Getting a good casing bind

[GatorAGR]

I am still having some issues getting my sausage meat to bind with the casing. I believe I’m getting good protein extraction with mixing. Any suggestions or thoughts on why my casings aren’t binding well to the meat? Not stuffing enough??

 

[GatorAGR]

Bumping this up to see if anyone has any thoughts.

 

[SmokinEdge]

What is the texture of the sausage like? What is your smoking or cooking temp? Are they greasy at all?

 

[GatorAGR]

Here are a couple recent examples.

 

[GatorAGR]

Cooking temps start out 100 for drying, bump up 15 degrees each hour or so until 175. Cook until 152 or after it's held at 135 or more for an hour and a half. Whichever is sooner.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Nothing wrong with em.

 

[GatorAGR]

These pics don't show the "bind" I'm asking about. The meat bind has looked good to me as well, but when you bite into a sausage, the casing doesn't appear to be binding to the meat. Basically doesn't have the snap.

 

[GatorAGR]

Here is a snack stick. Collagen casing I realize but shows what I’m seeing with my natural casings as well.

 

[indaswamp]

Get a better pellicle. This will help out a lot with the snap. I.E.....dry the surface of the casings longer...until they barely feel sticky. Then start the smoke...

 

[boykjo]

Cant tell what's really going wrong but just keep it simple. Use fresh non frozen meats. use fresh pork fat if you are increasing the fat content. Don't add any oils or excessive water to the mix. Don't under stuff or over work the meat. Looks like your grind is small and fatty. Try the next size up plate and grind once. Like rick said, there's nothing wrong with them.

 

[GatorAGR]

Thanks guys. The brat was my first grind. The others were store bought. I think I do need to dry the casing out better as @indaswamp mentioned and develop a better pellicle prior to smoking.

 

[indaswamp]

Great primer....good info. If the meat is not cold enough when you go to grind, it can smear the fat slightly. this will end up coating the inside of the casing and the casing will not adhere to the meat......

 

[GatorAGR]

Thanks! I'll give this a watch. On the brats for sure the meat temp was perfect all the way through the grind/mix/stuff process. I probed it at between 32-34 degrees all the way through to make sure my process was good.

 

[indaswamp]

Asking for clarification:

Are you using a dedicated sausage stuffer or your grinder to stuff the casings?

 

[indaswamp]

Also- for smoke sausages, I recommend minimum of 1" of space between the links for better moisture removal...aka drier casings.....for better snap.

edit to add: if you notice the links in the video...when he goes to put them in a water bath, some of the links have light spots on them from being too close together. He did mention his smoker was rated for 25# of sausages though...and he put 30# so it is to be expected......

 

[GatorAGR]

Asking for clarification:

Are you using a dedicated sausage stuffer or your grinder to stuff the casings?

I have a dedicated stuffer

 

[SmokinEdge]

If the meat is not cold enough when you go to grind, it can smear the fat slightly. this will end up coating the inside of the casing and the casing will not adhere to the meat......

This was what I was thinking.

@GatorAGR , what kind I’d grinder setup you running?

 

[GatorAGR]

For the brats I used a 7 mm plate in my Cabelas #12 grinder. Single pass.

 

[indaswamp]

For the brats I used a 7 mm plate in my Cabelas #12 grinder. Single pass.

temp. of the meat prior to grinding?

 

[GatorAGR]

30-32F. I watched temps close. Froze the grinder parts as well. I really think it might be that I didn’t dry the sausages enough before smoking.