Giant grill puts heat on brats

JACKSON, Mo. -- Not just anyone can man the world's largest touring grill, a 65-foot-long, 53,000-pound behemoth of gas cooking.

It takes skill. It takes training. It takes guts.

Actually, not so much of a gut -- just an unending appetite for damaged bratwurst.

"I eat the ones that break," conceded outdoor chef James Brainer, 21, a javelin thrower at Southeast Missouri State University.

Johnsonville Sausage dispatched one of its two giant touring grills -- which also feature built-in warmers, freezers and sinks -- to Country Mart in Jackson on Wednesday to promote the company's products. At every stop, the grill's two-man staff works to raise money with a local group, and this time it was Southeast's track team. They raised $750, selling 1,500 brats in six hours.

Of course, that figure didn't even come close to the grill's 2,500-brat-per-hour cooking capacity. That's reserved for the Super Bowl, tour manager Josh Majewski explained. (No, the Rams did not stop by for brats before the February game.)

Brainer and grill buddy David Kirby, a track team "thrower," got their first grilling lesson around 10:30 a.m. when Majewski tossed 63 regular-sized brats on the flame. That was it for the training.

During the busy noon hour, there wasn't a sprinter to be seen working the grill.

"Never trust a skinny cook," Kirby explained, perfecting his technique of nabbing seven brats at a time with his tongs.

But the big question: Are brats cooked on a giant grill better?

"Probably," answered salesman John Osborn of Jackson, who ordered seven. "Life is just better when you have a big grill."