Which Casings?

[William]

Firstly, thanks to everyone who answered my equipment questions. Let's hope Santa is generous. The next question is about casings. I dislike those industrial condom thickness things one finds on commercial sausages sometimes. What is the best thing to start with that will not be too difficult for a beginner but also won't be chewy? Thanks.

[BBQer]

Depending on the size of the finished sausage, I've only used sheep or hog gut. Not too thick or tough.

I've just ordered more and in the spirit of exploration and experimentation I added some smokable collagen casings to try. Mainly thinking about the uniformity angle.

[William]

Thanks BBQer. Do you know what Collagen is? Is it natural or synthetic?

[Paul Kribs]

This should explain..

http://www.askthemeatman.com/what_are_collagen_casings.htm

Regards, Paul Kribs

[saucisson]

So it's natuthetic then

Dave

[William]

Thanks, Paul. Should I start with this is go straight to hog casings?

[Yorkie_Porkie]

Hi William,

I started small and now make appx 100lbs a month for familly, friends and now friends of friends and friends of familly !!... All in various flavours, in Pork, Beef and now do Venison and Venison/Game.

I would start on natural hog casings if I were you. They only downside as I see it (apart from the dreadful smell !) is that you have to untangle the damn things and cut off managble lengths before you soak, then flush out with clean water before you use them. With the Collagen, all you have to do is open the packet and use, but they are much, less forgiving when it comes to slightly overstuffing and teaching yourself how to link properly, and can "ladder" like tights which sometimes means you have to pull a bit off the stick and cut it off.

That being said, my local butcher where I buy my meat from makes 7 tons yes 7 TONS ! of sausage a week and only uses Collagen, his machine just spits out linked sausages and at a rate of knots !, hand linking though is a little different !.

So, my preference is for natural casings, but I have used both with reasonable results....

For instance, the following were my very first attempt




These were with Collagen, as you can see it didn't go as well for me 1st time around with the Collagen, they looked OK but could have done better



I have come a long way since then (note to self, need to upload some new pics !), so at the end of the day it's about personal choice and for me, ease of use, and although the natural casings take more in the way of faffing about, I prefer the ease of filling and linking etc, not to mention the "bite"...

I use Natural Hog size 34/36 by the way, ( http://www.scobiesdirect.com/ItemInfo.a ... dCat=36000 ) slighty larger than the standard 30/32 or 32/34 sizes as I find they are better for linking, and the filling doesn't squidge out the ends after blooming...

Hope this was useful !...

Yorkie_Porkie

[William]

What a brilliant reply - many thanks, Yorkie, really helpful. (How do you insert the pics into your listing?)

[saucisson]

Hi William,

Have a read of this tutorial on images:

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?t=1610

I started with collagen and then got hogs, much more aesthetically pleasing and despite the extra effort initially, easier to work with.

Dave

[Lance Yeoh]

I started off on sheep casing and since they're kinda fragile, you have to be extra careful not to overstuff. When I used hog casings, I find them so easy to use and can withstand 'rough' handling. I've only tried collagen casings once and find them a little hard to link unlike natural casing. So at the moment I only use natural casings. I agree that it's a pain to untangle them but it's all worth it.
I now go through about 2 hanks of sheep casings a month and maybe 1/2 a hank of hog casing in the same time. That clearly shows a preference for sheep casings of the general sausage consumer here I guess. Like Yorkie Porkie I also make them for friends' friends and relatives I never knew I had. Just kidding on the last part. But doing so provides the extra cash to finance this hobby. I've yet to break even on the purchase of my stuffer and 2 freezers at this time.

[William]

Nice one. Many thanks, Lance.

[Yorkie_Porkie]

William, no problem, I know what is it like when starting out, but there are some great guys on here like Paul Kribbs and Oddley etc with a whole wealth of knowlege !...I can see you have been given the link to the tutorial, it's easy enough to put your pics up....

Lance,

I am in profit now, albeit not a huge one as I don't factor in my time !...
I have "orders" for Christmas for 77 packs of sausages 7 packs of chipolatas , 8 packs of stuffing and 3 hams !, so not going too badly, getting all my meat tomorrow, apart from the hams which have been in brine and are ready on Friday. So will be mincing that up on Friday as well as sorting the dreaded casings, Hog & Sheep this time.
At least I get all my sausages etc free, just my time is required !.

I am looking at the Bradley smoker, might take the plunge and get one, then I can smoke all kinds of stuff !...

Will have plenty of sheep casings left so I think I might try some snack salami in the new year, will just need to get some new Cure #2 and LS25


YP

[William]

Just a big 'thank you' to everyone who helped me get started on this fun hobby.

The little chips are Merguez and the links are lamb, apricot and rosemary which turned out sweet and delicious.

Thanks to all.

[welsh wizard]

Looking very good indeed William

Cheers Welsh Wizard...........

[Lance Yeoh]

William,
They do look good for a beginner, I noticed quite a bit of air bubbles trapped in the casing. Maybe you can prick them with a thin needle to release the air trapped the next time. The casing tends to break when there's air pockets in the sausages when you cook them.

Give sheep casings a go, you're sure to love the tenderness of those sheep casings and they're not as chewy as the hog.
Here a batch of Hot Sicilian in 24-26mm sheep casing linked about 7 inches long.