Shultzy's Grill Guru Talks Sausage And Better Burgers

Photo by Leslie Kelly

Andy Muzzin, who has worked for Don Schulze (right) for 11 years, is a sausage master.

Most lunch hours, Shultzy's is slammed, the printer in the kitchen spitting out orders like a slot machine that's just hit the jackpot. It's wicked hot in the tiny space, but seasoned sausage master Andy Muzzin stays cool. In today's Grillaxin Q&A, he shares suggestions grilling a better burger.

SW: How long have you been at Shultzy's?

Muzzin: Coming up on 11 years. It's been quite a run. I started working for (owners) Don and Susan Schulze as a server when it was a lot smaller. It was just three of us, Don cooking and Susan and I splitting the floor. I moved into the kitchen and cooked with Don for two or three years before he got off the grill and moved to the front of the house.

SW: Was running the grill hard to learn?

Muzzin: I had never cooked at a restaurant before, but it wasn't that hard. The menu was much shorter back then and I knew it really well from being a server. The biggest challenge has been how much we've grown in the time I've been here, but the grill hasn't gotten any bigger. We added one fryer, but the flat top and the broiler are the same from the time we had just 35 seats.

SW: You guys do monster numbers. What's a typical lunch like?

Muzzin: We can only cook so much at a time. So when we get that busy, we have to tell servers food is going to be 20 to 25 minutes. We try to give people other fast options like chili or the soups and salads. When you're as busy as you can get all the time, we have been able to serve more people by coming up with better systems.

SW: There are six or seven sausages on the menu. How do you keep track of all of them on the grill?

Photo by Leslie Kelly

Brats are the best selling sausage at Shultzy's.

Muzzin: They're always made with the same ingredients, so you can tell by the way they look. And you keep them organized in different slots. Andouilles are always on the top and the Cajuns at the bottom. Brats have their spot somewhere in the middle.

SW: Biggest seller?

Muzzin: We go through about 70 pounds a week of bratwurst. Jordan took over the sausage making duties last year. I did it for four years. We are probably grinding about 700 pounds of meat each week between the sausages and the burgers, most every day.

SW: What about grinding your own beef makes for a better burger?

Muzzin: Probably just the freshness of it. We go through so much that the burger you're eating was probably ground within a day. It's never frozen. If it's frozen, it's just flash frozen to help it keep its shape. We cook our burgers medium to medium well, unless somebody asks for it to be cooked less. If it's good and fresh, then it's still going to be juicy and have some pink in the middle if you cook it medium.

Check back for part two of Grillaxin's interview with Andy Muzzin from Shultzy's when he talks about his dream kitchen.