Sheep casing smell

[GREGORY I MARCUS]

Hi all, new guy here. Just started smoking my own meat in a Masterbuilt Electric 30 that I got for a steal from Walmart at the end of the season, and just tonight am doing a second try at making my own sausage.

Unfortunately while I finally managed to find a decent breakfast sausage recipe and got the pork all ground and mixed, when I opened up the package of sheep casings I bought at Cabela's last Thursday the smell was horrendous to me. I know casings are going to have a strong smell, but these smelled putrid to me, and I saw some green spots in one area. I tried rinsing them and soaking them for a couple hours at least, changing the water several times, but while the smell isn't as overpowering, they still distinctly smell putrid to me. Like I want to vomit from smelling them (and I don't have a weak stomach).

All I can find in searching for over an hour is that sheep casings tend to smell "stronger" than hog casings, but I haven't managed to find any description of what the smell is supposed to smell like. Can anyone give me some ideas as to what they should smell like? I don't want to use them if they're not safe, but I don't want to pansy out if they all smell like that. I'd much rather use natural casings. I've made sausage once before using hog casings, but it was years ago so I don't really remember what they smelled like.

Thanks in advance!

Sheep and hog casings really shouldn't have much of an odor. Hog bung ends do have a very bad smell and Beef Casings can be a little stinky. Generally speaking, if your casings smell that bad, there's something wrong. There also should never be any green. Professional grade casings never have these types of problems. Home packs are usually low quality. We've been in the business since 1933. Check us out at wholesalesausagecasings . com - We have the best quality and the best prices. We also sell stuffers and parts. They're not cheap but your great grandkids will still be using them.