For you sausage makers out there

Dani

Dani

Well-known member
Supporter
my gator brats are delicious...but after having been in the freezer last we made some last night and the casings are kinda chewy. The meat is still very tasty but the casings leave a little something to be desired. They were fine fresh made...very tasty. And not chewy at all. They were frozen packaged in vacuum seal bags. Any thoughts why the casing might go chewy? They were fresh as far as we know.

Thanks a lot in advance

Dani
 
IF they were natural casings, did you parboil them? Smoke them? The casings need to be cooked and if not cooked thouroughly they do tend to get gummie once frozen.

Mike in CT

Tod Osler may have another idea as well.
 
I assume they were natural since they came from a local meat market, but I am not sure on that.

So, prior to stuff i've got to parboil them? how would I do that? (never parboiled anything)

thanks again
 
I just finished 2 duck sausages that have been frozen since last spring. This year I hung them until they were dry and then put them in the fridge overnight before freezing them and it seemed to help. Here is a great website on making sausage with wild game http://honest-food.net/cured-meat/fresh-sausages/ The sausages I just had for lunch were the Toulouse style and they were delicious.
 
I made some snow goose sausage using edible ( not natural ) casings made by LEM. I used a dry brat mix and added it to the ground goose and ground pork shoulder. It was 75/25 goose to pork.

We ate a bunch within a month or so of making it, then about 6 months later had some more and just last week cooked the last of it.

The casings were always the same and easy to peel off if desired, the sausage was absolutely TERRIBLE after freezing for 6 months. It tasted like pure iron and almost rotten. It was vacuum sealed and stayed frozen the whole time, but at some point it just became inedible.

Happy Sausage making!

-D
 
I assume they were natural since they came from a local meat market, but I am not sure on that.

So, prior to stuff i've got to parboil them? how would I do that? (never parboiled anything)

thanks again
Click to expand...
 
Hey Daneth,

Fresh, natural hog casings tend to have a bit of variety in their size and thickness, and I've been using them for 30 years, but I can't say I know why they'd be chewy. That's a mystery. Did you talk to the guy at the shop where you got them? He might know.

When you buy those salted natural casings you gotta soak them in warm water for a while to get them to rehydrate and desalt. They are packed in so much salt that they are on their way to being mummified. I soak mine for an hour to over night.

I know its a bunch of work down the drain if you have to break them out of the casings to enjoy, but better your sausage meat turned out good than the casings being the best part! I've made some awful stuff over the years.

If you find out the answer to your mystery be sure to tell us.

MIke
 
Thanks guys....I'll do some reading and give a call to a meat store or two around here that might know the answer....

or does anyone have a person who processes meat for them? Makes sausage and other stuff? if so, and they make great stuff, can you post a phone number so I can call them and pick their brains?

thanks again

Dani
 
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