NATURAL CASINGS

[goliath]

HELLO
i have natural hog casing frozen in salt, has been a few years and i have quite a selection and use them periodically, HOW LONG wil they keep for before being unusable, or lets say ... not worth using. I did some kielbasa up a few months ago and they were fine but others have not been touched. when i use them i soak for a few days in the fridge and seem OK.. rejuvenates them ... LOL
if only that would work for me :)
THANKS FOR ANY HELP

Goliath

 

[browneyesvictim]

I've never frozen them but they seem to keep almost indefinitely when packed in salt like that.

There is a thread around here about working with casings that is very informative.

 

[SmokinAl]

I have never frozen mine either, but I have some that are 7 years old & they are just like new.
I use this method to keep them fresh.
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/how-to-handle-natural-casings.159729/
Al

 

[browneyesvictim]

YUP! That's the one. Thanks Al!

 

[goliath]

thanks gang !!!!!
i do have some in a salt water solution in one of my fridges, i guess i should just put them ALL in the same bucket. they are all colour coded anyways ... LOL

 

[tallbm]

HELLO
i have natural hog casing frozen in salt, has been a few years and i have quite a selection and use them periodically, HOW LONG wil they keep for before being unusable, or lets say ... not worth using. I did some kielbasa up a few months ago and they were fine but others have not been touched. when i use them i soak for a few days in the fridge and seem OK.. rejuvenates them ... LOL
if only that would work for me :)
THANKS FOR ANY HELP

Goliath

I have some frozen I have used that were over 4 years old.
I have read that it is bad to freeze them because it supposedly messes with the integrity and they may tear easily but I have seen no such evidence.
I vac seal them while they are wet and freeze. Have done it with salt and without salt on them. No issues here.

Heck I think it makes them crappy family/store pack ones easier to use. I ran low last time around and finished it off with some of those and they were much easier to work with than in the paste.
My frozen pre-tubed ones have always been good and I've never noticed any change in ease of use since they are sooo easy to use anyhow, these were hog casings.

I have some pre-tubed sheep casings that were still a little bit of a pain to use. I froze them last year and will know after hunting season this year if freezing has made them any easier to use. I'll report back at that time :)

 

[goliath]

sheeps casings are actually spelled ..."PAIN TO USE" .... LOL
thanks for the input !!
Goliath