Homemade Sausage Making

Hi,
I noticed on an australian suppliers site that clear collagen sausage casings can't be smoked, the only ones suitable for smoking are the brown coloured ones. No explanation at all why.
Does anyone has an explanation for this.
Regards,
Jan.
Brisbane.

This may answer your question. http://www.sausagemaker.com/27930smoked ... 238mm.aspx
They have clear and also clear smoked with the smoked being a bit stronger.

Hi Crusty,
The clear collagen casing can be smoked alright, they just can`t be HUNG in the smokehouse. The clear casing is made thinly as possible (for tenderness) and just won`t hold the weight of sausage when it is hung. I use the stuff all the time, easily cut into lengths with scissors, then laid on closely-woven smoking screens. Collagen smokes just beautifully and when dried in the air a little before it goes into the smokehouse, it takes on a mahogany bloom within just a few hours. On the other hand, the pre-smoked casings are just a bit thicker - enabling it to be hung on smokesticks if desired. Hope this helps. I like the stuff because it is sterile, convenient, and doesn't need to be wet before using it. Simply feed it onto a non-tapered stainless steel tube and crank away!

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

For an old geezer I am certainly learning fast. I have made salamis with Italian friends for many years but about collagen casings I know nothing, not even how to use them
Gentlemen, thank you for the advise you made my day.
Best Regards,
Jan.
Brisbane.

Crusty, for fermented sausages it is best to use "fibrous" casings or even natural beef "middles". Synthetic fibrous casing is a type of "vulcanized fiber" and it's very strong - especially the type with threads running lengthwise through it. Ideally, the "protein lined" fibrous casings are best for fermented sausages, as they shrink along with the product.
Collagen casings have their limitations. If you ever have a question whether or not to use them for a particular item, just ask anyone on this forum. There are many members who have used them quite extensively. Some like them - some do not. They can all give you their own reasons.
Collagen can't handle a really "moist" sausage of larger diameters, but for snack-stix, they just can't be beat in my opinion.
Shucks pard, I remember when we use to special order them in six-foot diameter and a quarter mile long. We'd just drive part of a herd of cattle into each one, use the ol' pickup truck to pack 'em in tightly, then lassoooo the thing to tie it off! Now, that's BEEF sausage!
Oh, and I think the reason WE ol' geezers learn so quickly is that we don't have all that much time remaining that we can afford to waste any by not payin' attention. Shucks Crusty ol' pal, we HAVE to pay attention at our age! What do you think?

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Well, I hope that by the time I get as old as you guys I will have learned to make good sausage. Meantime I pay attention to everything including my wife.

Oh you youngsters of today! Will you EVER learn from those with more candles on their birthday cake?

Chuckwagon wrote:Oh you youngsters of today! Will you EVER learn from those with more candles on their birthday cake?

Hey Nor Cal,
That's a conflagration just waitin' to happen!