Natural vs Artificial casing

[Lance Yeoh]

I finally found a casing importer here, but they only carry artificial casing made of cellulose and collagen. They don't carry natural casing due to some problem with the government about the halal requirements some time back.
I would like to ask, what are the main difference in the usage of the 2 types of casings? Are there any advantages of natural and artificial casing?
They sell in bulk of 50 peices with each piece about 55 meters long. If I buy it and regret later, I'll end up with lots of extra casings. Please help. Thanks.

[aris]

Collagen casings are fine. You will want the collagen ones for edible sausages. Most of the cheaper sausages you see in the UK are made from collagen casings.

The only issues are that they do not stretch like natural casings which means that if you over-fill them, they break easily. Just takes some practice.

Also, your stuffer should have a straight feed horn and not a tapered one. A tapered one will work, but you cannot fit as much casing on at once.

See if your supplier can provide you with a sample first.

My butcher gave me a box of collagen casings some time back, but I never use them as I prefer natural. I might just sell them off on ebay to get rid of them.

[Lance Yeoh]

Will there be a significant difference to the taste of the sausage if I use artificial?

[aris]

No, I would not think so, though the 'bite' might be different.