeing beef in the actual ingredient list as the primary one. Sure it could be beef bits, the label doesn’t specify where the beef came off the cow, however, it’s better than most hot dog manufactures produce so I’m happy to indulge with Johnsonville’s hot dogs every so often.

With that said, you’re probably never going to look skinny eating these things. Johnsonville beef brats contain 210 calories per brat, 160 of which comes from about 18 grams of fat. There is 8 grams of protein to help make up for it, but it never really saves these hot dogs from looking unhealthy. Personally, I love these things but only have them every once in awhile when the thought occurs to me (once a month maybe). There is no way I could see myself munching on them everyday particularly with so many other healthy options out there.

Welcome to my new little blog. It’s not the most feature full blog in the world, there aren’t a million things on the sidebar or million posts for you to read (at least not yet!), but I have a lot of really fun thing to write about and ideas that you may enjoy.

A Little About Me

I’m Jordan, a food enthusiast that enjoys life and loves to get down in the only room in the house that matters, the kitchen. Who really needs the rest of the house anyway? I’d sleep in the sink if it was big enough, use some bread and marshmallows as pillows; I’d make it work.  Anyway, I really enjoy cooking and trying new foods, whether it’s food purchased at the store or something I’ve made myself.

This blog certainly doesn’t look like much yet but I have some interesting topics I’d like to talk about and hope you’ll read and enjoy what I have to say.