# preforating casings



## deerjackie (Dec 30, 2009)

do yall poke knifepoint holes in casings to let air escape while stuffing?


----------



## hounds51 (Dec 30, 2009)

Usally I do when starting my stuffing. We used to use our sausage grinder to stuff our sausage, but then one day I decided to make snack sticks, and well the grinder just don't quite cut it. When we used our grinder, we never had any problems with air pockets, but with our stuffer we have to be more careful. We always poke a small hole after the end tie to bleed the air from the casing. Other than that we usally live with the very small pockets of air that we get between the sausage and the casing.
I don't know if this is what looking for, but it works for us.


----------



## DanMcG (Dec 30, 2009)

I use a big needle, but yeah if you get a air bubble in there you want to pop it and keep stuffing it tight to make a nice looking sausage. nothing worse the a slice of sausage with a hole in the middle.


----------



## solaryellow (Dec 30, 2009)

I pr ick mine with a pricker (is that even what they are called?) that I picked up from Butcher Packer (with my first order from them) as I go along stuffing.


----------



## mulepackin (Dec 30, 2009)

I keep an upholstery needle on hand for this. I only have to do it with fresh or collagen casings. My fibrous are pre perforated so I don't have to do it. They really stuff tight because of this feature and it allows better smoke penetration. In fact I don't know if a non perforated fibrous casing allows much smoke in at all
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






.


----------



## walle (Dec 30, 2009)

Guess we never ran into this problem.  When we stuff, it's at least a two person process, with one cranking (we have the old fruit press/stuffer - stuffer) and one holding pressure on the casing as it's filled.  When we do hit an air pocket, the pressure just sends the air back around the horn and kinda inflates the casing.  

I can see how this would happen going at it alone, and the pricking is great advice.
Tracey


----------



## deerjackie (Dec 30, 2009)

just trying t figure out why mine shrink up like a pepper on a grill. got brinkman converter mounted but havent started another batch yet.i use instacure according to instructions and 2 tsp of garlic powder,black pepper,and mustard seed per 5 lbs of meat to be stuffed. add enough water to blend spices,mix well and stuff with grinder and stuffing tubes without the plate and a stuffing star.thinking i may need a dist plate above my new element? happy new year yall. thanks for the help. son and i been busy tracking ss ingredients.got her hanging up now.[deer]


----------



## mulepackin (Dec 31, 2009)

Are you using a seasoning mix or your own recipe? If a recipe, do you use any binder in it? Most mixes contain a binder of some sort, but many recipes do not. Binders such as soy protein concentrate or powdered milk, help hold juices in and result in a plumper, fuller sausage. Also, how much water are you adding? Certainly you need enough to allow your meat to flow properly, but I suppose too much could potentially evaporate away and end up in some amount of shrivelling.


----------



## rstr hunter (Dec 31, 2009)

"Guess we never ran into this problem. When we stuff, it's at least a two person process, with one cranking (we have the old fruit press/stuffer - stuffer) and one holding pressure on the casing as it's filled. When we do hit an air pocket, the pressure just sends the air back around the horn and kinda inflates the casing."  

Ditto.

Also as far as shriveling casings, you may be over cooking them.  I did that with a bunch of sticks last winter when I took them to 165.  I checked them at 155 and tehy looked great but I thought I needed to go higher and had the same problem you did.  Hope this helps.


----------



## hounds51 (Dec 31, 2009)

Yea thats how my wife and I do it also.


----------



## deerjackie (Dec 31, 2009)

i am using my own recipe shown  in last post and no i am not using a binder. that may be the problem. i will search for a home recipe that has a binder in it and tested amounts.  thanks for helping me out and this is a 1 man band here,from hunting to the smoker,i have smoke rolling at both places.lol


----------



## bb53chevpro (Dec 31, 2009)

I use a white eraser with 6 pins pushed through it. (use the pins with the coloured balls as the head). Buy a 2 pack, so when its not in use, you can put the second eraser on it so you pick your self. This is a great tool as it can be put into the dishwasher for easy cleaning.

Works like a charm. Once the sausage is hanging on my rack, I will poke this into each piece 3 times on 2 sides of the sausage.

Hope this helps...... let me know if you need pics of this, I will have to take some for you.


----------



## deerjackie (Dec 31, 2009)

thanks. i usually put the holes in casing before stuffing. i think mulepackin hit the nail on the head when he read my recipe had no binder in it. i will post my recipe that i got on pc once i add binder and see that it works. also, casings are sticking to sausage if this helps pinpoint binder problem. peeling off no biggie but i think a binder may stop this.dj


----------



## mulepackin (Dec 31, 2009)

The purpose of binders is to help bind the meat together and retain juices. Really only needed in smoked and cooked sausages. Helps maintain plump sausage and prevent drying. Almost certainly all premixed seasonings contain a binder of some sort, either nonfat dry milk, or soy protein concentrate. Either one is generally used at a rate of 12 oz. per 25# of meat. Butcher Packer, Allied Kenco, The Sausage Maker, or Midwestern Research are all good sources. I have successfully used regular store bought powdered non fat dry milk with good results too, I just give it a whirl in the food processor so it is more of a powder than the flakes it comes as.


----------



## deerjackie (Dec 31, 2009)

12 oz per 25 lb.thanks. i will give it a whirl and chop it up finer. getting ready for a 25 lb cookoff soon.i have some longer casings i need to use up.what would be the max  length casing i should use with my drum at  170 max temp to keep from getting too close to the heat. my element is mounted 3 in off floor for pigtail to clear and exit .. i have been using 12 in casings but have 20, 24 in casings i need to use up. iguess i could stuff them , hogring them,then twist in the middle and hogring again  to make use of them and to fit s hooks.


----------



## mulepackin (Dec 31, 2009)

I can't tell you exactly how far your sausage should be above your heat source without having been around or working with your equipment. I do kind of understand the problem you are dealing with though. I'm using a freezer conversion, and have quite a bit of space. I can hang 50# of 2 1/2 x 20 casing sausage from the top rail and have plenty of space below as you can see in the first pic. When I do linked sausage though I can usually only comfortably get 25# from the top, and then a second layer below as the second pic shows. You obviously need some space above your heat source, so you might halve your 20 inchers and hang high. That would give you about 12 -13 chubs which you might not have space for all from the top. Another option is doing it all in two smoke sessions. I wouldn't want to do that myself if I can avoid it. I'm probably not helping much.


----------



## deerjackie (Dec 31, 2009)

i found a recipe and it called for 2 cups non fat dry milk to 10 lbs ground meat in case one does nt have a postal scale. i add 25% cheap sausage plus  the 2 tsp instacure plus the spices.


----------



## mulepackin (Dec 31, 2009)

Yeah, I believe that is right, 1 cup per 5#.


----------

