Soaking Natural Casings (Times and Temperatures)

[Parson Snows]

Soaking Natural Casings

The amount of time that the casings require to be soaked varies with regards to how tough, old, and dry the casings are. Below I have included several references. Personally I always use the overnight method, though the choice lies with you.

1) Information supplied by DeWied Casings (Natural Casings)

�How do you soak casings and for how long?

Salted Hog Casings:

For best results soak over night in refrigerator in water that starts out at 90 �F (32 �C). If in a hurry, use the following instructions but understand that you may not get maximum expansion capacity from the casing. Rushing the soaking process can result in the casing being sticky and they may not slide easily from the horn. This can result in breakage and sausage that is irregular in diameter or too small.

The fast soak:
a) Rinse salt from casings
b) Soak in fresh water at 70 �F (21 �C) for 1 hour
c) Soak in fresh water at 90 �F (32 �C) for 1 hour
d) Place in fresh warm water 90 �F (32 �C) at the stuffing table

Sheep casings:
e) Soak in fresh water at 85 to 90 �F (29 to 32 �C) for 30 minutes
f) Place in fresh warm water 90 �F (32 �C) at the stuffing table

2) Extract from �Hellers�s Secrets of Meat Curing and Sausage Making�

�How to Prepare Casings Before Stuffing

Before casings are stuffed, they should always be soaked in warm water, to make them pliable, so that they will stretch to their utmost limit when being stuffed. They will not burst as easily when properly soaked. The casings should be soaked in water at a temperature of about 90 �F (32 �C), for one to two hours, depending upon how old and how dry they are. Old, dry casings will have to be soaked until they are perfectly soft and pliable. When soaked in water that is too hot, the casings are scalded, become tender, burst in stuffing, and the heavy sausage will tear loose in the smokehouse.�

3) Extracted from �All About Sausage� and the INSCA web site
http://www.insca.org/faq/faq9.htm

�Preparing the Casings � there are four basic steps to preparing casings for stuffing.

Salted:
1. Rinse salt from casings with fresh water
2. Soften by soaking in fresh water at room temperature (approximately 21 Deg. C [70 Deg. F]) for 45 minutes to one hour. When hanks are placed in water, gently hand massage them to separate the strands and prevent dry spots which may adversely affect the stuffing process.
3. Take casings to stuffing table. Place in bath of fresh water. This water should be warmer (See note below) to render a little of the natural fat in the casing. This will help to allow the casing to slide from the stuffing horn more readily.
4. Preflush the casings by introducing water into the casings and allow to run through the casing. This will also facilitate getting the casing onto the filling horn and moving the casing smoothly during the filling process.

Note : "All About Sausage" states this as 43 �C (110 �F)


I hope that this is found to be useful

Kind regards

Parson Snows