What am I doing wrong? Tough casings.

[Brshooter]

A new sausage maker here. I have made a couple of batches of jalapeno-cheddar brats. One batch I used the DeWied 32mm casings from Amazon and the other batch I used the LEM 32-35mm casings from Amazon. Soaked and rinsed as directed. Maybe longer. After stuffing, I hang in my garage fridge overnight and either cook that day or freeze for later.
Problem I am having is that I get patches of tough casings. sometimes you take the bite and end up with a hunk of chewing gum. Almost like the movie Coneheads, when they chew condoms for chewing gum. I have never encountered that on other people's sausage? Am I doing something wrong, or am I using the wrong casings? Any suggestions or comments appreciated.

Bill

 

[JckDanls 07]

Describe your soaking/rinsing process please ?? Also which kind of casings did you use ??

I am also gonna suggest you get your casings (naturals) directly from Syracuse Casing instead of through Amazon (who knows how old these are from whoever is selling it)...

 

[Brshooter]

I would normally soak in luke warm water for about an hour. Then I would put them in the sink and run luke warm water thru them about 5 times. Then they would soak a bit longer while I did my final grind and chill.

I was considering going to the local german deli and see if I could get some of their casings that they use for their brats.

Hope that gives you an idea of what I have been doing. I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

Bill

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Like Keith said.

Your using natural casings which can be processed different between suppliers. Syracuse has great casings that are clean and calibrated. Sometimes casings can sit in the packages for months, even though they are salted they can still bite tough. Try adding a Tblsp of vinegar to your soaking water. If you soak for more than an hour no biggie, the casings will absorb moisture.

Let us know how you make out.

 

[PolishDeli]

Do you have air pockets in the sausage after stuffing? Are you popping them?
Sounds like the tough patches might be dried out casing caused by bubbles.

 

[Brshooter]

Thanks for the reply. I'll check out the Syracuse casings. Looks like it come in 100 yard quantities. I make small batches of 5-10 pounds. Can unused portions be preserved for use at a later time?

Appreciate you response.

Bill

 

[JckDanls 07]

Do you have air pockets in the sausage after stuffing? Are you popping them?
Sounds like the tough patches might be dried out casing caused by bubbles.

That's a possibility too... Do you prick any air bubbles if you see them ??

As for rinsing/soaking... I do as SFL. says and add vinegar but usually let them soak overnight ... You are looking for them to be real silky smooth and soft ... I am still ASSUMING you are using hog casings as you haven't mentioned that yet... I have had to let em soak for a couple of days before I could get to them and they were perfect ...

 

[Brshooter]

Do you have air pockets in the sausage after stuffing? Are you popping them?
Sounds like the tough patches might be dried out casing caused by bubbles.

Thanks for your reply.

Haven't notice a lot of air bubbles. I did pop any that I have noticed.

On the first two batches, I was over stuffing a bit and had some blowouts when I was trying to twist the links. Didn't notice the tough casings. The last two batches, I used my new LEM stuffer and tried not to overstuff. Used my left hand to kind of control the feed and diameter as they were coming out. If they felt too tight, I would stop the feed and kind of squeeze the casing to work the meat back down the casing trying to take some of the pressure off. I noticed the tough casings on these two batches.

 

[tallbm]

A new sausage maker here. I have made a couple of batches of jalapeno-cheddar brats. One batch I used the DeWied 32mm casings from Amazon and the other batch I used the LEM 32-35mm casings from Amazon. Soaked and rinsed as directed. Maybe longer. After stuffing, I hang in my garage fridge overnight and either cook that day or freeze for later.
Problem I am having is that I get patches of tough casings. sometimes you take the bite and end up with a hunk of chewing gum. Almost like the movie Coneheads, when they chew condoms for chewing gum. I have never encountered that on other people's sausage? Am I doing something wrong, or am I using the wrong casings? Any suggestions or comments appreciated.

Bill

Hi there and welcome!

There is a post on the forums where soaking for like a week in the fridge before makes for easier to work natural casings. I'm not sure if that helps with your issue.

HOWEVER, I don't boil my natural casing sausages as it makes the casings chewy sometimes. I strictly grill them and NEVER have an issue with chewy or tough cases.

I've never really had an issue with smoked sausages like that but I have noticed some the casings arent as crisp when microwaved vs grilling smoked sausages in natural castings.... so again I just grill them and no issues.

I hope this info helps :)

 

[Brshooter]

That's a possibility too... Do you prick any air bubbles if you see them ??

As for rinsing/soaking... I do as SFL. says and add vinegar but usually let them soak overnight ... You are looking for them to be real silky smooth and soft ... I am still ASSUMING you are using hog casings as you haven't mentioned that yet... I have had to let em soak for a couple of days before I could get to them and they were perfect ...

I'll try the soaking overnight and a touch of vinegar. Definitely going to look at the Syracuse Casings vs the ones from amazon. I do try to pop any bubbles notice.

Appreciate the responses.

Bill

 

[Brshooter]

Hi there and welcome!

There is a post on the forums where soaking for like a week in the fridge before makes for easier to work natural casings. I'm not sure if that helps with your issue.

HOWEVER, I don't boil my natural casing sausages as it makes the casings chewy sometimes. I strictly grill them and NEVER have an issue with chewy or tough cases.

I've never really had an issue with smoked sausages like that but I have noticed some the casings arent as crisp when microwaved vs grilling smoked sausages in natural castings.... so again I just grill them and no issues.

I hope this info helps :)

I don't boil any of my sausage. Doing mostly fresh jalapeno-cheddar. Usually smoke at 180* on my Traeger. Using natural hog casings.

They come packed in salt. It is sounding to me like I really need to do the overnight soak with a touch of vinegar.

Thanks for the reply.

Bill

 

[JckDanls 07]

Also I would suggest trying to get some of the vinegar tainted water to go through the inside of the casings as well...

 

[indaswamp]

They come packed in salt. It is sounding to me like I really need to do the overnight soak with a touch of vinegar.

Packed in just salt, or a salt water brine? If just salt, yeah...you really need to soak them. Matter of fact, a week or two before you need them, put them in a salt brine solution in a container and put in the fridge. Then rinse night before and soak in 2% vinegar solution. They should be silky smooth then....

 

[tropics]

I don't boil any of my sausage. Doing mostly fresh jalapeno-cheddar. Usually smoke at 180* on my Traeger. Using natural hog casings.

They come packed in salt. It is sounding to me like I really need to do the overnight soak with a touch of vinegar.

Thanks for the reply.

Bill

Bill Welcome to SMF
Are you using cure #1 in your Fresh Sausage before smoking?
Richie

 

[SmokinAl]

I buy my casings from TheSausageMaker & use this process to preserve them. I have had casings that were 5 years old & still just like new.

How to handle natural casings

Thought I would post up what I do with natural casings. I use naturals 99.9% of the time when making sausages be it sheep or hog casings. I get compliments about how the casing are very delicate and have a perfect snap when you bite into the sausage. I believe the quality of the casings is part...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[Braz]

Thanks for the reply. I'll check out the Syracuse casings. Looks like it come in 100 yard quantities. I make small batches of 5-10 pounds. Can unused portions be preserved for use at a later time?

Packed in salt the unused casings will last pretty much forever. Read that link Al posted for how to use and store the casings. In addition to Syracuse, The Sausage Maker is also a reliable source for casings. You can buy smaller quantities from them (I think they call them Home Packs) if you don't want to buy a full hank. Less expensive in larger quantities, though.

 

[Brshooter]

Bill Welcome to SMF
Are you using cure #1 in your Fresh Sausage before smoking?
Richie

Yes I am.

 

[Brshooter]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I really appreciate it. You guys are awesome. I recently retired and look forward to lots of sausage making in the future.

 

[indaswamp]

May I suggest clicking the sausage sticky at the top of the page and looking over the tips thread....lots of good info there will save you a ton of mistakes!

 

[JckDanls 07]

Packed in salt the unused casings will last pretty much forever. Read that link Al posted for how to use and store the casings. In addition to Syracuse, The Sausage Maker is also a reliable source for casings. You can buy smaller quantities from them (I think they call them Home Packs) if you don't want to buy a full hank. Less expensive in larger quantities, though.

As you say... will last indefinitely packed in salt (I use kosher)...

As that being one of the pros for getting a whole hank instead of a home pak.... Home paks are so unpredictable as far as lengths are concerned... Home paks are "drops" from cutting full length for the hanks ... another pro for the hanks... And as you also said... you get more for your buck by the hank ... a third pro ...

Sounds like he will be doing a lot of stuffing in the future so there's another pro point ...