Quality natural hog casings

STLstyle · September 12, 2013, 05:13:42 PM

Question for you sausage pros. Where can I get quality natural brat casings? All this spicy brat talk got me lookin in the freezer an I discovered I have 10lbs of ground deer/pork and I think I'm ready. Is all casings created equal or should I order from sausage maker.com or something similar. Thanks in advance.

ragweed · September 12, 2013, 07:04:15 PM

Can't say who to order from since I get mine from a local commercial sausage maker. But I can tell you for sure that all casings are not created equal. Don't buy the cheap ones. Been there.

Habanero Smoker · September 13, 2013, 01:57:57 AM

I have purchased various size hog casings and sheep casings from Sausage Maker, and always receive great quality casings. The next time I place an order I'm going to try the pretubed hog casings. For brats I will use 32 - 35mm hog casings, or 22 - 24mm sheep casings. Sheep casing are a little more difficult to work with.

NePaSmoKer · September 13, 2013, 05:19:34 AM

Best i have use are from http://www.dewied.com
Located in San Antonio and are always fresh and stuff very good.

Old Frenchie · September 19, 2013, 04:23:39 PM

Quote from: NePaSmoKer on September 13, 2013, 05:19:34 AM
Best i have use are from http://www.dewied.com
Located in San Antonio and are always fresh and stuff very good.

Glad to hear that Rick !! ... Last week I ordered a hank from Allied and this is what they sent me ;D ;D ;D These are a lot nicer that any of the "Home Pak"s I used to buy.

pjplovedog · September 24, 2013, 01:48:55 PM

I had always purchased my casings from Kenco, and had great results, high quality. Recently, though, I wanted to try the pre-tubed casing I saw at the Sausagemaker.com so I tried those in two different batches of sausage.
The pre-tubed casings were super easy to use. I soaked them overnight in warm water. The first batch were smoked andouille, and I thought I did everything right, I dried them, then brought them up to temp very slowly using my Maverick dual temp probe.
Then I ice bathed them when they hit the IT of 152.
The casings are super tough. I was so disappointed.
I did a batch of fresh bangers and fresh chicken with sundried tomato/basil and these were not smoked. I followed my usual procedure and ended up with really tough casings after cooking the way I always cook my fresh sausages. I've never had a problem before and I am wondering if this is somehow due to the pre-tubed casings? Anybody else have any experience with this?

Habanero Smoker · September 25, 2013, 02:14:43 AM

I've always have good results with the casings I purchase from Sausage Maker. I know people who use the pre-tube casings and don't have a problem with toughness, but they did not purchase theirs from Sausage Maker. I also use a little bit of white vinegar in my soak during the last 30 minutes to an hour at the end of the soak. This makes the casing more clearer, and a little bit more tender. Also I generally do not smoke my sausage, so that makes a big difference in how they turn out after they are fully cooked.

I have never tried pre-tubed, but Sausage Maker is offering free shipping for a limited time, so I was about to place an order. Part of the order will be for the pre-tubed. What size casing did you purchase?

Here is a link to Sausage Maker's FAQ, but they don't address the pre-tubes directly.

You can also contact them, a specialist will reply to you email. Make sure in the subject heading you make it clear what the problem is.

STLstyle · September 25, 2013, 05:08:55 PM

I bought the pre-tubed casings from sausage maker.com. I hope their not tough but I'll report back...

pjplovedog · September 27, 2013, 09:51:34 AM

Quote from: Habanero Smoker on September 25, 2013, 02:14:43 AM
I've always have good results with the casings I purchase from Sausage Maker. I know people who use the pre-tube casings and don't have a problem with toughness, but they did not purchase theirs from Sausage Maker. I also use a little bit of white vinegar in my soak during the last 30 minutes to an hour at the end of the soak. This makes the casing more clearer, and a little bit more tender. Also I generally do not smoke my sausage, so that makes a big difference in how they turn out after they are fully cooked.

I have never tried pre-tubed, but Sausage Maker is offering free shipping for a limited time, so I was about to place an order. Part of the order will be for the pre-tubed. What size casing did you purchase?

Here is a link to Sausage Maker's FAQ, but they don't address the pre-tubes directly.

You can also contact them, a specialist will reply to you email. Make sure in the subject heading you make it clear what the problem is.

I purchased the pre-tubed casings in the 29-32 mm size. I thought they were about right for the bangers and the chicken sausages that we did. I like the hint to add vinegar to the soak, I will definitely try that next time. I really love the pre-tubed casings as I tend to be all thumbs with casings and it made the process go so much faster! Thanks for the feedback.