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Volunteers wearing heat-proof gloves, roll the mighty beast.
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Unloading the raw brat onto the grill
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At one end of the grill, the brat was doubled-up
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That'sa lotta brat
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A distinguished-looking volunteer
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And another
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Fox2's John Pertzborn emceed the event in lederhosen
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Raised hands before rolling the brat in unison
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Ready to roll
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Rockin' and rollin'
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Extra charcoal, just in case
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The south end of the dragon
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Called firemen -- or "squirters" -- they doused unwanted flames so the brat didn't burst.
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Larry Schubert and his distinctive mustache measure the brat
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Presumptuous? No, prophetic.
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After the record was set, the brat was sliced into bun-sized pieces
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Slicing up the 200-foot bun
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The final product
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Too may beers or too many brats? We couldn't tell.
It sizzled. It browned. It leaked a little juice here and there. But it held together.
And then we ate it.
It was 200 feet of bratwurst, and at 11 a.m. this past Sunday, it turned Belleville's Bicentennial into a record-setting affair.
For those who keep track of such things, the previous record for continuous feet of bratwurst grilled was 157 feet.
Larry and Mabel Schubert of Schubert's Packing Co. in Millstadt had a dream: grilling 200 feet of bratwurst for Belleville's 200th anniversary. To set the new record, they first ground up brat meat, and then very carefully stuffed their Sausage of Destiny.
“The biggest challenge is keeping it together when make it,” said Larry. “It's one continuous sausage, and we're stuffing a tube of natural casing.”
That was not the only challenge. Larry and co. had to build a giant extendo-grill that measured (nearly) 200 feet. By feeding bread through an oven, segment by segment, Belleville's 10th Street Baking Co. made a continuous 200-foot bun to cradle the beast.
At Sunday's street party, Lindenwood University football players helped unload the 120 pounds of coiled brat from a metal palanquin into a slender trough-grill constructed for the day.
Then, Mabel held a megaphone and instructed the long line of more than 100 volunteers in a coordinated effort that was a veritable ballet of bratwurst. She told everyone along the block-long grill to very gently turn the brat a quarter-turn, to ensure even browning. The volunteers, wearing white heat-resistant gloves like a conga line of Michael Jackson imitators, used their hands to roll the epic meat snake as one.
A few minutes later, Mabel and her megaphone repeated the imperative. On cue, her minions rolled the tube of pork this way and that with military precision and delicate care.
Just as important, the squirters roamed up and down the lee side of the grill. These spry men wetted down the brat with water-filled squirt bottles at points where the sausage was beginning to smoke and steam.
“We need some water here!” an agitated griller would yell, and a squirter would appear.
The morning was tense, but festive. To coin a phrase, would the bratwurst be unbroken?
After the brat developed a nice char, Larry probed it with a meat thermometer every few feet. It had to be cooked, meaning 160 degrees or more. It was! And of course, it had to be continuous and unbroken. It was!
Victory!!
It seemed like forever, but in about 20 minutes it was all over. The endless brat was cut into manageable segments. The meat fell into its respective buns.
Hundreds of Bellevillians made a donation to a local food pantry for the right to eat a few inches of success.
The resulting triumph brought the whole community together. Nominally, it was a bratwurst that joined the people.
But really, it was love. You could feel the love in the air.
It's always love, isn't it?
And also, beer. There was plenty of that, too.
And love.
And meat.
And beer.
And love.
Schubert's Packing has been in business for 37 years. They make 70 different products. Their 35 flavors of bratwurst include Gummi bear, dark cherry, horseradish, jalapeno-and-cheese, and honey mustard. Look for their meats at a Schnucks near you. schubertspacking.com
