Casings on beef sausages...

[zachyweezer]

Hey, everybody.

I recently made a mostly beef sausage in the central Texas style. They're simply seasoned with salt, pepper, and a little cayenne. My folks always loved the sausages from Kreuz's Market. Had them years ago but don't remember much, honestly. I figured it would make a nice little Christmas gift for the family.

I know they're made with no curing salt and hot smoked at about 200 Fahrenheit for a couple of hours. They turned out tasty, but the casings are just a little tough to me.

This is all new to me. My casings are always very tender, but I typically use curing salt. I also finish via poaching my sausages to an IT of 152. In the spirit of central TX tradition, I opted for the hot smoke. I smoked at 200, pulled at my usual IT, and gave an ice bath. I then allowed them to bloom for an hour and sent them to the fridge.

The casings aren't that bad but certainly not as tender as I'd like. Are slightly tougher casings to be expected when finishing in the smoker? It might be worth mentioning that the fat content for these is pretty high. Also, bread crumbs were used as a binder.

Happy new year, everybody!

 

[SmokinEdge]

I know they're made with no curing salt and hot smoked at about 200 Fahrenheit for a couple of hours. They turned out tasty, but the casings are just a little tough to me.

This low slow temp will almost always produce a tough casing. Just like chicken smoked at 200-275, the skin is chewy and rubbery. Sausage casings are no different.

While you can smoke sausages a bit they need to be finished either hot and fast on a grill or poached in some faction to finish. This will either crisp the casing (hot and fast just like chicken skin) or hot liquid finished which hydrates the casing giving a nice snap. I personally finish all smoked sausage in some form of liquid poach.

 

[zachyweezer]

This low slow temp will almost always produce a tough casing. Just like chicken smoked at 200-275, the skin is chewy and rubbery. Sausage casings are no different.

While you can smoke sausages a bit they need to be finished either hot and fast on a grill or poached in some faction to finish. This will either crisp the casing (hot and fast just like chicken skin) or hot liquid finished which hydrates the casing giving a nice snap. I personally finish all smoked sausage in some form of liquid poach.

I appreciate the response.

Poaching is the superior way to finish. I've been doing it for quite some time. I had to give this a shot, however. Lesson learned.

I've found that if I fry them in a skillet they're much, much better.

 

[SmokinEdge]

I've found that if I fry them in a skillet they're much, much better.

That works very well as a poach step. Use water or beer and simmer until liquid is all but gone, save some for pan juice, delicious and nice snap.

 

[jcam222]

I appreciate the response.

Poaching is the superior way to finish. I've been doing it for quite some time. I had to give this a shot, however. Lesson learned.

I've found that if I fry them in a skillet they're much, much better.

I buy a nice smoked sausage at Sam's Club and it's like that. You have to fry or grill them to get a good bite through casing.

 

[zachyweezer]

I buy a nice smoked sausage at Sam's Club and it's like that. You have to fry or grill them to get a good bite through casing.

I'm a sucker for their hot dogs. They serve them hot at the deli but offer packages as well. The hot dogs I make are pretty good, but I'd rather have a Sam's dog.

 

[jcam222]

I'm a sucker for their hot dogs. They serve them hot at the deli but offer packages as well. The hot dogs I make are pretty good, but I'd rather have a Sam's dog.

My buddy has tested a ton of dogs as he's starting a hot dog cart business next year. He has settled in on Sam's dogs

 

[Fueling Around]

Good luck on the casings.
Sometimes they are perfect. Other times eh

I'm a sucker for their hot dogs. They serve them hot at the deli but offer packages as well. The hot dogs I make are pretty good, but I'd rather have a Sam's dog.

My buddy has tested a ton of dogs as he's starting a hot dog cart business next year. He has settled in on Sam's dogs

Sam's are pretty good dogs. A little too fluffy for my taste.
I'm hooked on Costco Dinner Franks (the 1/4#ers) but with my low salt diet the 3 days worth of sodium means I don't eat them very often. My future foray is to duplicate them in low salt.

 

[zachyweezer]

My buddy has tested a ton of dogs as he's starting a hot dog cart business next year. He has settled in on Sam's

Good luck on the casings.
Sometimes they are perfect. Other times eh



Sam's are pretty good dogs. A little too fluffy for my taste.
I'm hooked on Costco Dinner Franks (the 1/4#ers) but with my low salt diet the 3 days worth of sodium means I don't eat them very often. My future foray is to duplicate them in low salt.

I've only been to Costco once and didn't get a chance to try a dog.

I like to keep my sausages around the 1.5-1.75% salt range.

 

[Fueling Around]

...
I like to keep my sausages around the 1.5-1.75% salt range.

I do 0.5 - 1.0%

 

[zachyweezer]

I do 0.5 - 1.0%

Does it have a pretty big impact on protein extraction? Do you have to mix longer and/or use more binder? Anyway, kudos to you for staying healthy. A low sodium diet would make me a sad man. I remember my grandmother had to eat low sodium for the last couple decades of her life. She started adding tons of pepper to her food. Crazy amounts. She'd eat a jalapeño or green onion with almost every meal. Not sure if it was an attempt to make things more interesting or not.

 

[Fueling Around]

It doesn't have a big impact on protein extraction as long as the meat is fresh ground. I rarely use binder.
I went low sodium because my wife had high blood pressure. Got used to the flavor without salt and adjusted to also remove added sugar as that causes health issues as HBP from sodium.

I thought low sodium caused a problem with cure#1 penetration, but since learned that my old pack of cure#1 was expired. Best I can estimate is the nitrite got depleted. Once I got a fresh bottle of cure, all things good.

Did your grandmother have any sensory loss or reduction? My father did not like spicy food (not hot but also flavorful) until his hearing got reduced and eyesight diminished from macular degeneration. He appreciated more spices in his food which is sensory compensation.

 

[zachyweezer]

It doesn't have a big impact on protein extraction as long as the meat is fresh ground. I rarely use binder.
I went low sodium because my wife had high blood pressure. Got used to the flavor without salt and adjusted to also remove added sugar as that causes health issues as HBP from sodium.

I thought low sodium caused a problem with cure#1 penetration, but since learned that my old pack of cure#1 was expired. Best I can estimate is the nitrite got depleted. Once I got a fresh bottle of cure, all things good.

Did your grandmother have any sensory loss or reduction? My father did not like spicy food (not hot but also flavorful) until his hearing got reduced and eyesight diminished from macular degeneration. He appreciated more spices in his food which is sensory compensation.

You hit the nail in the head. She had macular degeneration, as well. Seeing and hearing were very tough for her, and that was on top of some other serious health problems. She was as tough as they come.

 

[kelbro]

I've had a lot of Central Texas sausage and most of it did not have a tender casing.