Review of Johnsonville Original Bratwurst

There was a time when Johnsonville bratwurst were the only brats I would purchase. However, as the price of their brats went up and I discovered more affordable, local brands, I honestly just stopped purchasing them. And, as a result of that, it had been more than a year since I had tried these.

This changed this past weekend. As I mentioned in another review, my wife and I decided to throw a barbecue for my parents and she was in charge of buying the meat. While at the store, she happened to notice this brand was on sale and purchased a "party pack" of 12 brats for around $7. And, since I obviously didn't want to see the purchase go to waste, I ended up making them. As it turns out, this brand is still worth the money.

One thing I really liked about this brand was the fact the brats were easy to bite into and chew. This isn't always the case with bratwurst and there are plenty of brands out there that have very tough skin. In fact, my daughter, who loves brats, had a very hard time eating them when she was losing her baby teeth for that very reason.

As far as taste goes, again, I had no complaints. These are very high quality bratwurst with a good blend of seasonings and, at least from what I could tell, quality ingredients. I ended up having two of these when I was at my parents' house, something I rarely do, as a result of the taste. And, my wife and I each had another one as a late-night snack.

The only thing I really wasn't a huge fan of when it came to this product was the brats did seem to be a bit greasy when compared to the brats I have been buying. Fortunately, I remembered this being an issue, thought ahead and pre-cooked the brats by boiling them before I put them on the grill. Even then, I still had some flame ups.

I also couldn't help but notice the brats shrunk quite a bit when cooked. This, again, isn't a problem I have with the more affordable brand I have been buying and can only assume it's related to the fat/grease problem I just mentioned.

Even though these bratwurst do seem to have a bit more grease when cooking them, there were quite a few things I did like about them, including the taste. And, if I were to find them on sale again, I probably would consider buying them again. However, while I do think I'll be buying this brand more often now that I've been reacquainted with it, the fact I do have more affordable (and almost as good) bratwurst options to choose from does mean it would only be a luxury purchase.

My Grade: A