How long to soak Sausage casing?

[Edward176]

Does anyone have a rough idea as to how long to soak Beef and Sheep casings? Today I rinsed a couple of 22mm Sheep casings and soaked them for about 2-2 1/2 hours in a bowl of warm tap water with 1 tsp of vinegar. They seemed to stuff ok, but were very easy to split once I started to twist and handle them. Did I soak them too long? The beef 35mm casings seemed ok. Or did I just over stuff them? 

[Habanero Smoker]

I don't see anything wrong with the length of time, or the amount of vinegar that you used, though I don't generally use a vinegar in my soaking water for sheep casings. I don't know if you worked with sheep casings in the past, but they are very delicate, especially if you over stuff them they will split. I've had several blowouts during stuffing, let alone twisting them into links. I prefer sheep casings over collegian, but they are a pain to work with.

To eliminate the possibility that the vinegar may have deteriorated the sheep casings, don't use vinegar next time. I feel sheep casings don't need it.

[Salmonsmoker]

I can't remember where I read this, but according to the article, a 30 min. soak in warm H2O is sufficient, especially with sheep casing.

[Edward176]

Thank You Hab and Salmonsmoker, I was thinking the same after reading some articles about Sheep Casings being more delicate vs Beef Casings. I guess I stuffed them pretty full and with the vinegar soaking the twisting was a tad too much for the small Sheep Casings to handle. In the future I'll illuminate the vinegar from Sheep Casing and only use them for Beef Casings. Thanks Again guys.

[Johnny]

Sheep casings are extreemly delicate to use but make the best bite in my opinion for breakfast sausage and snack sticks! What I find to control the bursting is to make my lengths about 36" long so its easier to handle when linking. Water on the stuffing horn helps the casings to slide off easier as well. Just remember you cant put 2lbs in a 1lb bag ;) and you should be fine.
Best of luck!

[Edward176]

LOL, thanks Johnny. I made another batch of thin sausages and Kielbasa on Tuesday. This time I didn't add vinegar to the sheep casings, just to the beef casings for my sausage (Kielbasa). As instructed I only had a couple of "Blow Outs" but nothing out of the norm as I didn't over stuff nor over twist. 3 1/2 hours in the smoker and finished off in the oven with my meat thermometers. At 157'F I removed from oven and into the sink for a COLD ice water bath and then onto my broom handle in the basement to "bloom". Needless to say the 6.8 kg/15 lbs of meat turned out real nice and taste, so much so the mice opened the fridge and removed most of it like magic (actually kids came over and "looted" the harvest). Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about spoilage. Several of the small sausages in sheep casing I hung on a stick under the stairs to dry out and today they snap and are great with a beer and more beer. Kind of jerky sausage, sure is good. The only issue I have is that 15 lbs of sausage might be a little too much for the smoker as many sausages were touching and didn't get a good "smoke" and are a little pale looking on a few sides, oh well at least they taste fine. That being said I'd like to thank everyone for their tips and advice and wish everyone a VERY Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.   

[Johnny]

Merry Christmas to you as well Edward! Glad to hear that all turned out well for you, sure sounds delicious 😋 I use the 4 rack Bradley and wish I had bought the 6 rack simply because I tend to hang everything i smoke and the extra height away from the element would be better.  I usually only go 10 lbs max at a time simply for room but most of my smokes i usually only go with a 5 lb batch. Im the only one in the house that eats the stuff lol.. My wife wont touch any moose meat ( she can't handle the thought) and I make all my processed smoked meats from that because its free meat and we have so much!
Cheers from Newfoundland!
Johnny.