cellulose casing

[salmonclubber]

hello everyone

has anyone used these [font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]cellulose casings [/font]i am going to try and make some hot dogs and maybe some polish dogs using them i do know that you have to remove them before eating does the sausage stay together after removing the casing thanks for any help


Huey

 

[plj]

Uh-oh, I'm not supposed to eat them ???

Been eating them for years...!
I think you meant collagen, not cellulose - right? I prefer the natural hog casings, but I find the collagen is easier to work with, especially in the smaller diameters.
Since I dont remove them, I cant really answer your question as to whether or not the meat would stay together. (sorry).

Edit: Sorry, my mistake, you do have to remove the "fibrous" casings: http://www.askthemeatman.com/sausage_casings.htm
Yes, I do remove those - but I only use them for the really big stuff, 2" diameter and larger. Yes the meat stays together for the big stuff after you remove the casing.

 

[piker]

I just purchased some cellulose casings for wieners they are clear and inedible. I plan on steaming or smoking the wieners so I then can peel off the casings after reheating as you would with a store bought one. I will freeze them after whatever cooking method I use. I think poaching in 170F water would work also. Piker

 

[que-ball]

Salmonclubber and Piker, your cellulose casings are NOT the fibrous casings plj refers to, that would be used for something like summer sausage, or the edible collagen casings that could be used for weiners.

I bought what ended up being a huge amount of cellulose casings cheap on ebay, so I experimented on some venison weiners this past winter. Here's what I did, and how it worked out, the good and the bad.

1) I wound as much casing onto the stuffing horn as I could, then firmly stuffed the whole thing before trying to twist links. The bad is that the casing would burst as the twisting forced the sausage to pack more tightly. The good is that I found I didn't need to twist links at all. I just cut the stuffed casing to the length I wanted the links to be and dropped them into the boiling water. None fell out of their casing while being boiled.

2) I had a stock pot half full of boiling water at the same time I stuffed the casing. Each hornful of casing yielded a dozen or so cut links that when put into the water would bring the temp below boiling temp. No worries, though. By the time the next dozen links were cut the water was boiling again. Repeat. Once the last links are in, boil for 5-10 minutes and they're done. Plunge into cold water.

3) I waited until the weiners were cold before removing the casings, worrying about the weiners falling apart. The bad is that the casing would stick to the weiner. I had to cut each casing off with kitchen shears. The good is that I had good shears to do that with, and I noticed some of the weiners would fall out of their casing as I plucked them out of the boiling water with tongs. Either way, the weiners don't fall apart, so next time I know I can take the casings off when the weiners are still hot.

If anybody wants advice or to try some, send me a PM. These cellulose casings are about 1"x16", and one of these is enough for 30# of weiners. They are not permeable to smoke, so you need to use liquid smoke if you want smoke flavored weiners. They are clear cellulose with a thin black spiral running lengthwise down the casing. I don't know the retail price, but I will sell them here for $1 each plus actual shipping cost.

 

[DanMcG]

good info there Tim thanks.
I never used a cellulose casing so I can't add any info to clubbers original post but I was going to say instead of boiling water try a simmer at 180° till they hit 152° internal.

 

[piker]

I got mine off e-bay it ended up costing me 20.00 for 400 ft. I HAVE NOT TRIED THEM YET BUT WAS ASSURED BY THE SELLER that they work the same as comercial ones do. It remains to be seen tho. piker [ they are supposed to do 150lbs.]

 

[afreetrapper]

I just did a search of ebay and did not come up with cellulose casing. Many years of working with meat Ive never heard of such a critter but you never know. Im sure you have edible collagen but do be aware there is such an animal as inedible collagen casings. (update:) Ok fibrous are cellulose ive never heard of them refereed to as cellulose. defiantly not edible.

GOSM
Brinkman charcoal
2 Enterprise # 10 grinders
LEM 5 lb stuffer
9 Dutch ovens 3 cast iron skillets
"Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without"

 

[salmonclubber]

ok i did a batch of hot dogs today i used the cellulose casings they are easy to stuff i did break it when i first started once i got used to it it went smooth i used the recipe from len poli's site the taste is ok but the texture is not very good they are crumbly and fall apart easy they would have been fine in sheep casings i think if i would have used some kind of binder like gelliton they would hold up better when the casing is removed next time i will use a different recipe oh i ground the meat threw a 5 mm plate 4 times the recipe calls for emulsifying the meat but i dont have a food processer that could be why they are crumbly as for the casing its self i am still not sure if i like them they did stuff and remove easily oh they did not link well i used some twine to link them

 

[afreetrapper]

Salmonclubber I have a hot link recipe that is my own formulation. I grind the first time through a 1/2" plate mix my spices then grind twice through a 3/16" plate. I grind partially frozen meat. It is not emulsified but fine enough for me. I use powdered milk as a binder and stuff into hog casings. After boiling I leave the casing on but if you remove the casing they will hold together fine.
Dean

 

[salmonclubber]

Dean

the recipe i used called for 1 1/2 cup of powdered milk i am not sure but i think i poached them at to high a temp there was a lot of fat that was floating around after they cooled i am thinking that all the fat ran out of the sausage causing them to get crumbly i have to check my thermometer and see if there is something wrong with them i used 2 of them dont think both would give a bad reading but maybe

 

[piker]

They are on ebay.ca under Bradleys Store. I think the seller is westcoast sausage and he sells all kinds of stuff related to Bradley equipment.

 

[night train]

I made some polish dogs a while back with cellulose casings from Allied Kenco. I used the recipe on page 201 of Kutas book but cut the amount of non-fat dry milk in half. I only ground the meat once through the small plate, then ran it through the cyclone auger attachment on my Cabelas grinder. The mix wasn't completely emulsified but close enough. I just stuffed a five pound batch at a time into a coil and twisted them into links when I was all done stuffing. Only had one blowout. Then, they cured overnight and were smoked like a regular sized sausage. The casing came off real easy after the cold water bath and the texture was just right for me.

 

[salmonclubber]

night train

your the one who inspired me to try these casings your polish sausage looks great i am going to try that recipe and will follow your instructions on the non fat milk thanks for the info i am not giving up i got enough casings to do around 100 pounds of meat so i have some room to play around i will figure it out thanks again

 

[night train]

Salmonclubber, glad I could help. Usually I only inspire people to swear at me

I've done the same recipe with 6 lbs pork / 4 lbs buffalo and left out the non fat milk altogether and they turned out great. Now my wife wants me to try tofu dogs with this recipe. That may have to wait.... I made a 12 lb batch of this same recipe last week with pork butt only and used 1 cup of the binder and it was just about right. The next batch, I'm going to just leave it out and see what happens.