Sausage newbie question

[buckscent]

so I made my first sausages. One long casing full. I twisted and have several links now. So now what? If I cut the twists the ends will be open. So how do I get individual links?? Thanks.

 

[cal1956]

they shouldn't open if you twisted them , most of the time we don't bother to twist them at all, just cut them to the length you want they should be fine in the smoker

 

[Rings Я Us]

You can twist them again after you cut maybe. So you lose a couple ounces.. just twist again after the cut. Even open ends won't really matter . It will fry or cook up ok.

 

[cal1956]

we smoke them in long coils and then just cut them

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• cal1956
• Oct 12, 2015

 

[buckscent]

So do I smoke/fry them before I cut them? I’m not questioning, believe me I am a newbie but seems logical to me if I twist something in the middle and then cut it you will have 2 untwisted open ends.

 

[Rings Я Us]

Just cut and twist after you cut..then cook. I do that with store bought fresh kielbasa. I think you can cut in the middle of the twist also.. :D

 

[cal1956]

its not going to leak out no matter when you cut them ....unless you added a LOT of water before you stuffed them

 

[bmudd14474]

I like then and let them sit over night then cut and they usually hold the crimp. I know 1 member that takes butcher twine and puts 2 ties in and then cuts between them.

 

[chopsaw]

I like then and let them sit over night then cut and they usually hold the crimp. I know 1 member that takes butcher twine and puts 2 ties in and then cuts between them.

I do the same . Let sit over night , and have also used the double tie with twine . Do not cut and re twist . Depending on the type of sausage you made , and the moisture content you may have a mess if you don't let the sausage set up first .

 

[buckscent]

Actually there was no moisture which might be sort of the problem stuffing, it was really hard to do.

 

[cal1956]

we never add water to our sausage . and they aren't very hard to stuff so i wouldn't think that would be your problem
but we do use a fine plate when we grind , your sausage should feel firm but not hard when you squeeze them, i am starting to suspect that your grind was to coarse

 

[chopsaw]

To get an idea of how to help ,, you should post what type of sausage you made , what size and type of casing you used . Cure or no cure ? If you are using collagen they won't stay twisted .

 

[buckscent]

used these casings - http://www.butcher-packer.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=85_94_96&products_id=303

Recipe: Course Ground
2.5 Lbs Pork Butt
.5 Lbs Pork Fat
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
3 Jalapeños chopped fine
5 garlic cloves minced
1 Tbl Kosher Salt
2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flacks

I put mixture in fridge for 24 hrs and then right to the stuffer

So as I write this recipe out I realized in all of my excitement of doing my first sausage I left out the 1/2 cup of vinegar. That would explain why it felt so dry to me

 

[chopsaw]

Thats a natural casing . Did you rinse and soak them ? This is how I keep mine now . Always ready .
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/how-to-handle-natural-casings.159729/

 

[browneyesvictim]

1/2 C Vinegar for 3 lbs of meat is a lot. so yeah I can imagine it would be kind of dry. By the way... what kind of sausage is this? Are you planning on smoking it or ???

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Tip: The acetic acid in the vinegar will break down the meat fibers, this can make your ground meat mix mushy.

 

[buckscent]

Actually just frying this first one to see how it came out

 

[jimmyinsd]

this is as fresh sausage so dont go for a long slow smoke no matter what you do with the casings. no cure means you have to keep them below 40 and get them above 140 inside of 4hours... I usually say 3 hours myself to be on the safe side. if your fry test is satisfactory, cut them on the twist and you will be fine unless you really over stuffed them. Think of a bratwurst... they are raw and cut when you buy them and they hold together right? that rest overnight in the fridge should have set up the meat and somewhat sealed the ends of your casing a bit. good luck.

 

[tallbm]

What you have made are called Fresh Sausages. They are called fresh sausages because you did not use Cure#1 and therefore they will not be smoked like sausages are normally smoked.

The simplest way to handle them is to grill them. If you pan cook them the casing might be a little tough but if you grill them then you should be ok.

I stuff fresh sausages, link, cut, and vac seal with no issues. They will hold together even IF the casing moves off the end of the meat exposing some meat with no casing around it.

Also another little tip for Fresh Sausage. If you stuff and create somewhat loose/mushy links (as apposed to firm tight links) they will plump up perfectly when cooked without exploding or splitting. They come out perfect this way :)

Toss on the grill and go to town!

Best of luck and enjoy eating it.

 

[cal1956]

" pops" has a GREAT recipe for breakfast sausage ( i just reduce the salt by 50% ) its simple and easy to do and is the best tasting breakfast sausage i have ever eaten , it would be a great 1st sausage to get you started