I bought and used some lem natural sheep casings (home pack) over the weekend and I am afraid I may have messed up, but I want to ask before I throw away 15 pounds of sausage and a lot of work and time put in making it.
I soaked the casings in a bowl of water which was about 90 degrees when I put them in it. I worked them around in the bowl of water immediately until they were all loose and separated in the water and stirred them around by hand for a minute or two. I then put the bowl in the refrigerator and let them sit in there the rest of the day and overnight (about 18-20 hrs). When I took them out of the fridge, I poured the water out and put in new water and stirred them around a bit, then poured that water out and put in new water again and stirred and then let them sit for an hour.
What I did NOT do is run water through the inside of the casings before I stuffed them. This is the only thing I’m worried about, as I realized after the fact that I had forgotten that step. So my question is, how crucial is that step, and is it necessary for sanitary reasons or is it just to rinse the remaining salt out of the casing so it will slide on the horn better. If it is only a matter of a little additional salt, I’m not worried. This is my first time stuffing sausage though, and to be honest I was a little freaked out by the whole intestine thing anyway, so I don’t want to make my family sick from any sort of remaining stuff I was supposed to rinse out before using the sheep casings.
Lesson learned as I will definitely not be using poop chute casings anymore as they were a real pain in the butt. Gonna be collagen next time.
I have frozen the sausage, so it’s not urgent that I receive an answer immediately, but if you could let me know for sure if it is safe to eat I’d really appreciate it.
I soaked the casings in a bowl of water which was about 90 degrees when I put them in it. I worked them around in the bowl of water immediately until they were all loose and separated in the water and stirred them around by hand for a minute or two. I then put the bowl in the refrigerator and let them sit in there the rest of the day and overnight (about 18-20 hrs). When I took them out of the fridge, I poured the water out and put in new water and stirred them around a bit, then poured that water out and put in new water again and stirred and then let them sit for an hour.
What I did NOT do is run water through the inside of the casings before I stuffed them. This is the only thing I’m worried about, as I realized after the fact that I had forgotten that step. So my question is, how crucial is that step, and is it necessary for sanitary reasons or is it just to rinse the remaining salt out of the casing so it will slide on the horn better. If it is only a matter of a little additional salt, I’m not worried. This is my first time stuffing sausage though, and to be honest I was a little freaked out by the whole intestine thing anyway, so I don’t want to make my family sick from any sort of remaining stuff I was supposed to rinse out before using the sheep casings.
Lesson learned as I will definitely not be using poop chute casings anymore as they were a real pain in the butt. Gonna be collagen next time.
I have frozen the sausage, so it’s not urgent that I receive an answer immediately, but if you could let me know for sure if it is safe to eat I’d really appreciate it.