Homemade Sausage Making

This may seem like a weird question, but I have found three local sources of hog casings, and one of them sells by the pound.

Whole Foods Market makes their own sausages using only the 32-35mm size casing. They are packed dry in salt, and they sell them at $13.99 a pound. I asked if they could sell me a hank, and the person didn't know what that was.

Do any of you know the weight of a hank of 32-35mm casings packed dry in salt?


The other two local sources I found were specialty meat markets that also make their own sausages. They sell casings by the hank, but again, only in the size that they use for all their own sausages. One of them sells a hank of pre-flushed brined 35-38mm casings for $25. The other sells a hank of dry-salted 38-40mm casings for $20. Those prices are excellent, especially considering the lack of shipping charges. However, I'm really wanting the 32-35mm, hence my question about the weight of a dry-salted hank.

I called a different Whole Foods store and got a bit more information about the casings they use and sell for $13.99 a pound. They are pre-tubed casings, 32-35mm. The guy told me there is some variation in them, but they tend to hold 10 to 20 pounds of sausage. He said probably about 4 or 5 of them to a pound.

That sounds like a good price for pre-tubed casings, but still more expensive than buying by the hank.

Tasso wrote:

I called a different Whole Foods store and got a bit more information about the casings

Just out of curiosity, what was their demeanor like on the telephone? Were they courteous and helpful? Did they go "beyond the mark" to help you, or were they just so-so and businesslike?

They were courteous and quite friendly, Chuckwagon. One of them seemed to know more about sausage making and casings than the other, but they both seemed interested in my questions, and in getting me the answers I sought. I would say they went beyond the mark, in that both put me on hold to confer with someone else to get me precise answers.

I'm sure the casings will be of high quality because the sausages they make and sell in the store using those casings always look very nice.

I might just go to the store and buy a pound so I can see for myself what it consists of. That's probably the only way I'll know for sure if it's a good deal.

If you have a Whole Foods store near you, and you want to buy 32-35mm pre-tubed casings, you may want to check them out. It's possible that they may have the BEST price on pre-tubed 32-35mm casings anywhere.

In another thread, I compared the cost of the pre-tubed 32-35mm casings I bought from Walton's in Wichita Kansas with the cost of the pre-tubed 32-35mm casings I can buy from my local Whole Foods store. The price of the hank from Walton's was excellent, the best price of any pre-tubed 32-35mm casings I'd seen anywhere. But it turns out that the casings are even less expensive purchased from Whole Foods. When I worked out the cost per ounce of combined plastic sleeves and casings from Walton's, it came to $1.18 an ounce. From Whole Foods, the price comes to $0.87 per ounce.

Details in this thread: Pre-tubed casings, good price?