Casings for making fermented sausages?

Blackriver · Post by **Blackriver** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 01:38

Can I use fibrous casings for making fermented sausages? Here is the ones that I normally buy. Thanks

https://www.psseasoning.com/index.cfm/a ... ct_id/1917

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 06:37

Hi Blackriver,
That`s a great choice. Any synthetic casing may be used as long as it allows moisture and smoke to travel through it. For dry-cured salami, I like to use the protein-lined casings because they actually shrink with the meat as it loses moisture. You actually have to rinse them inside to make the protein wet before stuffing the casing. Believe me, it causes the casing to stick to the meat. I`ve tried to peel it back off at several intervals during the curing process just to see what was happening. The protein bound the casing within a few hours of stuffing. Even though natural casings appear to be "solid", they actually have minute holes in them, permitting smoke and moisture to go through them. The only problem you may have is if you mince the fat in sausage while it is warm. This will "smear" and coat the inside of the casings as it slides in, blocking the microscopic holes in the casings. To avoid problems, be sure to freeze the fat before you grind it and use a sharp blade in your grinder. Also, make sure there is some tension placed on the plate by the blade as the grinder-head locking ring screws it down.
Hope this helps Scott. Let us know how it's going.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Blackriver · Post by **Blackriver** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 23:32

As always you are very helpful, thanks Chuckwagon