using sheep casings

[SteveW]

Hi all,
I'm making chipolatas tomorrow and I'll be using sheep casings for the first time. I'm a little apprehensive as I've heard they're difficult to work with and can split easily so any advice from the gurus would be appreciated.

I have a few questions:

1) The casings are rinsed out and soaking for about 20 hours, too long?

2) When I flushed out the insides there were a couple of holes where the water was coming out of ( No, not the ones either end). Will this be a problem when stuffing or cooking?

3) I was going to use the same recipe I use for my breakfast sausage. Do I need to change any of the ratios as they're much thinner.

4) There was a much stronger smell off the sheep casings then off the hogs, normal?

Thanks in advance

Steve

[crustyo44]

Hi Steve,
I have been using sheep casing for awhile now, stuffing the skins seems to be the main concern, 20 hours soaking will not cause any problems from my experience. If you find a small hole I would put a twist in it so you know where it is as a reference for further twisting into links.
I always soak the sheep casings for the final few hours in water with some lemon rind to get rid of the smell.
When stuffing the casings make sure you have some sausagemeat protruding from the filler tube, easing the loading of the casings on the tube, keep a very small amount of water in the casing so it slides off the tube easy when filling.
No doubt people more experienced than me will have some more and better answers for you. This works for me.
Good Luck,
Jan.

[Big Guy]

don't even think of stuffing through a grinder, also a must have is a SS 3/8" stuffing tube, those tapered plastic tubes are a recipe for disaster. If you have the right equipment and take your time they turn out fantastic

[SteveW]

I have no choice at the moment. I've been stuffing with a manual grinder since I started making sausage recently. I now know it's a hobby I'll be sticking with so I'll be making the investment into an electric grinder and dedicated stuffer soon. I think it's a bit harsh to say you can't stuff with a grinder at all, because you can............... I've achieved very good results so far but it is hard work. My first attempt was a bit of a failure, I'd removed the knife from my hand grinder but kept the plate in place to locate the auger and keep it central but it was useless. However, once I'd removed the plate and left the auger free floating so to speak the sausage meat flowed very freely and I found I could stuff a couple of kilos single handed in about 10 minutes. as for the SS stuffing tube I'll let you know tomorrow how I get on, although I've used plastic so far for the hog casings and they've been fine. I assume some people do have problems with stuffing tubes but I haven't and can only guess it's because the diameter of the tube is correct i.e. small enough for the casing to fit on easily. Like I said tomorrow should be a good test.

Thanks for the input chaps.
Steve

[onewheeler]

Jan's advice to keep some water in the casings when loading them on to the stuffing tube is excellent. It helps them slide off freely. With more delicate casings it also helps to have rwo people, one minding the stuffer and the other sorting out the sausage as it comes off. So long as the casings slide freely you won'r have too much of a problem. (My thinnest stuffing tube is plastic and tapers to about 12 mm, a thinner one would be nice but it works)

Casings seem to vary from batch to batch in their smelliness. It seems to vanish by the time it comes to cooking them.

Martin/

[SteveW]

Well the stuffing turned out to be easy. No harder than hogs. The only problem is my grinders broken........... It has a nylon bearing/ring at the back of the auger and it's worn away. I managed to grind about 300g before it went and the rest was done in a food processor so the texture's not right. Never mind, the forum shop are sending me a replacement.

[Big Guy]

The nylon bearing probably wore out due to not having the plate installed which makes the auger wobble putting more wear on the rear bearing. If you try and improvise instead of using the correct equipment these things happen.

[SteveW]

Could well be Big Guy. I'm waiting for Northern Tool to get some more grinders back in stock at the end of the month and then I'll be upgrading.