Slicing bratwurst for quicker, more even grilling

Question

I am always surprised and little impatient with the time required to cook my brats all the way through on the grill. More heat typically means the outside finishes before the inside, and less heat means I'm waiting 30 minutes or more for fully cooked brats.

A few years ago at a grill-out, I saw that some friends that had scored their sausages before grilling them, I presume for quicker and more even grilling. I can't remember if these were hot dogs, brats, or some other kind of sausage, but they certainly weren't the cheap-o mystery meat dogs from the supermarket.

I recently tried this approach with brats, but it hasn't really been working.

• My first time, I sliced the brats before grilling, but then when they're exposed to heat the meat starts oozing out of the slices in the casing. This makes for a pretty un-appetizing looking brat.
• The next time, I tried slicing them after they had grilled for a bit, but they were difficult to handle and I don't know how much this helped in terms of time or even cooking.

Are there any slicing/scoring techniques that will help brats grill more quickly/evenly, or do I just need to be more patient?

Answer 1

Boil or steam them using beer (for a traditional flavor combination) or water before grilling. Grill for flavor, not as the sole means of heating them.

This is more about cooking faster (or more evenly, anyway) than slicing, though that step will also make them hold together better if sliced after boil/steam and before grilling. But if they are basically cooked via boil/steam, you don't need to do any further processing before grilling, since you can just grill until the outside suits your sense of grilled.

I think scoring is more about releasing some of the fat than actually grilling faster. Slicing (like in half lengthwise, or in chunks) will grill faster, and/or give you more grilled surface area/flavor (if you're pre-boiled and just grilling for flavor.) It may fall apart completely if not cooked somewhat before that.

This site looks reasonable: https://www.bratsandbeer.com/how-long-to-boil-brats/