teriyaki venison sticks

[neocostical]

a couple months ago I made some venison sticks.  I used collagen casings, after smoking I showered them and the casings separated from the meat in some spots.  I was wondering what causes this.  I have had a couple friends who have had  the same problem.   

[Cope30tyee]

The reason they separated is due to the fact that you showered them in water.  With collagen casings, you do not need to shower them in water.  Once they hit the internal temperature of 152 pull them out of the smoker and let them air cool down.  You only need to shower natural casings such as hog casings and sheep casings. 

Hope this helps for next time!!

Cope

[NePaSmoKer]

Collagen casings can separate from the meat in the following ways.

Fat out. Being taken to high of a heat to fast
Air pockets causing cavitation in the meat
No binder causing the meat to shrink to much. Note you dont always need to use a binder.
Covering your sticks in the fridge making them to moist.
Meat to fat ratio
Excessive ECA or CA

If you find that the casings are separating from the meat you can hot water bath them. Please note that you must do this prior to the sticks reaching the target IT. If you do this after you have the IT you will have a fat out of the meat in the hot water.

Cold water rinse will not harm collagen casing on the meat, It just keeps them from shrinking allot (i think the shrink looks good anyways)