Stuffin horns, what size for sheep cassings.

[Boar]

Pis me off, nuther fiascle with the sausage, I boutg sheep cassings so i can breakfast links and I cant get them on my smallest horn that i figured you be the right size. its the size for sticks and i tell you i spent about a half an hours till I finnal got one to slipp over then as I was pushing it on it jsut ripp and tor.e. Not happy. arrrrg. so Im looking at refreezing the meat till I get the appropriat horn, I could use hog casings but who wants a breakfast sausage braut. 

[leechlake]

my mom and dad stuffed sheep casings with potato sausage literally with a cow horn for years.  Took forever which I think prolonged cocktail hour so that was nice. I'd comment on stuffing by hand but this is a family show...

[Boar]

reiny is there a trick to get sheep casings on the 3/8 horn

[highlife4me]

Sheep casings should stuff just fine on a 3/8" tube.  Just make sure you have soaked at least overnight in fresh water to remove the salt.  I usually flush the casings with warm water then let soak for another hour in very warm water before using them.  Seems to me that the casings are not as pliable when they are cold.  

[thirdeye]

Some casing companies have VERY inconsistent sizes, especially when it comes to sheep casings, which is a PITA.  Buy good quality casings.    I like the casings that are "tubed", which means they are washed and then slipped on a hollow plastic straw.  You just soak them for several hours and then slip them directly on to the horn. This takes about 20 seconds for a 10' long gut.

I've found the easiest method for putting non-tubed casings on the horn is to (bear with me on this one...) make a fresh cut with scissors on the end you want to start with.  Then,  crank a little bit of sausage out of the end of the horn... then pinch off the meat leaving a little nub of meat at the end of the horn.  Next, use some of your lubricating water to round off the nub, winding up with a bit of a taper.  When you slip the casing on, the moist meat allows it to slide on easily, and because the horn is full, and if you're careful... you get less air pockets in the casing too.  Here is the nub before pinching and rounding off.  

Edited March 27, 2016 by thirdeye

[Boar]

thanks guys, where dose one order tbed sheep cassings from??

Ive  soaked them and rinsed them jus a complete pita. 

[Jim Almquist]

I will find the brand but there is no need to rinse but I do just because loading is easier. Cut one end and get it started on the end of the tube. Put skin in sink full of water. Now put the back end of the tube under water to put a air bubble into the skin with all of the skin sitting in the water. Start sliding the skin on the to tube and make sure to get it pushed all the way back so there is enough room for the rest. The water will help lube the horn and if needed more air in the skin to open it up. Hope this makes sense.

[thirdeye]

40 minutes ago, Boar said:

thanks guys, where dose one order tbed sheep cassings from??

Ive  soaked them and rinsed them jus a complete pita. 

Syracuse Casing Company has them, and you have several sizes to choose from too, these are my personal favorites.  LEM Products also has them and I'm sure many others as well. The casings have been cleaned and packed in salt and Syracuse claims they only need soaking for a few hours, but I do mine overnight.  After the first water change I add a cap full of vinegar to the water.  Here is a LEM video showing how to move the casing from the tube (straw) to the horn:  

 

 

 

[Boar]

thanks guys. im gonna give it another shot today, if it dont go ill have to freeze the meat till another time. thanks happy easter.!!

[reinhard1]

Lot's of good information given Boar.  The reasons you describe is why I don't use sheep casings anymore.  Nothing wrong with using hog casings for breakfast sausage.  In the old days we called that "Country Sausage" which was kept in a swirl like in Thirdeye's picture and sold that way.  I make all my fresh sausage either bulk or linked in hog casings.  The breakfast sausage I am making next will be all bulk and stuffed into bags that fit around a little over a pound in and tied off.  There are different size sheep casings available.  try a larger size like 26 mm or higher.  26mm should fit your tube very easy.  Hog casings come in different sizes also 32 to 35mm usually are for brats and most commonly used but there are larger and smaller sizes.  Some of my buddies add a little vinegar to the casing water when soaking overnight to further soften them, even some orange juice at times, but I just make sure to get them ready the day before and the long soak usually does the trick.  I would just stuff them in hog casing right now instead of re-freezing it again.  Size of the link may be different but they taste just the same.  good luck.

[Boar]

i.got two on the with the warm water method and one stretch mark. i figured id switch to hog cassing but just didnt want a braught size breackfast sausage

hopefull this will.work without alot of blowouts. where do yu get ur casings from?? 

tha ks guys.!!

[reinhard1]

I get mine from the local Cub store here in the meat department.  They come packaged enough for 25 pounds.  That's what I make most of the time.  All hog casings.  Handy for me.  But if I didn't have that handy like I do I would go on-line to Curley's or where Thirdeye mentioned and order a hank and keep them salted down and in the fridge.  good luck.

[thirdeye]

I forgot to mention I mixed up a 6# batch of hot dog meat yesterday, and I stuffed them this morning.  They are headed to the smoker in just a minute.

Boar - If you have larger diameter hog casings, instead of making full size breakfast links,  you can always make 4" long ones or so.  I've used the hog casings in the 29/32mm size for breakfast sausage, being thicker they are easier to work with than sheep casings but I like the "snap" I get from sheep casings.

Reinhard1 - I used to break out the hanks, re-package in smaller bags and freeze salted casings.  When I started buying the ones from Syracuse, they recommended not freezing, so I keep them in the beer fridge as it's colder.  How long should salted casings last this way?

 

 

[reinhard1]

Ya, it's not a good idea to freeze hog natural casings.   I keep the left over casings in a lot of salt in a plastic container.  They will keep well over a year that way.  When I did have hanks, I used to seperate them in smaller batches and vac pac them in salt and kept them in the fridge but now using smaller amounts at a time since i have them available all the time I just salt them down in a plastic container and they are just fine.  good luck.

[thirdeye]

4 minutes ago, reinhard1 said:

Ya, it's not a good idea to freeze hog natural casings.   I keep the left over casings in a lot of salt in a plastic container.  They will keep well over a year that way.  When I did have hanks, I used to seperate them in smaller batches and vac pac them in salt and kept them in the fridge but now using smaller amounts at a time since i have them available all the time I just salt them down in a plastic container and they are just fine.  good luck.

Thanks,  I thought they mentioned 6 or 8 months, but I thought that might just have been a "safe" answer, or they maybe considered a normal fridge is not as cold as a beer fridge, and it gets opened and closed more often.

I ask my friends when I order and will split the order with them.  Another good thing about the "tubed" casings, the guts are really long, and can be divided up way more easy than the old hanks I used to get that were string tied.  The last hank of hog casings I got had about 14 tubes.

[Boar]

yup out tthe dorr they went, well this is my first dislike as far as sausage gose. I even sample the meat in a short lenght and eeeeehh have had way better. dont know where to go with it now. I didnt even taste any maple and the texture is that paste type meat that gets so dense from the cure. might be good dog treats...

[delcecchi]

The salt keeps them from spoiling.  Bacteria won't grow in very salty environments.  But perhaps they deteriorate over time anyway.  Sort of like meat in the freezer.  It is safe to eat, just doesn't taste good after too long.

[thirdeye]

5 minutes ago, delcecchi said:

The salt keeps them from spoiling.  Bacteria won't grow in very salty environments.  But perhaps they deteriorate over time anyway.  Sort of like meat in the freezer.  It is safe to eat, just doesn't taste good after too long.

The salted casings do have kind of a stale or musty odor, but it goes away after the first rinse, and I add a little vinegar to the water as well.  The vinegar is supposed to help with tenderness, but it definitely zaps any odor.  

[delcecchi]

I was thinking maybe the physical properties deteriorate after too long.  

[thirdeye]

5 minutes ago, delcecchi said:

I was thinking maybe the physical properties deteriorate after too long.  

And that very well might be a consideration.