Smoked Brats have become one of my favorite things to prepare on the smoker. They are really simple to prepare and smoked bratwurst has a really unique natural flavor after being cooked on the smoker.

These German-style sausages remain juicy and the skin actually gets that “snap.” which I completely love. My whole life bratwurst has been cooked in a pan and served with sauerkraut.

Smoked Brats

Smoking brats wood fired is a great method of cooking them. It must be my German heritage. You could put a flip-flop in a sausage casing and I’d probably like it LOL. This is a favorite smoked sausage recipe.

I really kind of discovered these by accident. I had upgraded my charcoal smoker to a new model pellet grill and being the cooking nerd that I am I wanted to mess with it and include the experience on our website.

Of course, you can serve them any way that you like. Sauerkraut is always a good choice, but serving up a brat like a hotdog with mustard and some chopped onion is also one of my favorites. Everyone has a personal preference of what to put on a bratwurst.

Jump to:

• Ingredients Needed for Smoked Bratwurst
• Brats on Pellet Grill
• Step 1 Preheat your smoker
• Step 2 Cooking your Brats
• How Long to Smoke Brats
• What is the Cooking Temp for Brats?
• Brat Cook Temp if Grilling
• What is the Correct Bratwurst Internal Temp?
• What to serve with Smoked Brats
• How Do Keep Brats Warm
• Side Dishes to serve with Smoked Bratwurst
• Kitchen Essentials and Items Used
• Smoked Brats on the Pellet Smoker

Ingredients Needed for Smoked Bratwurst

• Bratwurst Sausages Raw (Made from ground pork or veal. Not the Fully Cooked Bratwurst)
• Hot Dog Buns
• Mustard
• Chopped Onion
• Wood pellets or Wood Chunks (for Smoking Brats)

How to Smoke Brats

Smoking bratwurst is a low and slow process. Meaning The temperature is set low and the brats are cooked slowly allowing them cook more gently then for example grilling the bratwurst with high heat.

Brats on Pellet Grill

1. Preheat Pellet Smoker to 225 Degrees Fahrenheit or High Smoke
2. Place Brats on Pellet Smoker Grill Grates and Smoke for 30 minutes
3. Increase temperature to 275 Degrees Fahrenheit
4. Cook for another 30 minutes
5. Brats are done when internal temperature reaches 160 Degrees Fahrenheit

The first thing you have to do here to make the smoked bratwurst is obviously you need to have some sort of smoker. It doesn’t matter what kind of smoker you have. These brats can be smoked on any smoker.

The same process applies to all smokers. It does not matter if you have a “stick burner” style smoker, an electric smoker, or a pellet smoker. The same temperatures and cook times are used whether you are making sausage on a Traeger another brand.

If you don’t have a smoker or you’re interested in another type of smoker I just upgraded my smoker to a new Camp Chef Pellet Smoker. You can check it out if you are interested by visiting that link.

Step 1 Preheat your smoker

Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees. If you are cooking brats on a Traeger pellet smoker you can set it to “High Smoke” or “Super Smoke.” On the Camp Chef that I have I set it to the “High Smoke” setting. This should take about 15 minutes.

As far as the kind of wood to use you can pretty much use almost anything. I am using something called gourmet blend which is mostly oak and hickory. Apple wood is great wood chips or pellets if you happen to have some of that flavor.

Step 2 Cooking your Brats

Now that your smoker is preheated place the sausage on pellet grill giving them plenty of space for air and smoke to circulate on the hot grill.

How Long to Smoke Brats

Here is a breakdown of different smoking temperatures for Bratwurst.

Smoking at 180 ° F

Smoke brats at 180° for about 3 hours, then increase temperature up to 225° for 30 minutes.

Smoking at 225 °

Smoke your brats for about 1 hour on the smoke setting at 225 ° F.

Smoking at 250 ° F

Set your smoker temperature at 250 ° F. and then smoke the brats for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Smoking at 275° F

I find raising the temperature gives the bratwurst a nice “snap” to the skin of the brats. Once the heat is increased turn frequently to produce consistent results.

What is the Cooking Temp for Brats?

The cooking temp for brats that I like to use is 225 degrees. The brats can be cooked at this temp for the entire cook.

Brat Cook Temp if Grilling

Preheat your grill to 325 to 350°F for a two zone cook.
Place brats on the indirect side of the grill.
Turn brats often for even cooking
Cooking time to grill brats is 15-18 minutes.
Transfer brats to the direct heat side of the grill and crisp casing for a few seconds and get some grill marks.

What is the Correct Bratwurst Internal Temp?

You do not have to increase the temperature of the Brats if you don’t want. The correct bratwurst internal temperature for a fully cooked brat should be when it reaches 160 degrees when done cooking and ready to eat. Bratwurst is going to become one of your smoked sausage favorites.

What to serve with Smoked Brats

Anything goes with smoked bratwurst. I treat it like a barbecue item or even a hotdog. It is great just topped with mustard by itself or you can add a bunch of toppings like chopped onion, sauteed onions, or kraut.

How Do Keep Brats Warm

I make a Beer Brat Bath in a foil pan. Place on grill to warm. Place Bratwurst in the “Brat Hot Tub” Here is what I do below.

2 Cans Beer
1 Onion Sliced
2 Tablespoons Butter

Side Dishes to serve with Smoked Bratwurst

Jamaican Steamed Cabbage
Vegetarian Pasta Salad
Cucumber Salad

Kitchen Essentials and Items Used

Camp Chef Woodwind Pellet Smoker
Traeger Grills Signature Blend 100% All-Natural Hardwood Pellets
Stainless-Steel Locking Grill Tongs 17-inch