Sausage & Burger Bath

When grilling for family dinner, you are typically working with small amounts of food that will be served right away. In fact, the just grilled burger may go straight from grate to plate. Cooking for larger crowds or holding grilled foods for a long period of time can be a different story all together. In these situations, a “bath” may be in order.

I’m not talking about a bath for the cook, although that may be in order. The bath is essentially a cook marinade. The idea is that the meat stays in hot liquid until ready to serve. This keeps food hot, and thus safe, while preventing it from drying out.

A bath can be used in different ways. Your initial choice is to first grill or bathe. The food could be grilled and then placed in the bath to keep warm, or the food could cook in the bath and be grilled just at the end before it is served. The choice is most likely based on how you plan to serve your event. For buffets, you could put your bath in a crock pot or warming tray. Another option is an old, small cooler. The liquid will stay hot in the cooler for a long time. As food comes off your grill, have a cooler with hot marinade standing by to drop the sausage or burger into.

Let’s look at the basic components. The Base liquid is the key ingredient, of course with beer being a common staple, although plain water is fine. A blend of water and beer to your taste would be my suggestion. Chicken, vegetable or beef broth cut with water are fine as well. High sugar liquids like apple juice can be used, but not as your base liquid. Accenting liquids like fruit juices, Worcestershire, bullion, soy, red wine vinegar, sherry, or maybe apple vinegar can be used in moderation. Toss ins like brown sugar, onion, bell pepper, hot peppers, sweet peppers are a must. Just add in what you like that goes best with the type of sausages or burgers you are cooking. Adding some of your seasoning is also a good idea. Butter is my new ’secret ingredient’. Add a stick of butter and you’ll be amazed. Here are a couple of bath recipe ideas for you to try, but anything goes.

Plowboy Bath
36 oz lager style beer
16 oz water
1 whole onion halved and cut thick
1 red bell pepper julienned
1 stick of butter

State Fair Marinade
From the Missouri Pork Producers, this marinade is used as a bath for their pork burgers at the Missouri State Fair.
2 Cups Soy Sauce
1/2 Cup Cider Vinegar
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp. Garlic Powder

Most likely you’ve used or at least heard of a bath like this before for bratwurst or other sausages. Don’t overlook the use of a bath for grilled burgers and remember my new secret ingredient… BUTTER!