Welcome!


This is a membership forum. Guests can view 5 pages for free. To participate, please join.

[ Pitmaster Club Information | Join Now | Login | Contact Us ]

Only 4 free page views remaining.

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Proper use of Collagen Casing

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Proper use of Collagen Casing

    Soooo we're a no-pork household, including casings. I've been experimenting with chicken sausages and they've been great - the best have been chicken breakfast links made with lamb casing - smoked, grilled, on a pan, no casing patties, all coming out terrific.

    I also made a chicken andouille which TASTED terrific, but coming off the smoker the collagen casing that I used (link below) was just too tough to eat. Easy enough to peel off so the sausages were saved, but the casing can be texture-tasty when it's snappy!

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    Is this just the wrong product to smoke? I want to move into kielbasa, texas guts, chorizo, more andouille, italian...I got aspirations here! But I'm so limited with just the small lamb casings. What do ya'll think?

    Pics attached are the finished smoked product and the fresh before they went into the rec tec. maybe it was that I cut them into links? They weren't tied but i twisted them up and then cut them - so there was a little opening at the edge of each link...
    Attached Files

    #2
    The gentleman that taught me how to make sausage used collagen casings. And he was a butcher. He recommended them because of the different sizes you can get, they keep a long time, they’re resistant to tearing and overall much easier to work with. To him, there was little difference in taste and you can also use them for smoked sausage. Your pics look spot on.

    Comment


    • Guttenberg
      Guttenberg commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks - I tried a texas hot guts yesterday and it came out better - didn't make it into links, just 3 long tubes. Maybe that did it....

    #3
    As you have found out probably collagen casings need two things. They need a tie because no matter what others say, they come untwisted at the ends. They also need a lot of humidity when smoking or they get tough. If there is a way to increase humidity in the smoker you should see better results.

    Comment


    • Mr. Bones
      Mr. Bones commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks fer sharin yer experience, as I find that sausage path loomin in front of me, havin jus recently gotten a grinder fer my KA, vs hand crankin, like I been doin at home, fer 50+yrs...

    • Guttenberg
      Guttenberg commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks for the idea! I'm using a Rec Tec - I could add a water pan.

    #4
    I'm not a fan of casings, I've never had a sausage in casing that could't be improved without the casing. But thats just my opinion.

    Comment


      #5
      I use lamb casings for breakfast sausage. I am on vacation so can't give you the name, of the company I use but it is in upstate NY and supplies all of the chemicals and spices needed for making and curing sausage and meat. It is SausageMaker.com They had two or three collagen casings in there last catalog.
      Last edited by mountainsmoker; June 9, 2019, 07:39 PM.

      Comment


        #6
        Funny you asked, I tried corn husks used as casing. Good stuff.
        Attached Files

        Comment


          #7
          I've found some casings I've used to be tougher than others. I have no clue what the difference is because to my touch and feel, they seem pretty much the same. I've had good luck with anything from One-Stop Jerky Shop. https://www.onestopjerkyshop.com/pro...usage-casings/
          I also find that whatever casing I use it seems to be a bit tougher when I make turkey sausage than pork or beef sausages. Maybe the higher fat content somehow makes the collagen casings more tender. That's just a wild guess though.

          Comment


            #8
            I've had a love-hate relationship with collagen casings. Yes, in humid cooks it does better(sometimes). I seem to have more issues when making smaller sausages, as they don't cook to what I like. It's probably just me, but this I've noticed. Using lamb and sheep casings was my solution. I still use pork a lot, but for folks I know that don't do pork, I default to sheep and lamb when I make their stuff(it makes good holiday and birthday gifts).

            Comment

            Announcement

            Collapse
            No announcement yet.
            Working...
            X
            false
            0
            Guest
            Guest
            500
            ["pitmaster-my-membership","login","join-pitmaster","lostpw","reset-password","special-offers","help","nojs","meat-ups","gifts","authaau-alpha","ebooklogin-start","alpha","start"]
            false
            false
            {"count":0,"link":"/forum/announcements/","debug":""}
            Yes
            ["\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads","\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads\/1157845-paid-members-download-your-6-deep-dive-guide-ebooks-for-free-here","\/forum\/the-pitcast","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2019-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2020-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2021-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2022-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/current-2023-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/current-2024-issues","\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads\/1165909-trial-members-download-your-free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-here"]
            /forum/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads/1165909-trial-members-download-your-free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-here