Salted Casings:
For best results soak over night in cooler in water that starts out at 90º F (32.2ºC). If in a hurry, follow these instructions but understand that you may not get maximum expansion capacity from the casing. Rushing the soaking process can result in the casing being sticky and they may not slide easily from the horn. This can result in breakage and sausage that is irregular in diameter or too small.
The fast soak:
- Rinse salt from casings
- soak in fresh water at 70º F (21.11ºC) for 1 hour
- Soak in fresh water at 90º F (32.2ºC) for 1 hour
- Place in fresh warm water 90º F (32.2ºC) at the stuffing table
Net Pack Casings:
- Soak in fresh water at 90º F (32.2ºC) for 30 minutes
- Place in fresh warm water at the stuffing table
Preflushed Vac-Pack:
- Soak in fresh water at 90º F (32.2ºC) for 30 minutes
- Place in fresh warm water at the stuffing table
Tubed Casings:
- Rinse salt from casings
- Soak in fresh water at 70º F (21.11ºC) for 1 hour
- Soak in fresh water at 90º F (32.2ºC) for 1 hour
- Place in fresh warm water 90º F (32.2ºC) at the stuffing table
Beef Rounds:
- Soak overnight in cold water.
- Soak in warm water 90-100ºF (32.2ºC - 37.77ºC) for 30 minutes
- Place in fresh warm water at the stuffing table
Sheep Casings:
- Soak in fresh water at 85-90º F (29.44ºC - 32.2ºC) for 30 minutes
- Place in fresh warm water at the stuffing table.
The length of your smoke cycle becomes part of your sausage formulation. Your smoke cycle depends on the type of smokehouse you have and the type of product you are smoking. Contact your smokehouse supplier. DeWied FLAVOR FRESH colored casings can help shorten your smoke cycle to increase smokehouse productivity.
(If you have your own Smoker or Smoke House, we have 5 Lb. And 1½ Lb. Bags of
100% Natural Hickory Sawdust available on this page.)
Cover unused casings in brine solution or granulated salt and store in cooler at 40º (4.44ºC) or less but do not freeze.
How tight you stuff sausage casings depends on the type of sausage and how it is to be linked. For natural casings: When making a rope sausage, without linking, stuff to slightly less than the maximum expansion of the casings. If linking by machine, stuff 3-4 mm below the maximum expansion of the casing. Consult the instructions for the linker or your linker supplier because there can be significant differences in equipment. If linking by hand stuff 4-5 mm below the maximum expansion of the casing. Hand linking can put uneven stress on the casing. By under stuffing, you can reduce breakage during linking. Check the firmness of the link and adjust the stuffing pressure.
Salt: 1 year or more
Preflushed in Net Pack: 6 months to one year.
Preflushed in Vacuum Pack: 6 months to one year.
Preflushed on plastic Tubes: 6 months to one year.
Colored Casings: About 6 months.
Store in the cooler at 40º (4.44ºC) or less in brine or well salted. NEVER freeze casings.
There are no standards dictating the size casing to be used for a particular sausage. The size casing you use for sausage should depend on what you want your sausage to look like. The specification of the packaging and above all, the preference of the customer will influence the casing size . How many links do you want to make up a pound? How long must the links be for the packaging to be used? IE: 5 links per pound(436g) and 5 inches (127mm) per link.
Traditionally, smaller sizes are used for fresh sausage and larger sizes for smoked sausage. See the size guidelines recommended in the sections of this web site for fresh, smoked, cooked, dried and deli sausage.
Usually Yes. When your natural casings first arrive there may be some gas build up in the container, especially in hot weather. This can smell pretty strong. Kind of like a crowded room of bean farmers after a bean banquet. They are still good people though!
Usually all it needs is airing out. Leave the container open in the cooler for a while. Or, take casings out of the container and air them out. If it is really bad, rinse casings in fresh water, re-soak in brine and the smell will usually dissipate.
Putting baking soda in your soak water may also help.
If odor persists, call your DeWied account executive for assistance.
Cooking a sausage can toughen any casing. To maximize the tender bite of a casing, cook with moisture. Prick sausage before grilling.
Some casings are tougher because of their origin. They are usually cheap. The tough ones are usually thick and opaque. Smoke cycles can also affect the bite of a casing. Humidity during the smoke cycle is very important to maximize a tender eating experience. Consult your smoke house supplier about the best smoke cycle for the most tender bite.
The traditional hank or bundle of hog or sheep casing was 100 yards. However, today there is no standard length. Some suppliers will base the length of the casing bundle on the price a customer demands. Now there are some casings like DeWied Processor Packs that will make about 100 pounds (45.3kg) of sausage no matter what size you use. That’s important for planning batch requirements and costing.
The number of strands in a bundle depends on how uniform the diameter of the sausage must be and how long the individual strands of casing must be. The fewer strands and the longer they are, the less uniform the casings will be. In general, a hog casing will have 14-18 strands and a sheep casing will have 12-14 strand.
Price is contingent on type or origin of the casing, the diameter size range, number of yards in a hank or bundle, the amount of sausage that can be made with a casing unit, the number of casings actually shipped and invoiced, and quality factors of the casing. The world market for casings will affect pricing in a regional market.
Here are three steps to help identify some basic reasons for price differences between casing suppliers.
- Know how much sausage your casing unit makes and compare.
- Count the number of casing units received and compare with the invoice.
- Observe subtle differences in casing characteristics that effect quality.
- - Sausage was cooked in a pan too hot and too quickly.
- Casings were not soaked long enough.
- Origin of casing.
- Sausage was under stuffed How can I make my casings more tender?
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Soak casings longer
Add lemon juice or pineapple juice to the soak water.
Use proper moisture levels during smoke cycle.
This is a patch of peyer (Pie-air) which is scarring resulting from the cleaning process and the removal of lymph nodes. All natural casings will have some scarring.
What is the difference between hand pulled and knife cut casings?
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North American hand pulled casings do not have threads of connective tissue on the outside (Called whiskers). They are delicate and usually have shorter strands than knife cut. They may have more holes or weak spots. Knife cut casings have the small threads of connective tissue (Whiskers). They have an extra membrane for strength. Their strands are usually longer and have fewer holes. The threads of connective tissue on knife cut casings will melt off on smoked or cooked sausage.
How do you twist the casings into links?
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Slowly pinch the casing where you want a link to start, and twist the link clockwise. For the next link, twist counterclockwise; then clockwise again, and so forth. Be very gentle, or you'll burst the casing!
