Tasso from Texas here, DFW area.
I've wanted to learn to make sausages in casings for a long time, both fresh and smoked, and now I'm finally starting to do it. I've made bulk unstuffed fresh breakfast sausage and chorizo a few times, but I never got up the nerve to stuff any sausages into casings until a week ago. I've also made a few different kinds of cured meats, such as tasso, corned beef, pastrami, pork chops, Canadian bacon, and turkey. Tasso was the first thing I tried, hence why I chose it for my forum name. But I've made them each only a few times, so I'm still very much a beginner when it comes to curing. And when it comes to sausage, I'm even more of a beginner.
Last week I made four pounds of Italian sausage, half sweet and half hot, and stuffed it into hog casings. I used the DeWied Homepack Hog Casings. I'm not sure what size those are, as it's not listed on the package, but they seem to be the right size for Italian sausage. I'm happy with how the sausages taste, but they don't look that great. I had a hard time getting a consistent density and thickness. The sausage ended up too tight in places and too loose in others.
I hope that I can learn a lot on this forum, and contribute as I grow in experience.