Going to smoke some sausage this weekend

[mummel]

Looking forward to it!  My grinder arrives on Wednesday.  I just wanted to confirm that these casings will allow smoke to penetrate into the meat, or do I need to do anything special with them (poke holes etc)?

Thanks guys.

homepack_hog_1000pxwide.JPG

• mummel
• Jul 13, 2015

 

[pc farmer]

You will be good with them.

 

[dward51]

I presume they are salt packed.  Good rinse and soak in water for a few hours before stuffing.  You can also put a little white vinegar in the water to help soften them.  Make sure to turn them inside out so the strings are on the inside (if there are any).  They will look like little filaments on the outside of the casing but are not always present (depends on how they were stripped when cleaned by the maker).

Should not need to prick them unless you have air pockets while stuffing.  Just go slow and remember if you are going to twist them into links, not to stuff too tight as twisting them makes them even tighter and can cause blowouts.  If you have a blowout, no big deal.  Just not as pretty as without a blowout, but still very eatable.

I know there are some good photo tutorials on prepping natural casings on SMF, but I don't have a link.  Might try a search....

 

[mummel]

I did see the other thread thanks and most of my questions have been answered.  Im pretty excited to try out some virgin sausage.