casing question

[indaswamp]

No need for vacuum sealing. They keep just fine in a simple container.

I just put some dried pig bladders to soak yesterday for Culatello coming up in October......Should be good to go by then.....

 

[cptnding]

I haven't used sheep casings, but with hog casings, I have found that it is easier to strip them off and load them on the horn as non-pretubed. Maybe I'm just an idiot, but I cannot, for the life of me, get the pre-tubed hog casings to go on the horn easily.

I apologize if I'm hijacking this thread. Hopefully the info will help clifish as well.
Syracuse has instructions for how to handle the casings but the information is conflicting. First step says to pull off what you will need, rinse, and soak. In other places it says no need to rinse. The second step is how to pull the entire hank onto the horn. And I'm pretty sure I'll never need to do that lol.
https://www.makincasing.com/instructions.asp
Photos I've seem of casings not on a tube look like tangled spaghetti. I guess my concern is how the hell do you ever find the end and get it untangled and on the horn? Obviously I've never handled them so maybe I'm over thinking this.

 

[SmokinEdge]

I apologize if I'm hijacking this thread. Hopefully the info will help clifish as well.
Syracuse has instructions for how to handle the casings but the information is conflicting. First step says to pull off what you will need, rinse, and soak. In other places it says no need to rinse. The second step is how to pull the entire hank onto the horn. And I'm pretty sure I'll never need to do that lol.
https://www.makincasing.com/instructions.asp
Photos I've seem of casings not on a tube look like tangled spaghetti. I guess my concern is how the hell do you ever find the end and get it untangled and on the horn? Obviously I've never handled them so maybe I'm over thinking this.

Over thinking for sure. Just buy them in a brine and not dry salt packed. Stored wet and salted, they are silky smooth and perfect

 

[cptnding]

Leave them tubed and see how it works for you . Just get a container that will hold the length of the tubes . There will be a lot of volume with those , and off the tube lets you use a smaller container .
Get your hands on it , and don't get discouraged . It's a learning process and once you get it figured out it's pretty easy . Let me know if you need anything .

How long are those tubes? That's something I haven't thought of. 100 yards of casing is a lot of intestine. I've helped with many hog slaughters when I was young but never seen intestines used for sausage casings. Lots of sausage made but all bulk. I would imagine it takes a few hogs to make 100 yards.

 

[cptnding]

Over thinking for sure.

Yeah I figured. Do it often lol.
Do you have any idea how the Syracuse casings are packed? Their site doesn't say and people seem to have a good opinion of their products.

 

[chopsaw]

Yeah I figured. Do it often lol.

You're not over thinking anything . You're asking questions because you don't know .

Do you have any idea how the Syracuse casings are packed?

They are on the tubes and salted . They are pre flushed , but need to be rinsed and soaked before using .
You can store them in the fridge like they come , but storing wet is the way to go . That way they are soft and always ready .

 

[SmokinEdge]

Yeah I figured. Do it often lol.
Do you have any idea how the Syracuse casings are packed? Their site doesn't say and people seem to have a good opinion of their products.

They are pre-tubed casings, not my favorite. However their casings are good.

You really shouldn’t have any problem with any quality casing. If you don’t want to buy a full hank, you might look at LEM, I think all of their “home Pack” casing packages which are for about 25# meat, are all packed in a liquid salt solution. It’s a good option for guys who don’t want to buy the full hank which are all liquid packed.

 

[chopsaw]

Their site doesn't say

They come pre flushed , tubed and salted . Then coiled up and netted . They are not packed wet .
Just like in the picture from the website . Use that casing finder feature to find what you want .

How to Choose which sausage casing is correct for you

How to Find or Choose which sausage casing is best for your cooking job?

www.makincasing.com

 

[Fueling Around]

They are pre-tubed casings, not my favorite. However their casings are good.

You really shouldn’t have any problem with any quality casing. If you don’t want to buy a full hank, you might look at LEM, I think all of their “home Pack” casing packages which are for about 25# meat, are all packed in a liquid salt solution. It’s a good option for guys who don’t want to buy the full hank which are all liquid packed.

I have tried 2 packs of LEM home packs and not happy with the quality. I had to soak them in 4% saline for a couple months to rehydrate them
PS Seasonings home packs are much better quality

 

[SmokinEdge]

I have tried 2 packs of LEM home packs and not happy with the quality. I had to soak them in 4% saline for a couple months to rehydrate them
PS Seasonings home packs are much better quality

True of the older LEM casings, but in the last couple of years I’ve been seeing their home packs in solution packed wet. I’m using some lamb casings from them now and they are good.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Here is the package. There is salt in the bottom but it’s wet and the casings are in solution, much like the way I store them basically in a 26% plus salt solution where the casing is wet but the salt stops dissolving. These are the only home packs I’ve seen in solution but the 30-32mm hogs are packed the same. They carry them in a local sporting goods store so they are handy.

 

[Dave in AZ]

Almost all the casing manufacturers out their highest quality casings on their plastic tubed. Least holes, longest runs, etc.

Due to this, I always buy tubed to get best quality. The price difference is not much at all. I have lately used Butcher Pantry, for top quality. All from Danish or US Hogs, no whiskers, all A quality, good pricing and shipping. I made a spreadsheet with all those parameters as well as mm sizing, and price per foot, for top 6 sellers. Posted it here somewhere last year...

 

[DougE]

Almost all the casing manufacturers out their highest quality casings on their plastic tubed. Least holes, longest runs, etc.

I bought a pre-tubed 32-35mm home pack of hog casings from TSM. They were absolute crap. Short pieces, whiskers, and they were tough no matter how they were treated. I've got much better quality casings by the hank, but YMMV.

 

[Fueling Around]

Here is the package. There is salt in the bottom but it’s wet and the casings are in solution, much like the way I store them basically in a 26% plus salt solution where the casing is wet but the salt stops dissolving. These are the only home packs I’ve seen in solution but the 30-32mm hogs are packed the same. They carry them in a local sporting goods store so they are handy.
...

I have yet to see the LEM casings packed in a slurry. I just checked the (MN/ND) local Scheels store less than a month ago and the hog and sheep were both dry packed in salt.

Both packs of LEM packs were what I consider scraps. Shorter pieces that mean I need 2 on the tube to stuff a small batch of under 3# which is my normal batch size.

I picked up PS Seasonings hog and sheep casings from Cabelas / Bass Pro Shop in Orlando last winter. They both came in a slurry with the casings strung on a ring same as you find in a bucket of hanks.

I do not keep my casings in a saturated salt brine. I drop it to around 4-5% brine and store in the fridge. A triple rinse (stretch) in warm water and an hour or so in warm water bath with a touch of baking soda and they are ready for stuffing.
Unused casings if long enough for more stuffing are triple flushed in cold water and back into the brine jar.

 

[kelbro]

I've used the LEM from Academy with no issues.

 

[Dave in AZ]

I bought a pre-tubed 32-35mm home pack of hog casings from TSM. They were absolute crap. Short pieces, whiskers, and they were tough no matter how they were treated. I've got much better quality casings by the hank, but YMMV.

Yep... I should have added that I have stopped all purchases from TSM for poor quality. However, the following suppliers are good quality, and they DO state on their sites that best casing is reserved for tubed:
Butcher Pantry
Syracuse
B&P (think it is butcher and packers)
Waltons
LEM

at double to 3x the cost and with quality issues, comes TSM...

Here is my writeup with prices, quality ratings, and sizes available:

Casing prices, standardized for comparison

I made a big order of casings yesterday. While shopping, it became evident some prices were over 2x other shops. Different places had better deals on natural vs. Collagen. I have been buying LEM because I can get it in 1 day from Amazon. Anyway, here are some prices of 6 different places. I...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[DougE]

Yep... I should have added that I have stopped all purchases from TSM for poor quality.

The home pack pre-tubed were crap, but I've done ok with the hanks. Long runs and better quality all around. Found them easier and faster to stuff as well ...... they run off the horn much nicer with no over or under stuffed sections.

 

[uncle eddie]

Great post...lurking for more education.

 

[Dave in AZ]

The home pack pre-tubed were crap, but I've done ok with the hanks. Long runs and better quality all around. Found them easier and faster to stuff as well ...... they run off the horn much nicer with no over or under stuffed sections.

Good to know, Doug. I end up stripping it off the tubes, rinsing and soaking, before loading onto stuffer anyways, the plastic tube is a pain to me. So, good to hear the hank has been decent for you!

 

[DougE]

Good to know, Doug. I end up stripping it off the tubes, rinsing and soaking, before loading onto stuffer anyways, the plastic tube is a pain to me. So, good to hear the hank has been decent for you!

I have been running a hank of 29-32 hog from TSM and they have been long runs, no whiskers, and have a nice snap when finished. Pretty satisfied, over all after my bad experience with the pre-tubed home packs from them.