casing shelf life?

[dAWGS]

i have colagen casings.   how do i store them and how long can i store them?     since the question is asked....what is the shelf life on all the other types of casing?   and how do you store them?

[Up In Smoke]

i just made some snack sticks with some colagen casings that have been in the cabinet for about 8 months.
and they worked fine.
they were kept vac sealed with a desiccant pouch to keep them dry. they worked fine.
as far as natural casings, if they are packed in salt and kept in the fridge they will last dang near forever.

[NePaSmoKer]

Here is a tip  ;D

Collagen is animal protein which has fat, moisture in it. Take a paper towel and rub it lightly on a piece of collagen, If you have a oily spot on the towel your still good on freshness. If not they are dry and you should vac seal them for storage. Never put a desiccant pack in with the collagen because you will pull the small amount of moisture from the collagen and they will be dry and brittle.

[Up In Smoke]

OOPS! i see a change coming up today......Thanks Rick.

[lumpy]

My last batch of sticks I used casings that were vac packed in the fridge for almost 2 years.
No problem with them.

On the other side, I had casings not vac packed in the fridge for the same amount of time and they kept splitting on me while I was stuffing them. (they got tossed)

Lump