Casing Storage

[y2kpitt]

I recently purchased some hog and lamb casings because I was planning on attempting to make my first summer sausage and brats this weekend but I found out today that I have go out of town for work on Thursday and wonâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t be back for a week or so. Man is there anything worse that work coming between you and your smoker. :evil:

My question is should I be doing anything special with the casings, for example should I be storing them in the fridge? I did read some where that it was bad to freeze them. They are in sealed packages, but this also leads into another question, is it possible to store casings after I open the package, I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t believe I will use all of them and would like to store the remainder for a few months or so. Or should I just go big and use up all the casings then freeze the extra sausage?

 

[salmonclubber]

y2k
if they are salt packed in salt like most are you can put them into the fridge for quite a while but after you wash them and flush them you will want to use them as soon as possible i have frozen them in water after i have flushed them for up to three months and they turned out ok
once you open the bag you will probibly have to flush them all i dont think they will come apart unless you wash them and soak them for about ten mineutes it is easier if you just wash the salt off and soak them first
the hog casings will work great for the brats lamb casings are a royal pain in the neck same process but a lot more work cause they are so fragile you will find this out when you open them
you should have gotten the 2 1/2 inch noneddible collegen casing for the summer sausage any more questions just ask i will try to help
salmonclubber

 

[y2kpitt]

SC,

I misspoke earlier when I said 'Summer Sausage" I meant snack sticks, like all these slim jim pics I see on this forum.

Your right they are salt packed, the hog casing are dry packed and the lamb are packed in a salt/water brine. So for now I'm putting them in the crisper drawer, hopefully I will get to them before the end of the month.

I notice you are out on the peninsula, you wouldn't happen to know of any place near Seattle that sells sausage making supplies?

 

[salmonclubber]

y2k
next time you make snack stix use the eddible colligen casing for smoke sausage in size 21mm or 23mm it will be a lot eiser on you they are a lot nicer to use then the lamb casing and probibly cheaper to
as for sausage supplies in seattle or around seattle i am sure that there is someplace get the phone book out and look for some place that makes sausage and call them up they usually are willing to sell you what ever you need and they are usually very helpful
i get a lot of my supplies from mail order companys such as the sausage maker, and allied kenco the only places i know that are anywhere near seattle are in olympia and chahalis they are johnsens meat and northwest sausage and delli
you can also get supplies at sportsmans wharehouse and sportco in tacoma but they do not have a lot to choose from as far as casings hope this helps
salmonclubber

 

[larry maddock]

yo y2k,
i only take out of the package the amount of hog casings i need at the time.

i store all packages [opened or sealed] in fridge.
the bottom drawer is where they live.

i put more canning and pickling salt on the unused casings.
i do cover them generously, then put rubber band around the pouch.
then i put whole pouch in a zip lock bag.
then to fridge.

i have had opened -then resalted bags in fridge for 5 months -and they were in great shape.

i have been told that a repacked bag in fridge will last a year with no problem.