Sausage Making 102 - Casings

[RuralNc]

Welcome to Sausage Making 102 - Casings!

This class will be fairly short. We are covering Sausage Casings, and how best to get the job done. Lets get to it.

For our purposes we will discuss 3 types of casings. Hog, Collagen, and Synthetic. Others do exist obviously, such as Beef and Lamb. But, hands down, Hog, Collagen, and Synthetic are the most common, and often more readily available for purchase. Chances are good that if you have a Sports Store near you, they have casings. Usually LEM brand is what you will find. Now, if you're fortunate enough to have a good butcher or meat shop nearby, they might have casings. Call and ask.

If using Hog Casings, my personal preference though is the smaller pack of casings by LEM. For a couple of reasons. Firstly, they are dry packed in salt. Secondly, its a much smaller quantity to deal with. Dry packed in salt, they will last for about an eon. In the pack, if memory serves, its enough casing for around 25 pounds of meat. Thats a lotta sausages!

IF you find a Butcher who will sell them, they are usually fresh casings. Which means they spoil fairly quickly. And when they spoil..... ill just say this, the odor they produce, you will consider hauling your refrigerator to the dump.

With that being said, you can order larger quantities of casings from the internet. Go with a reputable company.

Hog Casings. And all other animal casings come from the intestine. Some folks are VERY squeamish about that fact. And I get that. But, it is what it is. Commercially produced, and purchased, the casings you buy will be VERY clean. The process to, well, process them, is rather amazing to say the least.

The casings come in a variety of sizes. Those sizes and recommendations will be printed right on the package. About the most common size in Hog Casings, would be "32-35 MM". This size is just right for Italian Sausages, Brats, Kielbasa, etc. Most likely, if you find Hog Casing in the Sports Store, this will be the size. They are very versatile.

Synthetic Casings. These come in a wide variety of synthetic materials, and sizes. Some edible, some not. Some even come "pre-smoked". These casings will come in a very specific size. For instance, 19 mm. Unlike Hog Casing, these do not expire, or spoil.

Collagen Casings. These are usually made from Hog of Cattle Collagen. Otherwise they are very similar to Synthetic Casings.

Ultimatley, you get to decide what kind of casing works best for you. No casing is better then another. It just depends on the use, and they all have their place.

To be continued..

[RuralNc]

Casing Storage - Preventing Spoilage

Synthetic and Collagen. These casings should never spoil. At least, not to my knowledge. They are stored at room temperature. You open the package, using what you need, and thats about it. No other special precautions are needed. Unless the package directions dictate otherwise, thats how I have always proceeded.

Hog Casings. Storage is far more fickle. But, nothing you cant handle. As stated above, Hog Casings come in 2 varieties. Salt Packed and Fresh. There may be other options, but nothing that I am familiar with, so lets assume thats the only 2 options.

Fresh. Stored in a salty/saline sorta liquid brine. Hard to come by, but they do exist. These must be used fairly quickly as spoilage is VERY likely. I DO NOT recommend these.

Salt Packed. These are the most common. The casings will be packed in salt, in a vacuum sealed package. Once you open the pack, they must be refrigerated. Unopened, from the factory, they have a modest shelf life. These are far less risky then the Fresh Casings. Both can and will spoil, but the Salt Packed have the extra insurance policy of salt.

Proper Resealing of Salt Packed. So, you got your Salt Packed Casings and made a run. Now, you have some of the pack left over. What do you do? Its easy.

First, any pieces of left over casing, you can put back in the bag. Its not a problem. Then add some extra salt to the bag. I liked to add about 1/4 cup of regular Table Salt. Not iodine. Iodine Salt will eat thru the casings. Use regular Table Salt. Sometimes labeled as "Non-Iodine", or "Iodine Free", or "Iodine Not Added", etc. Squish the bag around, working the extra salt it.

Vacuum Seal the bag. Yes, it will require the acquisition of a vacuum sealer. Luckily, these are so common place now, they are dirt cheap. I just take the bag the casings are in and drop it down into a vacuum bag. Easy.

To be continued.

[RuralNc]

Addendum To The Above

See, I make mistakes just like anyone.

In case it isnt clear, once you open the package of Hog Casings, even if you re-salt and vacuum seal, you MUST store in the fridge. Our home vacuum sealers are no comparison to the commercial variety the mfrs. have.

The Synthetic and Collagen casings may vary. Most likely room temperature should be ok, but check the package directions.

All others, Beef, Lamb, Goat.. whatever, should be refrigerated, as well.

In all instances, check with the packaging.

[freedumb2003b]

I thought this was about legislative processes.

[RuralNc]

Preparing The Casings!

Here we are, almost to the end. I told you this would be a short class.

So, you got your ground meat seasoned up, purchased your choice of casings, now the fun stuff. Preparing the casings.

Im going to make this as simple as possible. Most natural (Animal Intestine) casings will follow the same basic procedure. Just a matter of application. And remember, no one right out of the gate is perfect. It takes practice. Practice, practice, practice. And sometimes, the pack of casings is just a dud. No other explanation.

Lets get to it..

Hog Casings. Were going to start with the Hog Casings, because they are the most challenging. Might as well rip that band-aid off right now. So, first you want to clean your kitchen sink. Clean it good. I like to open the pack of casings right in the sink. Its going to be a little messy, so thats the best place. Some folks will put a dish tub or really large bowl in the sink to work the casings in. Thats perfectly fine.

The first thing that will hit you, a bit of an odor. Its strong. But it will pass pretty quickly. If its absolutely rancid smelling, and doesnt dissipate after a couple minutes, then something is wrong with the package. But, I have never encountered this in a new pack. An old one, yes. Absolutely. But not a fresh pack.

Dump the casings out into the bowl, or tub, or whatever you have. The casings will feel fairly dry, and very, very gritty. Thats all the salt your feeling. You will need to untangle the casings. They are always tangled up. Always. Some companies include a plastic loop that is supposed to help you find the middle or end. Never worked for me. Maybe im doing something wrong.

Eventually they are untangled. You will notice that some casings are long, some short. Thats just how it is. It might be easier to start with the short pieces, to get a hang of things. In the other side of your sink, in another clean bowl, you want to start rinsing the casings. Do one at a time. Other wise its tangle city. Just let cool tap water run into the bowl while you gently swirl the casing around. Use your fingers, starting on one end, and working towards the other, wipe the salt off. Just keep going back and forth. There is a LOT of salt involved. I like to go back and forth 4 to 5 times. When your done, the casing will feel very smooth.

Next step is to rinse the inside of the casing. You will want to gently stretch about 1 inch of the casing over your kitchen faucet. Gently turn on the tap. Water should come out the loose end of the casing. You will notice imperfections in the casings. Tiny pin holes. Nothing to worry about. If you have a major gouge, then that can either be cut off, or worked around during the actual stuffing procedure. Sometimes, the casing will get tangled up a bit. Just use your fingers and gently work the casing loose. Sometime a loose fiber from the casing itself will wrap around, pinching it off, not allowing the water thru. In this case, you can use a very sharp knife and pick at that fiber until it lets go.

Just like previously, use your fingers, working from the faucet end, working down the length of the casing. Just rub your fingers back and forth, dislodging any salt remaining inside the casing. At this stage, you cant be too thorough. Once the water is running cleanly, easily through the casing, you can turn up the flow a little. You want to make sure the casing is rinsed out. Thoroughly.

Your now prepared casing you will set aside into yet another bowl, with clean fresh water in it. Some people like to put a splash of vinegar in the water to help soften the casing. Its not a bad idea. Clean as many casings as you think you might need. Charts are available on the internet that will indicate how much meat per foot of casing. Its a good start.

Synthetic and Collagen Casings. Dont laugh. You open the package, thats the only prep work. Done.

You can see the lure of Synthetic and Collagen casings. To my knowledge, they dont need any cleaning of any kind. No soaking. Nothing. There could be some exceptions to this, but none I am aware of.

These casings are a really good starting point. These will allow you to focus on learning your equipment, while giving you one less thing to worry about. No shame in that.

To be continued..

[RuralNc]

I thought this was about legislative processes.

 

Similar. But with this, you get the result you actually want. So... theres that. 

[freedumb2003b]

Similar. But with this, you get the result you actually want. So... theres that. 

Fair enough!  I would love to do it so I will see if it is something I can accomplish:)

[RuralNc]

Stuffing the Casings

Welcome back. Got everything prepped and ready? Perfect. The next step is surprisingly one of the trickier. Loading the casings onto the Stuffing Horn. It can be maddening at times. And other times? Its your lucky day. Thats all I know.

Stuffing Horn. Just to clarify for the uninitiated, the Stuffing Horn is a pipe (plastic or metal) that attaches to either your grinder or stuffer. Its like a funnel. The casing slides over the horn, and thats about it. These do come in a variety of sizes, relative to the casing that you're using.

Once you have the appropriate Stuffing Horn on your stuffer or grinder, apply a thin coat of veggie oil to the pipe. Just a very thin layer. You can use your finger to spread it around. Just a couple drops is all you really need.

Hog Casings. Bring your bowl of soaking casing to the stuffer. Pick out a casing, stretching open the end, and sliding it over the horn. If its resists, if the opening isnt large enough try the other end of the casing. It should fit, and the casings are fairly elastic. Slide the entire casing onto the horn. If you have a couple short sections, you can probably fit more then one on the horn.

Synthetic/Collagen. These casings slide on to the tube pretty easily. Mostly because they are already compressed in such a way that they just slide right on. In my experience, these are always a slightly looser fit then natural casings.

Pre-Tubed. This is fairly new to the market product. New at least compared to the other products. The casings come with a tube inserted. You slide the entire bit onto the horn, then pull the tube out. Supposedly these are simpler to load. I have no idea. Have never used them. But I can definitely see an advantage.

Stuffing. From here going forward, the stuffing procedure is straight forward. It just requires practice.

If you have a stuffer, you just load it up with meat. 5 pounds, 10 pounds, whatever. If you are using something like the Kitchen Aid, then you will feed meat slowly into the hopper, allowing the machine to push the sausage into the casing.

Allow the sausage to just begin coming out of the tube. Shut off the machine. Any extra that spills out of the tube, toss back into the hopper. Pull about 4 inches of casing forward, you want to tie a knot in the end. Then push the casing back taut to the end of the exit. If an air bubble shows up, prick it with a sharp knife. Keep that knife right there with you. Most likely, it wont be the only one that pops up.

Turn the machine back on, and start feeding very cold sausage into the hopper. Using one hand, keep a gentle grip on the casing that is on the horn. Your thumb and index finger should be making an "o" shape, right on the end of the Stuffing Horn. Using this hand, you are controlling the speed and fill of the casing. Lighten your grip, skinnier looser sausage. Tighter grip,  plumper sausage. The other hand will be feeding the hopper, and helping to move the cased sausage out of its own way.

I cant emphasize enough, stuffing sausage takes practice. You will get better with every attempt. 

Sausage Links. Shaping up your links is easy. Theres 2 methods. Actually, theres probably more, but im going to describe the 2 I know.

1. As the casing is being stuffed, you pinch the casing with your right fingers, and use the left to spin the sausage around and around. Usually 2 to 3 spins is good enough.

2. After you have stuffed the entire sausage casing, you then  pinch and shape the sausages. This is the method I prefer. For no particular reason. This is just how I learned.

Important Note About Small Sausages. Small links, such as Breakfast Links are often cut off instead of being linked. Once you stuff the entire casing, refrigerate for an hour or so, then cut the links at the desired length. The links are so narrow, spillage is usually not a concern.

Regardless of which method you use to link your sausages, always spin the sausages in opposite directions. The first sausage I spin forward. The second sausage backwards. Then forwards, backwards... rinse and repeat. This will prevent the casing from unraveling.

Freeze or Cook. At this point you can either freeze or cook your Sausage Links. You can leave the links together or cut apart. Your choice. I prefer to keep the links together, until cooked. Then just snip apart.

Thats that. Stuffing sausages takes practice. I recommend you start with synthetic, then move to natural casings once you are comfortable with your equipment and recipes. 

[Dblhaul]

Thank you! I will start making in the coming year. !!