linking question

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formerlyfatguy

Smoke Blower
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
May 14, 2008
128
10
After stuffing the casings and attempting to twist to make links, I get casing blowouts.
What am I doing wrong and how can I correct this?
Thanks
 
Try gently "pinching" at the point you want to end the links, and squeezing the meat back from the twist point, then apply twist. Barring that, perhaps you are packing too tightly outta the stuffer.
 
Try only tieing one end of the casing you are linking, the end where you start linking. As you work your way down the lenghth of casing, pinching and twisting meeat can be push towards the untied end. Then just tie off the other end after you finish the last link. I hope this makes sense?
 
Sounds good guys.
I'll be trying it out in a couple of hours, I'll let you know how I make out.
 
I'd say you are filling the casings a little too full. Pull your casings out toward the end of your stuffing tube and use minimal pressure with your thumb & fingers to hold the casing back. Too little pressure and they will be understuffed and too much they will be overstuffed. The casings should not be plump/tight before you link them. As you pinch and twist, they will tighten up. After you've stuffed for a while, especially if your casings are long, you may have to pause and pull the casings back out toward the end of the tube again to prevent blow-outs.

One other thing that I've learned; when linking you can pinch two links and then twist every-other link. Some people say to twist every link, one one way and the next the other way. Twisting every-other link accomplishes the same thing without having to remember which direction you are supposed to go.
 
Yep that happens if you attempt to fill a long length and then twist it.

I get round this problem by twisting my sausages as I stuff them. Ie: fill enough skin for 1 sausage, twist away from me. Fill more skin, twist towards me.
This is actualy how it's done commercially as well (saw an amazing machine at atrade show last year. It squirted out eneough meat for one sausage then the whole feed tube rotated, very quickly, then another sausage, rotated - etc. I mean the thing would have been tens of thousands of pounds. But it did it the same way I do - so i must be doing something right lol).
This way not only can you fill your skins to whatever degree you like, but the sausages and skins are tightened up by each successive sausage.
You get complete control over the size of your sausages and the tightness of the skins.
It's pretty much the only way to twist link sausages in collagen skins as well as these have no give whatsoever.

It might seem slow and cumbersome to start with but with a bit of practice you'll be surprised how quick you can turn links out :-)
And it does mean that when you've finished stuffing the skins you don't have to then start fiddling around. It's all done in one operation :-)
 
One thing I don't see anyone mentioned, maybe its just common knowledge.

When you are linking sausage, pinch the spot, then twist, then take one side of the sausage and pick it up and back in through the loop, then lay back down on the table. Then for the next link, do so on the other side.

That's the way I do it with 5-10 pound batches.
 
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