First Time Skinless Franks

[tallbm]

Well my big hunting and processing period came to an end earlier this week.
We didn't get into any feral hogs so I bought $0.99 pork butts that were on sale and made franks from those instead.

This year I decided to try out using cellulose plastic castings to make some skinless franks/hot dogs so I did about 3 pounds or so to give them a shot.

I have to say I like how they came out and the casings were super easy to work with allowing me to make jumbo length franks... I don't like for buns to be bigger/longer than the meat hahaha. My only knock on using the cellulose plastic casings is that I'm forced to smoke or SV them quickly after stuffing into the casings versus stuffing, vac sealing, and freezing the franks I made/make with natural casings.

I think both options have their place and I'm apt to just make some small batches of the skinless if/when I run out of my natural casing franks or just SV them and put no smoke on them. I couldn't really tell that they have smoke flavor through the casing.

In any case here is the q-view :)

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• tallbm
• Oct 24, 2019

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• tallbm
• Nov 2, 2019

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• tallbm
• Nov 2, 2019

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• tallbm
• Nov 2, 2019

 

[jcam222]

Those look tasty!! I could definitely eat those up.

 

[pc farmer]

Yeah, they look great. I have the same casings wanting to be tried out. I have no issue stuffing then smoking if I plan right.

 

[tallbm]

Those look tasty!! I could definitely eat those up.

Thanks! So far they have been good. I ate one right after I smoked them and then microwaved another a little later. I think they will be superb grilled vs microwaved.

Yeah, they look great. I have the same casings wanting to be tried out. I have no issue stuffing then smoking if I plan right.

Thanks! I think you will like them.
I did a twist and a chain/star link type of pattern with them so I only had to use a minimal amount of cotton twine to tie the ones that couldn't make chains of 3 franks (pic below only shows 2 sausage chains not 3 but is same idea). This picture of a sausage chain should help visualize what I'm talking about :)

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• tallbm
• Jun 7, 2017

 

[Mastercaster]

Man, I’m hungry.

 

[SmokinAl]

They look fantastic!
Al

 

[tallbm]

Man, I’m hungry.

They look fantastic!
Al

Thanks guys!
If you notice I don't super emulsify the meat to where it is one solid pink color.
You can still see bits of white fat but honestly the texture is almost completely smooth like a hot dog rather than a coarse grind where bits of fat and meat are kind of separate chunks, so I don't worry about the emulsification step too much. My mixer (sheet rock mud paddle in a corded drill) really emulsifies things quite a bit as it is lol.

 

[archeryrob]

So you twisted the cellulose casing like sausages? I had trouble blowing them open if I tried something like that. I guess I stuffed them too tight. I tied them every 7" with butchers twine. I'd like to do something easier but haven't found that out yet.

 

[tallbm]

So you twisted the cellulose casing like sausages? I had trouble blowing them open if I tried something like that. I guess I stuffed them too tight. I tied them every 7" with butchers twine. I'd like to do something easier but haven't found that out yet.

Yeah I was able to twist them but they don't hold the twist well and you can't get too aggressive or the plastic will tear but I was able to get a bout 3 good turns and then I did a half-assed chain approach so that the twisted sections all kind of tied and held to each other without thread.

I didn't stuff too tight at all I just let the casing and the stuffer do what they do and just guided it along. I also left the back end untied when I did the twisting so I was able to kinda squish and work meat down the casting as I did my twists.

I got these cellulose castings from the sausage maker website. They had various sizes of natural cases on tubes so I tried them out this year and along with the cellulose casings they offered :)

 

[chucksmeats]

Pretty good job, my friend.

 

[tallbm]

Pretty good job, my friend.

Thanks Chuck :)

 

[archeryrob]

I tried twisting them and they just seemed to wanted to unroll. You need a video next time.

All the stuff I read before they warned about not doing this and I quit when I blew one out. Each twist pushes meat and increase pressure down the casing. You can see the meat move.

 

[tallbm]

I tried twisting them and they just seemed to wanted to unroll. You need a video next time.

All the stuff I read before they warned about not doing this and I quit when I blew one out. Each twist pushes meat and increase pressure down the casing. You can see the meat move.

Yeah next time I'll take a video or some pics. Keeping the end of the casing probably saved me from too much pressure and blow out issues. The meat did move down to the end and a small amount might have even come out but it would have gotten fried up with the amount left in the stuffing horn lol.