At the risk of having his Wisconsin cred revoked, Jesse Foster admits he has never really loved bratwursts. Upon his wife’s request that he cook some a few years ago, he resolved that if he was going to do it, he was going to do it right. Never again wanting to deal with flame flareups or dried out and unevenly cooked sausages, Foster bought some stainless steel sheet metal and some tools and built himself what he thought of as a “brat shelf.”
The results were exactly what Foster, a U.S. military veteran and a Kimberly-Clark electrician by day, had hoped. His invention handled both the inside and outside curves of the bratwursts, kept the flames off the meat and slowed down cooking just enough to prevent the meat casings from bursting. The result? A juicy, perfectly-cooked link even Foster could appreciate.
Since then, Foster has trademarked the BratWave and has a patent pending. The BratWave, which is designed primarily for use on gas grills, charcoal grills and griddles, is available online and in 27 retail stores, including Ace Hardware and Scheels locations. Meat can be cooked directly on the device without extra oil or seasoning. And never, Foster declares adamantly, parboil your brats first; his invention is all about keeping flavor and juices locked inside.
Foster, who took home third place in the 2021 New North pitch competition, today handmakes BratWaves to order in his Menasha basement, just like he did the first prototype. He even etches the logo himself. In honor and support of his daughter with epilepsy, Foster donates $1 from every BratWave sold to the Epilepsy Foundation of Wisconsin. It’s a side hustle Foster says he is having fun with, and he loves hearing from customers all over the country who find new ways to use the BratWave.
“People love it. You can do all different kinds of curved items on this,” Foster says. “People are doing jumbo shrimp on it, but it doesn’t have to be curved food. The best is bacon. It tastes absolutely incredible, and you keep the splash out of the house.”
Foster says he’s handy, but he’s certainly no professional chef. “I really just invented this to help people,” he says. “It’s a tool in the arsenal of a typical family household griller. I did everything pretty much down in the basement based on one idea:
How do we cook the curves of those brats?”
