I was actually inspired by 33 Acres’ “Summer Sunday Br3w-BBQ” but I wanted to involve my family, so I decided to do a weenie roast of my own! Estimating two sausages per person, I needed to buy two dozen sausages. Of course, I only buy the very best for my family, so off to Oyama on Granville Island! 😉

But first, buns! As much as I like eating a sausage with a knife and fork and some condiments on the side, I thought that it felt like a sausage-in-a-bun day. I wanted to try the potato hot dog buns from La Baguette et L’Echalote Bakery that USED to be on Granville Island but are now just a wholesale operation on East 1st near Main St. You can buy some of their products at places like IGA or Whole Foods, but you can also order off their website and pick up directly from their production bakery.

La Baguette’s production bakery on East 1st near Main St. Pick up your personal orders through the door inside on the right.

Two dozen potato hot dog buns, destined to be filled with juicy meat tubes.

People love the samples at Oyama on Granville Island. Can’t find Oyama inside the Granville Island Public Market? Just look for the counter that’s busy!

Their variety of amazing sausages and pâtés is out of this world!

My family isn’t nearly as adventurous as I am with food, so I made sure to buy a crowd-pleaser: Apple Pork.

And a game sausage for me: Huckleberry Elk. Be sure to follow Oyama on Twitter or Facebook for their latest mouthwatering selections.

Cough, cough….

Sausage paradise!

That’ll have to wait until next time 🙁

If you have any specific food issues, just be aware….m’kay?

IMHO the best way to grill sausages is to poach them first then finish them on the grill. This time, I wanted to try J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s method of poaching right on the grill in beer and sauerkraut! I picked up a random sauerkraut (with carrot) that was on sale.

Huckleberry Elk, Apple Pork and Potato Hot Dog Buns.

Eeeeeek! $69?!?! I hope my family is worth it…of course they’re worth it! Only the best for my blood! Fuuuuck I hope I don’t screw this up!

Can’t start grilling without some tunes. Those are Audioengine A2 speakers, if you were wondering 🙂 Good sound (responds to EQ well), decently portable but they need AC power. I use their big brother (A5) with my computer — plus a subwoofer, of course.

Preheat the grill to HOT HOT HOT and stick your pans on with a layer of sauerkraut.

The Serious Eats article suggests using a lager for poaching your sausages but I thought a tasty ale would work as well. 33 Acres of Sunshine (French Blanche/Witbier) works SO WELL! Mildly zesty and fruity, it’s easy to drink and has a low bitterness that works well for cooking.

Pour in the beer and let it come up to simmering temp.

Oh, my mom made an apple pie for this little get-together 🙂 Mom’s apple pie is always the best! Say any different and you deserve a smack to the face! Moms are the best!

Apple Pork on the left, Huckleberry Elk on the right.

Simmering away…

I’ve maybe tasted a huckleberry once in my life and can’t remember what they taste like.

This is after about 20 minutes of poaching over the lowest flame.

Apple Pork ones are getting there…

This is where square inches of grilling area really matter. I wish I had more. But you gotta work with what you’ve got!

Not quite there…I want to hit 150°F.

Almost at 150°F! Time to start browning these things on high heat. You really need to use a thermometer, especially when you’ve got $69 worth of sausages at risk. The elk reached 150°F a good 5-10 minutes quicker than the pork cuz they’re leaner.

Flame high on the left side to brown the sausages, flame off on the right to warm up the potato buns.

Sausage porn.

More sausage porn.

Artistic sausage erotica.

I was getting impatient. Good enough!

I wanted to get a better crust on the outside but I think cuz gas grills give off a very moist heat, it didn’t dry the outside of the sausage fast enough to start a nice crust. This is what they looked like after ~5 minutes of searing over high heat, and I didn’t want to risk drying them out, so I stopped there.

Huckleberry Elk Sausage with Grainy Mustard and Beer-Braised Sauerkraut.

Still juicy! The Huckleberry Elk sausage was awesome. Not gamey at all. Very clean-tasting, lean, meaty, but at the same time juicy enough. Huckleberries gave a hint of tart, sweet fruitiness. I probably took these to ~155°F, maybe 160°F, but they still passed the taste test 🙂 Next time I’ll be more vigilant with the temps, especially when game meat is involved.

The Apple Pork sausage was delicious as well. Everyone loved the addition of apple — which, to my eyes, looked partially dehydrated, so it gave a nice little crunch and a bit more intense apple flavour. I’d totally buy both of these sausages again.

The buns were…good, but I was expecting a little more softness from the potato. I also felt there was a bit too much bread in proportion to sausage. I think next time I’ll try portuguese buns instead.

Needs a bit more browning, but I’m sure I’ll hit it as I practice this technique more. The advantage of poaching first then searing later is that I can hold the sausages after they reach 150°F without worrying that they’ll go dry, and I can just brown them quickly when people are ready to eat. If you’re buying more than one kind of sausage, it helps to buy differently-coloured sausages so you can tell what’s what after they’re done cooking!

I quite like this line of mustards. Available at places like Killarney Market, JN&Z Deli, International Sausage House, etc.

As a dipping mustard, this one’s almost TOO hot. But slathered inside of a bun it’s just right. I love how this mustard gets its spiciness from chilies, not horseradish.

This one’s very mild and smooth but has it’s own charm.

Sorry, it’s not some boutique ketchup. Also, I’m a mustard-only purist as much as the next guy, but sometimes a bit of ketchup on your weiners won’t kill you…it even tastes good if you can get over yourself 😛

Awwww, thanks guys!

Saint Germain is a somewhat well-known Chinese bakery that makes Chinese pastries and cakes. This one’s the “Red Bean Green Tea Bavarian Cake” with fruit and “green tea chocolate film” on top.

I grew up looking down on all Chinese bakery cakes. The chocolate cakes never tasted like chocolate and were never sweet enough.

Now that I’m older, I’m actually appreciating that these Chinese-style cakes aren’t as sickly sweet as more conventional cakes.

Starting from the bottom: thin layer of green tea sponge, green tea bavarian cream, red bean paste, bit more sponge, more cream and whip cream (?) on top.

Fluffy, delicately sweet and a hint of savoury with the red bean. I don’t really do desserts, but this was a pleasant surprise that I completely enjoyed.

Finishing off with Mom’s red delicious apple pie and a bit of Main Street Brewing’s Sessional IPA. I’m so lucky.