Fresh Bear Brats

[Deadbull]

I recently harvested a bear and had it processed I to jalapeno cheddar brats.  They are fresh brats and came to me frozen.  I was wondering if/how to properly thaw, hot smoke and refreeze the whole batch.  I have approximately 40 pounds.

[watchdog56]

Usually with fresh brats there is no Cure #1 in them. IF they have no cure you DO NOT want to thaw and hot smoke them. With temps under 180 (if not under 180 they will fat out and dry) it is not safe to cook them for any length of time.  Unfortunately I think you will just have fresh brats which you can thaw but should be cooked within a couple of days of being thawed.

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Deadbull;

Welcome to the forum.

As watchdog56 has stated, it is unsafe to hot smoke them, using temperature less than 180°F. The USDA states you can safely smoke/cook fresh sausage at 200°F. I have done this in the past with Italian sausage, and you do get some smoke flavor. Doing it this way you fully cook them, then they can be frozen, and they only need to be thawed, and browned to be served.

It is important to get the temperature up to 200°F, as quick as possible - after the sausage is loaded into the smoker. This is a challenge for the Bradley's 500 watt element. You may have to smoke in very small batches, or apply the smoke at 200°F and move the sausage to a preheated oven to finish cooking. Do an internet search to see how to cook sausage in the oven. I've used a temperature of 300°F and bring the sausage to 160°F. I'm not familiar with game sausage, so cook the bear sausage to its recommended internal temperature..

[Orion]

I wouldn’t mess with that sausage either. You do have the option of using a little liquid smoke when cooking them which will certainly give you a smoky flavour or do them on a grill with wood chips .