How to ruin perfectly good Kielbasa

[crazymoon]

CJQB, IMHO the Syracuse Casing Co. has the best casings .

 

[chopsaw]

I got hog casings packed in salt from the sausage maker.

Good points in posts #9 and #11 .

All the casings I buy from TSM come packed in a salt brine . They have started selling the small bags of home packs that are packed in salt . The quality of the hanks seems to have dropped some , but the salt packed casings are worse .
I store mine wet like the link in post #11 .

I filled them, dried them in the fridge for 24 hours.

Did you have them covered ? Like said above , it's not uncommon for this type of sausage and how they are treated and cooked . If they were uncovered in the fridge that dries them out fast .

 

[Coach JoeQB]

Chopsaw, no they uncovered. I thought they were supposed to be dry to take on more smoke.

Crazymoon, looked up Syracuse Casings and they have free delivery. What's also good is they are North American casings.

 

[sawhorseray]

I've been getting my hog casings from PS Seasonings for a good 20 years now, the home packed in salt variety. I just rinse them it warm water for an hour before using, change the water a few times, never had a problem with toughness. I most always make 25 pound batches of sausage and just toss any leftover casings. RAY

 

[chopsaw]

Chopsaw, no they uncovered.

Joe , that was part of the reason . Hang at room temp for an hour before going in the smoker . Then dry in the smoker for an hour or so at 120 / 130 before adding smoke .

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

I agree with Syracuse Casing company. The last two batches I bought were first from the Sausage Maker and then from Syracuse Casing company. It was like night and day. If I'm making fresh sausages, then the casings aren't as important, but if you are slow smoking them and cooking them again, then by the time you do all that the casing is too tough at least for me.

 

[zwiller]

I am still too chicken to get into real casings and happy using strippable. Am I reading this right that the toughness is due to too much salt in the casing and it needs to be reduced by soaking? Seems backward to me.

 

[Coach JoeQB]

Zwiller dive on in. It's really wonderful. Working out the details, you still make better sausage then you can get anywhere.

The guys here are sharp and the advise will get you on the right track.

 

[DougE]

I am still too chicken to get into real casings and happy using strippable.

Why is that? Other than the "ICK" factor that these things are intestines, it isn't that hard to turn out a good sausage made with them.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Am I reading this right that the toughness is due to too much salt in the casing and it needs to be reduced by soaking? Seems backward to me.

With the “home pack” casings for 25 pounds of sausage, the packing in salt with no brine actually dehydrates the casings and can to the point of leather. This is really not recoverable in some cases. No amount of rehydration will make these type casings supple, really ever. Just spend the money and buy a hank. These come in a salt solution not dry salt. Then follow the storage method posted by Joe. Life is good and they keep refrigerated for a looong time but you should use them up making hoops and links. It’s worth the jump.

 

[DougE]

With the “home pack” casings for 25 pounds of sausage, the packing in salt with no brine actually dehydrates the casings and can to the point of leather. This is really not recoverable in some cases.

I believe that may be the case. I have taken dry salt packed casings and transferred them into liquid brine for storage and some of the sausages made with them have a nice snap, others are tough. Seems to be kind of hit or miss.

 

[chopsaw]

I've rehydrated the home packs , not as good as the hanks stored wet .
I've held the better casings stuffed but uncovered in the fridge overnight . The tops were like leather .
Live and learn Joe , but that's a place to start . Next time if you hold in the fridge throw some plastic wrap on top .

 

[JckDanls 07]

I am also a Syracuse Casing user... They dont come in a brine though.. just salted...

 

[SmokinEdge]

Don’t get caught up in the drying or pellicule formation. This is not a huge deal and in this conversation is contributing to your problem.

I stuff, then hang at room temp an hour or two, then into the smoker. As long as they are not wet on the surface just start smoking and cooking.

If I fridge to smoke next day, I hang at room temp to get the water off from the stuffing process then refrigerate covered over night, then hang again for about an hour at room temp then straight to the smoker. Just don’t smoke them wet.

 

[Danblacksher]

I will say I have used the LEM casings with good results but I followed the advice on here and soaked them for 3 days before using. Using some from a butcher supply that's local and they have been really good.

 

[Coach JoeQB]

32-35mm Hog Casings, Whisker-Free, Pre-flushed, A-Quality - Craft Butchers' Pantry

butcherspantry.com

These are the casings I ordered last nite. Has anyone used them before?

 

[tallbm]

I've had good success with Lem's and The Sausage Maker (TSM) natural castings.
For a while now I buy tubed hanks. They come on these big plastic straw like things that make it easy to put on the stuffing tube.

When I do the processing from my yearly hunt it is often just me and when I'm lucky 1 other person so every minute of time is precious to get it all done ASAP. These tubed casings speed things up and are the way for me to go. No fighting with getting casings on a tube when stuffing 200+ pounds of sausage in a few hours.

I follow the @boykjo practices of soaking for a week before using and changing the water out as I go.
The tubed casings don't come submerged in brine BUT come salted and wet like they were pulled from a brine and then had salt slapped on them for packaging and shipping since they aren't shipped in the liquid.

Also I really like the cellulose/plastic casings these days for making skinless dogs because they are so freaking easy to work with and so fast to work with. The only issue with them is that you gotta commit to smoking them. There's no cutting raw stuffed links and vac sealing to freeze then cook/smoke at a later date.

Finally, I don't care for fighting with lamb casings anymore. They make an amazing smaller sausage but the fight with them and the time it takes to mess with them and the ease at which they break or bust is not something I want to deal with anymore. I LOVE the cellulose/plastic casings for skinnless dogs in the same diameter for making pork franks (hot dogs) and sausage of that size.

I hope this info gives you some more ideas :)

 

[river100]

I am also a Syracuse Casing user... They dont come in a brine though.. just salted...

How long do you soak the casings from Syracuse? I just got some 35/38 last week and will be using them next weekend.

 

[JckDanls 07]

River100...

Rinse well and soak for 30min. to an hour and they are good to go... I presume they are pretubed ? ... Also I might add that I only use sheep casings... Not sure if hog casings need to soak longer...
A rule of thumb is to soak until they are silky soft

 

[tallbm]

@river100 you can soak for like a week before you use them to ensure they are silky smooth and ready to go. You just have to change to fresh water every 3 days or so.
This should get you there no matter what. No guess work in timing when doing it like this :)