what type of tubes?

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

stircrazy

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Dec 31, 2009
295
12
Kamloops, BC, Canada
I am looking at getting some supplies to make some Kelbassa and such, but I am stuck on what kinds of tubes to use. what are the advantages/disadvantages of using edible collagen over natural hog casings?

Oh and doesn anyone have a real good kalbassa recipe that tasts like store bought or simular?

thanks
Steve
 
I would recommend that if you are going to start making your own sausage you invest in the following book. It is the best one made on sausage making in my opinion...

Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing by Rytek Kutas 4th Ed.

http://www.sausagemaker.com/71200gre...ytekkutas.aspx

The link is to The Sausage Maker but it can be found on Amazon Cheaper.

As for the Callogen Casings Most Store bought is probably made with them. They must be soaked for 30 minutes prior to stuffing in warm water to soften them up... They are also a little cheaper than the natural casings...

Natural Hog Casings in my opinion are not as tough (more tender) and have a snap to them. With the natural casings they come packed in salt and must be flushed out to get rid of it prior to stuffing so there is a little more work to them.

Although higher priced and the fact you have to flush them and resalt any you don't use, I like them best but that is just my opinion and one of many you will get...
 
I prefer hog casings over collagen for most sausage, Kielbasa included. I haven't been able to beat the recipe for Kielbasa in Rytek's book although I do always kick the garlic up in it.
 
thanks, thats the book I am going to go buy today. good to know the recipes in it are good. I have to find the best recipe I can due to the ukrainian in my background I will never hear the end of it, if it isn't good
icon_wink.gif


For the actual stuffing, is one type of casing more forgiving that the other?

Steve
 
This was my first deer season using natural casings. I think the naturals are much easier to use overall and more tender. Just harder to find around here. I used the callogen for several sizes for fresh and smoked sausage before. I'd never go back.

I just purchased the Rytek sausage book mentioned for $18.00 on Amazon this week. Gonna get serious about it.
 
I have probably tried every kind avaiable up here and I always go back to collagen as they do not need to be smoked,are tough and link very well. My one hand that I use to guide the sausage out I put a little olive oil on it as this makes the casings much more pliable. As for taste I cannot seem to tell the difference altho some are crisper than others. Besides they are real easy for me to get and away cheaper than naturals. Piker
 
I must be the doubly odd man out here. Unlike most that have posted, I prefer the ease and speed of collagen, but unlike those that do use it, the ones I get are more expensive. I can load a full hank of collagen on my stuffer horn and crank out 10 lbs. in no time.
 
I use collagins for the real small stuff, I hate messin with the sheep casings. and like Mule said, they are easy and fast.
 
They are good but he cooks a little on the healthy or real meat side. I like to add a tad more fat for my liking. Follow his recipes for the first time and tweak them to your own liking. Oh and I prefer hog , just use whats available for now.
 
I have also noticed that there is like 6 different smoked kelbassa recipes
icon_rolleyes.gif
now I have to figure out which one is like the ones I am used to...

I would be happy if one of them was like the grimms kelbassa you buy in the stores.

Steve
 
I'd like to chime in on the casing issue. I've used both collagen and natural casings. I have no problems using either but I prefer the natural. I find them rupturing much less than the collagen. I'm not sure where we get them but them come clean and ready to put on the horn. They are on a plastic sleeve that slides right on and then you pull it out and off the horn. We've even used the collagen casings right out of the box with no soaking. This year we used loose natural casings and except for the fumbling to pick them out and slide them on the tube they worked nicely. You just have to make do with what you are able to get readily. The end result is good with either one.

Roger in NJ
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky