HELP: Why did half of the casing come off my sausages?

[wnctracker]

First, this is the only time I've ever made Kielbasa, venison with 30% pork fat and AC Leggs mix.  I made 30 lbs using LEM Collagen smoker safe casings.  I filled them and let them sit in the refrigerator for 18 hours. The next day I tied strings to make links and it tore right through collagen in a lot of the sausages so I had to loosely tie them rather than actually linking them.  Why did this happen?

Then I pricked them and put them in a smoker at 120-140 degrees of heavy smoke, then finished them in a pot of cool water that I slowly brought up to 170 degrees over a turkey fryer on low heat.  When the IT hit 160 I pulled them out and many of them had broken open and come unwrapped totally.  Again, why did this happen?

What did I do wrong, the flavor is awesome but I'd like to do better.  Should I just use natural casing?  help please. 

 

[crankybuzzard]

Well, first off, welcome to the madness we call sausage making.

The string broke through for a couple of possible reasons.  Letting them sit for an extended period made the casings weak due to the moisture in your meat.  Or, you tried to tie them to tightly.  

Same thing with placing them into the cool water and then bringing them up to temp.  Much too wet for the casings to survive.  

Collagen casings are good, but you have to treat them a bit differently than natural.  For your next batch, I suggest the following:

Stuff and allow to set overnight if you want.  Place them into a smoker at 130 degrees WITHOUT smoke for 1.5-2 hours.  Then bump up the temp 10 degrees and add smoke.  Each 30 minutes after that, bump the temp until you get to 170 degrees.  Then allow the links to hit 152 internal temperature.  THEN it'll be ok to dip them into some water to stop the cooking action.  After they are cooked, you can slice into the link sizes you want, OR you can gently tie off links BEFORE you allow them to sit overnight prior to smoking.

Wet casings are fine for natural, but moister can destroy collagen sometimes.

That help any?

 

[wnctracker]

Yeah that does help. Thank you! So avoid the "poaching?" The major issue is my smoker. It's very basic side firebox smoker so temp regulation is a real issue. That's what got my attention about the water method

If is were to smoke them 2 hrs at low temp say 110 then put them into water at 110 and gradually raised the temp to 170 would that decrease the risk? It makes sense in hindsight that taking a warm sausage and cooling it, then heating back up in water could cause casing issues?

If I use hog casing for my next batch Would i have to worry about changing my technique? Thanks again


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[BGKYSmoker]

You got a pic?

If your going to tie the ends, do it right after you stuff the casing. Try to hang (if poss) on the loop end opposite the tied ends or just rack them if links.

 

[wild west]

Good advise from CB and nepas. They are two of the most respected sausage makers here. You should be OK at 110 for a couple hours with no smoke to dry them if thats the temp you feel you can hold. If you don't think you can bump your temp up 10* each hour a compromise would be to try and maintain a temp of 150* but dont go over 170* for the smoking. Anything over 170 will cause the fat to render out. Smoke until you like the color and then you can finish in the water bath but get the water temp up to 160* before you add the sausage. Don't go over 170* with your water temp either or again you loose the fat. If you use natural caseings instead you can just twist your links if you don't stuff them too tight. With natural caseings you would use the same method as above.

 

[wnctracker]

You got a pic?



If your going to tie the ends, do it right after you stuff the casing. Try to hang (if poss) on the loop end opposite the tied ends or just rack them if links.

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[wnctracker]

Thanks y'all!


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[wild west]

Your smoker looks a little over loaded. Where the sausages touch each other they won't take on smoke. The water needs to circulate in your bath or you end up with 200* water in the bottom of the fryer and 150* water in the top. They do look tasty

 

[dirtsailor2003]

On another note. I don't care for collagen casings. It's a texture thing. I remove the casin before eating the sausage. The only time I use the collagen anymore is when I make chicken sausages. The wife won't eat the natural ones and the chicken sausages are mostly for her.