bcompton53 In my opinion Sure Gel is better than Soy Protein blend in binding the meat when making a cured product. We once tried to make imitation bacon that looked more like regular bacon by layering the meat and fat with clear lines of separation, miserable failure! No matter how you cook it, that fat is going to render and if it is not bound at all in proteins it is going to be cooked out and will reform as a greasy mess on the outside/bottom of the product.

I do think your particle definition is great looking and looking at it I don’t think it is part of your problem. When fat is cooked, it will melt, but it should also resolidify inside the pocket of the meat. I think your swiss cheese looks is the same thing that happens when you don’t stuff summer sausage or any sausage fully enough. In short, I think those are voids, not places the fat melted out and ran. I could be wrong there but that is what it looks like to me.

To fix that in the future you could try pushing the meat into the pan a little strong but I don’t think that will do much, I would recommend that you drop the pan a few times from the height of a few feet onto the table. That should pack it down in there a little better and clear some of those voids.

Now, it also could be partly because you did not grind the fat small enough, we made some venison keilbasa here once and we ground the fat once and then cooked it. That fat totally melted BUT it only leaked where the fat was on the outside of the sausage. The fat that was totally encased in protein reformed and had a nice “pallet appeal” (thanks PapaSop) So, i’d try getting it packed down a little tighter in the pan!

@mike6176 Another thing you can do is have a bowl of warm water next to the stuffer and occasionally just grab some water and sort of sprinkle it on the casings with your hand, that’ll help.

Hey everyone, it was pointed out to me here that I said to not go below 21mm on smoked collagen. I should note that this is a good rule of thumb for beginners, people who have made sticks a few times and are comfortable with stuffing should feel free to use smaller sizes. I, myself usually use 19mm as it stuffs a lot easier than smaller sizes. Maybe I will do a video where I time stuffing a certain amount of meat in 21mm, 19mm and either 17 or 16mm casings to show the difference? Thanks to mtnjim for pointing this out!

How to Twist Sausage Links - Meat Hacks

Learn How to Link Sausage with Walton's and Meatgistics. Watch the video, read the guide, and post your questions or comments below.

Meat Hacks

How to Link Sausage
So, you’ve gone through the process of making some fresh sausage, ground the meat, seasoned it, and stuffed it, and now you are getting ready to link it. Well, if you’ve never done it before, we will show you how to do it with a few different types of casings and show you three different techniques.

I will go over the most basic way to link them first. Grab your rope by the very end and pinch it down where you want the casing to begin, then with your other hand, grab the casing about 5 inches down from that. If you like a little shorter brats, then keep it closer, or for longer, move it a little further down. Now pinch the casing down at that point and start rolling the casing towards yourself with your finger. How many times you will need to spin it depends on how tightly or loosely you stuffed your casings.

If your casings are popping after just a twist or two, you have overstuffed them. Next, fold the now-formed sausage down your rope and start a new pinch where the first one ended, this will help you keep some uniformity to your lengths. Now begin to twist it in the opposite direction as you did the first one. So if you started by twisting your first one towards you, then twist the next one away from you. Continue this process until you have made it all the way down your rope. If you are using collagen, I like to freeze them at this point before I cut them as this will help the collagen stay in place a little more, and you need to freeze them before vac packing them anyway, or they will get crushed. If you use cellulose casings, you need to tie them closed.

A slightly quicker way to do this is to skip a link. So start as you would above, but when you move on to the second link, pinch it where the first link ended but then fold it again and pinch it where that link will end, all while still holding that first pinch you made. Now, you twist them in the opposite direction as the first, and you will be making two links simultaneously. Just continue this down the rope until you are done. This is the method I generally use.

The third one is a bit advanced, but it gives you nice uniform links and looks pretty impressive. Just like the first two methods, make your first link and then fold it over the rope so your second link is the same size. Then pinch this area down and wrap some of the casing at the end of the first link around where you have pinched. Then spin the two links that are now making an oval shape a few times. Next, take the rope hanging down from the two brats and bring it up to the top of them, where the twist is. Pinch this down, fold it over and through the oval at the twist, and then pull the rope through the oval. Now fold the rope down along the oval and pinch it, pull it up, and at this point, your oval should be hanging below the link you just pinched. Now let the rest of the rope hang down and pinch that where it meets your previous oval, now twist the new oval you have just created and pull the rope up to the top of that, where you will pinch it and then fold the rope over and through the oval again, creating your second link. Continue this process until you have done the entire rope.

So those are the three ways we hand-link sausages here. Each gives you uniformity which is important for appearance and packaging. Another nice thing about hand linking is if you have under-stuffed some casings like I have here, you can give it a few extra twists to tighten it up. Remember, an under-stuffed casing is preferable to an overstuffed casing as it is easier to give it a few extra twists than to deal with a blowout after your stuffing has been completed!

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Meat Hacks: Stuff Like a Pro at Home

Learn how to Stuff Like a Pro with Walton's and Meatgistics. Watch the video, read the guide, and then post your questions or comments below.

Meat Hacks

How can I Stuff a Pro at Home?
A few weeks ago we showed you guys some tips on how you could take some of the things that commercial processors do when grinding and mixing meat and adapt them for use at home. We are continuing our effort to help you guys make the best homemade product possible so today we have some tips for you on sausage stuffing.

When a big commercial processor stuffs his product they are using a hydraulic, a vacuum or a water stuffer. You are probably using a hand stuffer so some of the advantages they have are not things you can duplicate.

1 Prevent Air Pockets The best things you can do are make sure you are packing your product in there with as few air pockets as possible. The best way to do this is to create an angle when filling it from side to side. You put in your initial amount and leave it angled from left to right then put your next level in and leave a slight angle from right to left and repeat until you fill it up. Also make sure you are really packing it down with each layer.

2 Don’t Blow it
Commercial processors have been stuffing for years and have it down to an art form, for them blowouts are a rarity. For a home processor though, nothing is more annoying than hearing that dreaded pop from your casing. It means backing your piston off, stuffing what you lost back into the cannister and fixing your casing. All of that takes time and is a major annoyance. To help avoid this make sure you are not holding the casing on the stuffing tube too tightly, different products require different amounts of pressure but whatever casing you are using should flow fairly smoothly off of the tube. So if you are busting a lot of casings make sure you aren’t over stuffing them and make sure that your air valve is functioning properly. This will help release some air pressure up through the piston. Also, as always, make sure you are lubricating your piston gasket with white oil!

3 Clamp Your Stuffer Down
Another thing you can do is to clamp your stuffer down to the table you are using, this will prevent the unit from rocking as you crank it. If you are able to I know some customers have actually had success removing the stuffer from the base and bolting it directly to the table.

4 Your Casing Matters
When stuffing it is important to remember that the size of the tube and casing you are using is going to affect how difficult it is going to be to crank it down. A 32-35mm hog casing on an 22mm horn is going to stuff a lot easier than a 19mm snack stick casing on a 12mm tube. Here is a chart that shows you what size stuffing tube to use with what casing

Casing Size Stuffing Tube Stuffing Horn 15 mm 3/8" or 10 mm X 16mm 3/8" or 10 mm X 17mm 3/8" or 10 mm X 18mm 3/8" or 10 mm X 19mm 7/16" or 12 mm X 21mm 7/16" or 13mm 1/2" 23mm 1/2" or 13 mm 1/2" 26mm 9/16" or 16 mm 1/2" 30mm 9/16" or 19 mm 1/2" 32mm 9/16" or 22 mm 3/4" 5 Your Piston Matters Too
Along the same lines the size of the stuffer you are using is going to matter, a 7 and 11 lb stuffer has a smaller piston so it is going to stuff easier than the larger stuffers as the larger diameter of the piston is going require more force to press it down. Subscribe to WaltonsTV

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Devo Collagen Sausage Casings Collagen Sausage Casings Help & Information

What are collagen sausage casings? What are collagen casings made of? What kind of collagen casings are available? Watch the video, read the highlights here, and then post your comments or questions below.

What Are Collagen Sausage Casings?

It is an edible product that is apart of the connective tissue found in animals. Because collagen is made from naturally occurring proteins, it’s also completely safe to use and eat. It makes a strong yet flexible and edible food casing. One reason to use collagen is that it saves money. Sausage production costs are lower when you use a casing that is consistent and uniform in size, shape, and color. It also reduces waste, and the uniformity makes storage and packaging easier and faster. It also saves money because the pricing is more consistent, especially compared to the commodity fluctuations exhibited in the natural casings market. Also, a reason to use collagen is because many consumers like the appearance, bite, and mouth feel it produces in a sausage. And, the last big reason to use collagen casings is because collagen is extremely versatile. Almost any type of sausage can be made with collagen casings.

Making Snack Sticks With Collagen Sausage Casings What Is The Shelf-Life Of Collagen Casings?

So the next question you may ask is how long can I keep collagen casings? Shelf life should be between one or two years. It does really depend on your storage environment though. Ideal storage locations would be with a cool temperature between 40 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and dry. Casings will also last longer if left in the original and unopened package. We recommend that you reseal any opened packages and always store collagen casings in an airtight container. Just remember, once a package is opened, the casings can become more brittle and delicate at a quicker pace. This can lead to excessive breakage or blowouts during stuffing, which is simply a result of the moisture content of the casings changing and drying out.

Do I Need To Soak Or Prep Collagen Casings Before Usage?

Collagen casings are ready to use straight out of the package. So there is no soaking or other prep work like you have when using natural or fibrous casings.

What Types Of Collagen Casings Are Available?

The two basic types are Fresh and Processed casings. Fresh casings, as the name indicates, are for fresh or unsmoked sausages. Processed casings are for cooked or smoked meat snacks like snack sticks, hot dogs, German sausage, and other smoked sausages.

30mm Fresh Collagen Sausage Casings What are Fresh Collagen Casings?

Fresh casings are meant to be used as a replacement for various natural casings, like hog or sheep casings in fresh sausage applications. We have sizes from a 21 millimeter up to a 32 millimeter, and they are all clear in appearance. One thing to remember is that fresh casings are not designed to hang on smoke sticks in a smokehouse. They just don’t have the strength to support the hanging weight of the sausage. If you try to hang fresh casings, you might end up opening your smokehouse door after the cook cycle ends and find that the casings broke and all your product is laying on the smokehouse floor. Now, let’s look at the different sizes. A 21mm Fresh casing would be perfect for making breakfast sausage or just a normal pork sausage. A 4 inch link will make a traditional 1 ounce link. A 30 or 32mm fresh casing is what you might use for things like bratwursts or italian sausage. The 32mm is closer to what you may find in many store brand sausages, but Walton’s prefers the slightly smaller 30 millimeter casings because they fit on a bun just a little bit better.

26mm Clear Processed Collagen Sausage Casings What Are Processed Collagen Casings?

These casings are typically for smoked or cooked products like snack sticks, hot dogs, and a whole lot of other types of smoked sausages. Processed casings have two variants though: Processed Stix and Processed Fine. Both types of Processed Casings have a heavier wall weight than the Fresh casings, which allows Processed casings to be hung on smoke sticks during your drying and thermal processing steps.

What Are Processed Stix Collagen Casings?

Processed Stix are primarily a smaller diameter casing and are specifically designed for things like snack sticks. All our Stix casings are smoke color, and range in size from 15mm to 23mm with our most popular size being the 19mm. There is a very nice snap in the bite to Stix casings, which is great for many types of small diameter meat snacks, like everything from a traditional snack stick, or fermented snack stick, to even other dry and semi-dry sausage like a beefstick, pepperoni, or mini-salami.

What Are Processed Fine Collagen Casings?

These can be smoke, red, or clear in color. Sizes range from 21 millimeters up to a 34 millimeter. Inside the Processed Fine category, we have another two sub-variants. There are Fine-H and Fine-T casings.

30mm Red Fine-H Collagen Sausage Casings What Are Processed Fine-H Collagen Casings?

The Fine-H variant is a heavier walled casing than the Fresh or Fine-T, but not as strong as the Processed Stix we just talked about. The Fine-H casings are specifically designed to be a replacement for “Hog Gut” casings and come in a 30 or 32 millimeter size. The red casings are awesome for making hot links, or any other smoked sausage, particularly for sausages that are meant to be spicy, as it can add a great eye-popping look to your final product. And, the smoke or clear casings work great for smoked sausages, like chili dogs, german sausage, and much more.

What Are Processed Fine-T Collagen Casings?

The Fine-T casings are stronger walled than the Fresh Casings, but are thinner walled than the previous Fine-H variant. Having a lighter wall weight will gives the sausage a bit more of a tender bite. Sizing on the Fine-T casings range from 21 to 30 millimeters. With a more tender bite and smaller diameter than the Fine-H, the Fine-T casings work great for hot dogs and frankfurters. My preference would be to use the 26mm Clear for making hotdogs and frankfurters.

Can I Twist Link Collagen Casings?

Collagen casings can be twist linked, but it is more difficult than natural casings. When making links from collagen casings, we would recommend using 2 twists per link. If you twist less than twice, it may not be enough to hold the link in place, and if you twist more, the increased pressure in the meat and on the casing can cause breakage. Other options for linking can include just cutting the sausage into links, or you can tie-off each link with butcher’s twine, but this is rather time intensive. Sometimes it will be hard to have twist linked collagen casings stay twisted, so many times it is recommended to tie butcher’s twine between the links to help keep the sausages linked.

19mm Smoke Collagen Sausage Casings Stix What Direction Do I Stuff Collagen Sausage Casings?

The two ends of a collagen casing should look different when you first open the package. One end will be a more uniform hole and opening. The other end should have a tail on it. Slide the open end on your stuffing tube and stuff sausage towards and into the end with a tail (see pictures).

19mm Collagen Stix Sausage Casings Stuffing End Can I Use Collagen Casings In A Smokehouse?

If you use collagen casings in a smokehouse, remember that the Fresh Casings do not have the strength to be hung on smoke sticks. If you are hanging Processed casings from smoke sticks during thermal processing, a simple trick you can use if you have any issue with the casings breaking during the cook cycle is to put a single, simple twist in the casing at the top where the casing goes over the smoke stick to help relieve some surface tension and potential breakage.

Why Is My Collagen Casings Wrinkling After Cooking?

If you have issues with wrinkling in your final product, check these two simple steps in your process. First, make sure you don’t understuff the product. Second, make sure that your cooling cycle is adequate following your thermal processing. Many times, improper cooling does not allow the final appearance of the casings to be set properly. You should have either a shower cycle for 15-20 minutes at the end of your cook cycle, or simply use a water and ice bath in a meat lug. Ideally, you should get the internal temperature of the meat product to drop to below 115 degrees during the showering process.

19mm Collagen Sausage Casings In Smokehouse Watch WaltonsTV: Collagen Sausage Casings 101 Shop waltonsinc.com for Collagen Sausage Casings Shop waltonsinc.com for Natural Sausage Casings Shop waltonsinc.com for Fibrous Sausage Casings 19mm Smoke Stix Collagen Sausage Casings 19mm Smoke Stix Collagen Sausage Casings 30mm Fresh Collagen Sausage Casings 30mm Fresh Collagen Sausage Casings