Sausage links are a mixture of ground meat, fat, seasoning, and sometimes fillers that is packed into a casing and then tied or twisted at intervals to create individual links. Traditionally, link sausage is stuffed into natural casings made from the intestines of animals, but artificial casings are also available on the market. These days most commercial sausages use synthetic casings. Before you make your own sausage links—or just want to know what you're eating—learn about the differences between natural and artificial casings.
The natural casing's origin may have begun around 4,000BC where cooked meat was stuffed into the stomach of a goat, but today natural casings are made from the submucosa, a layer(which consists of naturally occurring collagen)of a farm animal's intestine. The intestines mainly come from pigs, cattle, goats, sheep, and sometimes a horse. This method of encasing sausage has been around for centuries—although machinery has replaced the need to clean the intestines by hand before use—and is the only form of casing that can be used in organic sausage production.
The benefits of the natural casing are flavor and visual appeal. Because the natural casing breathes, it results in a deeper flavor and richness in the sausage—the smoking and cooking flavors can permeate the casing and infuse the meat. Since the casings are all-natural, the sausages are very natural looking, being somewhat irregular in shape and size.
Synthetic Casings
Artificial sausage casings can be made from materials such as collagen, cellulose, and plastic and may not always be edible. Collagen casings have been around the longestand are produced from animal collagen, mostly from the hides of cows and pigs. Sometimes the bones and tendons are included, and the casings can also be made from poultry and fish. An inexpensive choice, collagen casings are easier to use than natural casings as they provide better weight and size control of the sausage.
Cellulose casings are made of viscose, a material comprised of the cellulose from wood pulp or cotton linters (the fibers that cling to the cotton seeds after being separated from the cotton). These casings are strong and sheer, and permeable to smoke; they are peeled off after cooking. Plastic casings are not edible, and since they are impermeable, they are used for non-smoked, high-yield products.
Some artificial casings require soaking in hot tap water before use and need to be punctured with a knifepoint before stuffing to eliminate air pockets. The advantages of using synthetic casings are their strength and uniformity.
Alternative Casings
If you do not have access to natural or artificial casings, or just don't want to use them but still want to make sausage links, you can make casings from strips of muslin. To form casings about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, cut strips about 6 inches wide and 16 inches long. Fold lengthwise and stitch edges together to form tubes.
If you do not use casings at all, you can still form links by rolling up the mixture in foil or plastic wrap and refrigerating until firm. You willneed to add a binder (bread crumbs, soy protein concentrate, etc.) to the sausage mix, normally 5% to 10% of the mix, to keep the meat from separating during cooking.
Hog casings are the traditional choice when making any type of link sausage like bratwurst, Italians, and kielbasa. This type of natural casing is also commonly used for making smoked polish sausages, ring bologna with a small diameter and landjäeger.
"Collagen" casings (edible) are generally made from collagen derived from animal hides. Inedible casings are generally made from either cellulose or plastics.
Sausage casings are divided into two categories: natural casings and artificial casings. Typically, natural sausage casings are made from the submucosa of the small intestines. These can come from various animals such as hogs, pigs, cows, and even sheep casings.
What types of casings are used for your products? Our fully cooked items and breakfast links use a collagen casing derived from beef, and our fresh breakfast and dinner sausage items use a natural pork casing.
Collagen Casings can be stored up to 2 years if unopened. Rehydrate in refrigerator overnight to reconstitute. Once opened, unused casings can be stored up to a year, in resealable pouch and stored in a refrigerator. Fibrous Casings can be stored 2 to 3 years or longer.
This is all going to come down to personal prefference, they both have their fans and their critics. If you prioritize ease of use then it is hard to beat the collagen casings, where if you are going for the most "classic" sausage then natural casings are the way to go.
In most cases, it is edible, however, there are also inedible versions. Meat processors consider collagen to be one of the best sausage casings on the market because it is safe to eat, it's digestible and is easy to use.
If you do not use casings at all, you can still form links by rolling up the mixture in foil or plastic wrap and refrigerating until firm. You will need to add a binder (bread crumbs, soy protein concentrate, etc.) to the sausage mix, normally 5% to 10% of the mix, to keep the meat from separating during cooking.
Different sausage brands do use different casings, however, so the packaging should specify what kind the sausage has. You can tell if the casing is natural because it will be thin and easy to chew. Inedible casings are used less often and are typically made from plastic or plant-based materials.
For beginners, we generally recommend using hog casings to start with as they are easier to work with than the delicate sheep casings and produce a good thick sausage. Hog casings should be soaked in water for 30 minutes to an hour prior to using.
Butt/Shoulder: Boneless pork butt is very common for making sausages. It contains 20-30% fat so is perfect for sausages as this is the perfect fat to meat ratio (or you can add another 5% fat for extra tenderness and juiciness). If buying from the butcher, request 'boneless shoulder/butt'.
What are sausage casings? Sausage casings are used to hold and shape the filling inside so that it can be cooked to perfection. While most sausage lovers will cook a sausage in its casing, there are times when the casings can be removed.
Address: 58866 Tricia Spurs, North Melvinberg, HI 91346-3774
Phone: +50616620367928
Job: Real-Estate Liaison
Hobby: Graffiti, Astronomy, Handball, Magic, Origami, Fashion, Foreign language learning
Introduction: My name is Lilliana Bartoletti, I am a adventurous, pleasant, shiny, beautiful, handsome, zealous, tasty person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/sausage-casings-1808219_FINAL-34746e652fb241f39eb806bb8fc4c28b.png "Which Sausage Casing Will Work Best For You? (1)")
