How do you 'close' the ends of sausages for cooking?

[LouisJ]

Hi all, i made my first batch of sausages last week and simply twisted them all off to make the individual sausages.

Now, when I came to cook them I separated each sausage by cutting them at each 'twist', however, the casing opens up a bit and the ends of the sausages squeeze out a little when cooking, ruining the look of them

How can i get the sausages to be closed at each end like they are when i buy from the shops? Should i link them? Does the linking method tie them off somehow?

I would add, that i didn't leave them overnight to 'bloom' or dry in the fridge after i made them, I put them all straight in the freezer.

Sorry if this question has been answered a million times.

many thanks for any info

regards

Louis

[NCPaul]

Welcome to the forum. You are right in thinking that allowing the sausages to bloom overnight is part of the solution. Not only will this give the seasonings a chance to "meld together", but it also allows the casing to dry and set the links. When the casing dries out it should help seal the ends (for natural casings). If you were using synthetic casings, you may not be able to stop this completely though overstuffing them will make it worse. Don't worry about asking questions that have been asked before, I haven't seen one that been asked a million times yet.

[crustyo44]

Hi Louis,
What I do a lot to solve this problem with fresh sausages is by putting them in a big pot with cold water and bringing the water temperature up to well BELOW boiling point.
Cool them, cut the links and either freeze or fry/BBQ them.
Good Luck,
Jan.

[LouisJ]

Thanks for both of your replies and suggestions.

Will be trying them both out next time.

regards

Louis

[Oddwookiee]

Another thing to help is to make sure your sausage is very well-mixed and tacky. Once the proteins spool out and link up, after blooming they'll set themselves considerably and won't have nearly as much tendency to ooze out.

[LouisJ]

Thanks for that tip.

I definitely didn't mix them correctly (only coming across this site and its invaluable tips and info after making them) so will be ensuring i get the correct tackiness next time, along with drying them out in the fridge.

When i dry them out to bloom, is it better i hang them in the fridge in some way? Or does leaving them on a plate do just as well?

Also, currently, my garage is at about 3° - 5° temperature. Is it ok if i hang them in there? Its well ventilated.

Thanks again all.

[Oddwookiee]

I don't worry about actually drying mine, I leave it in a lugger to set. The top may get some drying, but the bottom definitely doesn't. I do it more to let the meat itself set up.

My cooler runs at 1-3F above freezing, so i would think you'd be ok hanging in the garage. Just be careful of airborne particulates. If there's a 'garage-y' smell to the air, your meat can pick that up as an off note. If the air smells clean and there isn't a lot of dust or anything moving around, I wouldn't worry about it.

[LouisJ]

That's a good point about the smell, one that i hadn't thought of previously.

Will keep that in mind if i hang them there.

thanks

[the chorizo kid]

in the fridge, on a plate, covered with a plastic grocery bag, overnite.