Sausage casings are an essential part of making wieners at dwelling. Their job is to encase the sausage meat so that the sausage holds its shape. Sometimes they as well add flavor to the sausage such as smoked casings for hot dogs.

When yous commencement out making sausage information technology tin be a scrap daunting. There are and then many options! Whether it's the cooking way, the ingredients or those casings which seem to be available in 100 varieties. Don't fright, we have all the information you'll need to get started without all the mistakes nosotros made the first fourth dimension.

What is sausage casing made of?

Natural casings Collagen casings Cellulose casings
The near natural casing. Made from cow, sus scrofa or sheep intestines. Highly processed beast collagen that is extruded. Vegan casings primarily derived from plant cell walls.

1. Natural casings

Sausages made at home are commonly cased in sub-mucosa – the intestines removed from the cow, sheep or pig. It doesn't audio appealing, I know. But keep in mind this is a very natural method of encasing sausage that has been used for centuries.

Natural casings are sporadically shaped because the intestines are scraped on the inside and out. They tend to exist porous and fragile when wet. When dried they go much more resilient. This is the reason casings are often dried when stored and sold at the store.

You'll find that sus scrofa casing is the nearly commonly used option in the popular sausage regions of Europe such every bit Italian republic and Germany. Sheep, goat, beef and, cartel we say, horse intestines are used in other parts of the world.

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2. Collagen casings

Although these casings likewise come from natural products, they are a lot more than processed. Animal collagen is candy so extruded to make different sized casings.

Collagen casings come in a wide range of variations: some common options include fresh, candy, rounds and middles.

  • fresh casings are edible and don't need soaking. They are clear which makes them perfect for fresh and breakfast sausages.
  • processed casings are edible and make the ideal companion for hot dogs, smoked and cured sausage.
  • rounds are non-edible and are used for sausages like bologna and summer sausage.
  • middles are non-edible and are commonly used for bologna and salami.

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iii. Cellulose casings

This is derived from institute cell walls and produces a resilient, translucent casing. These casings are ideal for those on a vegan diet. They are as well used past commercial manufacturers to make skinless sausages.

If you lot're vegan and want to make your own sausage, check out my vegan sausage guide.

sausage casing

Are casings edible?

All sausage casings are safe to eat. Whether they're all enjoyable to consume is some other question.

Cellulose casings and some natural casings are perfectly fine to eat. The chances are, if y'all've ever bought sausages from the supermarket they would have a casing that you ate.

Withal, some casings are not meant for eating equally they are simply too thick or aren't enjoyable to consume. Some collagen casings are produced for the purpose of encasing salamis and larger sausages. They are always peeled off. Skinless franks are encased in a cellulose casing which is also removed subsequently cooking.

Beef casings are all inedible and are used for casing meats such equally big sausages, mortadella, hard salamis and liver sausages.

How should casings be stored?

Common salt enables casings to last a long time before going rancid. You can easily store casings in the fridge for 1 yr.

How to prep sausage casings

It'due south very important to prep casings before stuffing sausages at home. They come up packed in table salt and then you'll demand to wash all of that off first.

  1. Place the casings in a basin and run water over them. Try to be gentle when you do this so they don't get tangled.
  2. Soak the casings in cool water for thirty minutes then rinse with fresh water one more time.
  3. Now have each casing, i at a time and flush absurd water through the within of the casing to get rid of any common salt. Repeat that procedure for each casing.

One time you have finished rinsing each casing, identify it in a basin of water with one terminate dangled over the side of the bowl. That way you won't waste material time trying to find the opening to each casing.

Quick sausage making tip

Quick Tip

When you soak the casings, add together i tablespoon of white vinegar to the bowl for each cup of water you accept added. This makes the casing softer and transparent.

One time your casings are prepared you tin start making sausage. It'south time to pull out your sausage stuffer and get stuffing!

How to remove a sausage casing

When making bootleg sausages you'll need to remove the skins on some of your creations. For example, the casings of Italian sausage are oftentimes removed.

Removing the casing isn't e'er an piece of cake chore. It tends to stick to the meat, break into pieces and crusade a lot of headaches if you're skinning a lot of them.

If possible, it'southward all-time to pare sausages when they are frozen. Simply run the meat under warm h2o for a few seconds commencement then follow these steps:

  1. Place your sausage on the chopping board.
  2. Using a very precipitous knife, lightly cutting along the sausage length-ways.
  3. Pare off the casing and add the sausage meat to your dish.

Last words

Making sausages can be very rewarding. You become astonishing tasting meat that's super fresh and doesn't have the added fillers. I find that some newcomers to sausage making detect it daunting trying to sympathize which casing to utilize and how to use them. My advice is to merely jump in and experiment. Learning from your mistakes volition help you pick upwards the art and scientific discipline of sausage making much quicker than reading what someone else has to say. And then dust off your sausage stuffer and see where this fun pass-fourth dimension takes you.