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Ive just discovered my little old sausage whatnot, that has been lying unused for about twenty years. [ its a King chef]
Anyhow on thursday I purchased two pounds of pork and minced it at home to produce a dinner meal, but then Id the idea Id rather like to make some sausages with the meat instead.

My butcher gave me the natural skin and a packet of rusk so that was it, off I went.

minced pork, wetted rusk, mixed herbs. salt and pepper, paprika.

result yum.... my grandaughter aged 5 and something of an expert in the eating of sausages had 7!... and ive been 'ordered' to make more.

Its surprising how we get used to buying the ready made sausage and are totally brainwashed by manufacturers offering 'pure' products when they are anything but.

Im now on the hunt for addative free rusk and natural skins here in the U.K, anyone able to offer advice please.

http://www.sausage-casings.co.uk/

i can recomend these guys for natural casings , the shop attached to this site also sell them http://www.sausagemaking.org/

muppet2do wrote:Im now on the hunt for addative free rusk and natural skins here in the U.K, anyone able to offer advice please.

Welcome to the forum.

The rusk issue can be solved by making your own - the recipe is here:

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... onomy+rusk

If you don't want to make rusk you can use breadcrumbs, but they need to be from loaves that have been properly cooked (like homemade).

Stick around, there's tons of information to help on the forum, and if you have any questions just ask. However daft they may seem - we've all been there ourselves.

I hope this helps

Phil

I have reg with the sausage skin people so thanks for that, but ive no idea which ones to order.

I will 'just for now' be making a 'normal' family sausage, using beef, lamb or pork. and my own rusk from the recipe given [ thank you for that]

So which casings should I order, what size, and how much.

Do I want those on 'rods' or 'hanks'???????

Its all getting very confusing.

HELP

Hi

Natural casings for normal sausage are of two types: pigs (hogs) or sheeps.

Pigs (hogs) casings are larger and stronger - the size of the thick sausage you see in the butchers. Sheeps are smaller and more delicate - like the thin sausage in the butchers.

Pigs are less likely to split when stuffing and are generally over 30mm wide - I think that the ones on the site you are looking at are 34-36mm wide. Sheeps will be around 25mm wide. (the size is usually quoted as two figures such as 24/26 - the width being somewhere between the two).

Pigs are easier for beginners, but sheeps are not as difficult to use as some people make out - they are my preference being thinner.

Rods can be easier than hanks as the fiddly bit of getting the casing onto the stuffing tube is easier. (but make sure that the inside of the casing gets wet, otherwise they can 'stick' to the stuffing tube.)

...a good tutorial on all aspects of sausage making can be found here:

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?t=3986

Hope this helps.

Phil

Welcome Muppet2do...from a fellow Lanky lad!!

I get all my stuff from the site owner - was based in Bolton so very quick turnaround, and also keeps the forum going too!

I just order a bag of hog casing such as these :- http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/Hog_casings.html I go for a 100yds bag which is kept in the fridge. I find them easy to use and have never had a problem with them. Just make sure they are well soaked.

You'll find that this site is full of very helpful people, very knowledgeable people and is full of great recipes on pretty much everything from growing food to eating it!

Im in bolton..... can I get the casings from same chap..

I know this is an old thread but i can imagine many people still read it....if anyone needs sausage casings up in the northwest of England i have bought sausage skins direct from these http://sausagefactory.uk/ they are a sausage factory but obviously buy in huge amounts of sausage casings too.