Sausage casing

Started by Thompsoncentre, November 21, 2013, 02:45:48 PM

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Thompsoncentre

I'm looking for a sausage casing that's around 25 mm? Im not a big fan of big bulky sausage. I'd like one that's size of a jumbo hotdog. I bought some sheep casings from cabelas which are 20-22 which I think are gonna be smaller then I thought? Would that be like the size of a Breakfest sausage?
I seen LEMS had a hot dog casing that was 25. Could I smoke them? It was collagen. Anyways not 100% necessary if I can't smoke them.
Any advice would be highly appreciated

devo

What you bought is a large snack stick or breakfast casing. If your looking for something around a italian sausage size I would go with a natural hog casing of 32-35mm (1 1/4"-1 3/8") size. If you want a collagen casing you can find them in larger sizes also and yes they most certainly can be smoked. 

Habanero Smoker

If you want to stay with natural casings, then 24 - 26mm sheep casings is what I use for hotdog size sausages, but 26 - 28mm sheep casings is a popular size casing for hotdogs.  I know Sausage Maker has 24 - 26mm sheep casings size. A friend of mine buys his casings from Syracuse Casing Company. I think Sausage Maker gets their casing from this company. Anyway they have the 26 - 28mm sheep chasing, and also a 28mm+. The problem with purchasing for the Syracuse Casing Company is that you have to purchase full hanks (100 yards).



     I
         don't
                   inhale.
  ::)

Thompsoncentre

Yes the 32-35 is way to big for my liking. I will have to keep my eye open for the sheep 24-26. How do the sheep hold up in the smoker? I will deff check out that website.
Thanks!

Habanero Smoker

Sheep casings hold up very well after they are stuffed and placed in the smoker. From my experience, you have to treat them more carefully then hog casings, and be careful not to over stuff. Until I got use to using them, I would have a lot of blowouts while stuffing, and twisting into links. They tend to dry quickly while they are on the horn, so I keep a spray bottle filled with waster, and frequently spray the casing while stuffing. You will also find that lengths are much shorter then you will find with hog casings.



     I
         don't
                   inhale.
  ::)

Tenpoint5

Quote from: Thompsoncentre on November 21, 2013, 02:45:48 PM
I seen LEMS had a hot dog casing that was 25. Could I smoke them? It was collagen. Anyways not 100% necessary if I can't smoke them.
Any advice would be highly appreciated

Yes you can smoke the collagen casings. If your going to be using a water bath to finish the sausages there is two ways to do it.

1) Leave casing on - Make sure that the IT of the Sausage is above 135 before putting in water bath. That way the proteins in the casing and the meat can bond.

2) Take casing off - Go straight to the water bath after the smoke cycle. Then after the ice water bath, the casing should slide right off. Resembling something from your youth  ;D
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