# Casing's Keep Breaking



## golfpro2301 (Oct 7, 2012)

I just started experimenting with making my own sausage. I wanted to start with bratwurst so I bought LEM Collagen casings and LEM bratwurst seasoning from Gander Mtn. Seasoned the meat correctly and stuffed the casing. it was about 6 feet long when it was fully stuffed. This is where I run into a problem. I try twisting them but they wont stay twisted. Also, if I twist them 4-5 times and cut the end of the sausge it doest stay tied together. I finally got them to stay twisted together and cooked about a 4 feet strand containing 8 links in the oven but the casings snapped on each link. The collagen casings I bought said do not soak in water so I didnt and the above problems happened so I decided to try it again but soak the casings and the same thing happened. Any help would be grea


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## diggingdogfarm (Oct 7, 2012)

Tie the casings with string, or better yet, get some good hog casings.


~Martin


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## woodcutter (Oct 7, 2012)

Yea, those colligan casings let you stuff them so full they are hard to twist into links without breakage. I myself don't like the texture of them, I would rather use hog casings also. Nice snap with the natural casings.


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## johnnie walker (Oct 7, 2012)

Collagen casings will not stay twisted like a natural casing will. Like DDF said use a peice of string to tie off your links. Also do not soak collagen casings in water. I use them to make my sausage and you just need to figure out how tight to stuff them. If you cook them at too high a temp that will also make them split open.


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## golfpro2301 (Oct 7, 2012)

Thanks. I will go get some hog casings tomorrow and try it again for the third time. Already fubar'd 6 pounds but I want to get it right. This has turned into an exspensive hobby. Instead of starting another thread maybe you all can just answer a question on some summer sausage. I made a 3lb roll using hi-mountain garlic and black pepper seasoning. stuffed and cured overnight in the fridge. When I went to start up my smoker I noticed I only had a few briquettes of charcoal left. So I smoked the sausage at 165* for about an hour. I moved it to the oven at 175* until it reached 156* IT. Pulled it out and ran cold water over the casing then put it in the fridge. After an hour in the fridge I took it out to slice a few pieces. The taste was good but as I was peeling the skin off I could see liquid fat sitting between the skin and the meat. Did I do something wrong in the process of cooking or stuffing?


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## boykjo (Oct 8, 2012)

Hey GP... First we need some more info.... What type of meat and fat ratio's are you using? What size grind plate? More than likley with the fat out.... your temperature of your oven was swinging above 175 degrees into the danger zone which caused the sausage to render the fat..... I suggest starting with a 80/20 lean to fat ratio and grinding through a 4mm or 1/8 inch plate. Get a remote therm and use it to monitor temps of your smoker and try not to use the oven. A good start is to have a smoker that will allow you to hang sausage and control temps for smoked sausages.....


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## golfpro2301 (Oct 8, 2012)

I used 2lbs of 80/20 pork and 1 pound of lean ground beef. I dont know the size of the plate I used. It doesnt have holes but cut outs in the shape of pizza slices. The first one I did I layed down on the smoker rack. I have another in the fridge that was curing overnight so I am going to try and hang that one today. Is there a benefit from hanging  them versus laying them down?


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