Sausage Tying

[Weekend Smoker]

I am in new territory here. If you use a device to tie fresh pork sausage links with string, you can’t seperate the links as the casings will open up. Should I be smoking or boiling them at least part way so the casing will remain intact when you seperate the links? What do you all do?

[Tex_77]

Weekend Smoker https://meatgistics.waltons.com/topic/3008/tips-for-tying-off-sausage-and-hot-dogs/3?_=1660940871869

[Weekend Smoker]

Tex_77 I greatly appreciate the feedback. I am dealing with fresh pork sausage. I see how they twist them by hand in that video but that really wasn’t the question. Once they are twisted, do you need to partially cook them before separating the links or must you do something else?

[twilliams]

Weekend Smoker if they are opening up and meat pushing out the casing after you snip into individual links after twisting then you are stuffing them to tight

[Grimpuppy]

I twist them, leave them together, and put in fridge overnight. The next day I cut them and they stay closed. Natural casings will stay closed the best followed by fresh collagen and then collagen. Most other casings will need to be tied.

[Weekend Smoker]

twilliams I think you are correct. I probably am.

[samspade]

I even twist the hotdog casings. I twist the link then fold the 2nd back against the other then the third twist over the top two to make a group of three then repeat.

[Dave in AZ]

Grimpuppy said in Sausage Tying:

I twist them, leave them together, and put in fridge overnight. The next day I cut them and they stay closed. Natural casings will stay closed the best followed by fresh collagen and then collagen. Most other casings will need to be tied.

Exactly this.

[lkrfletcher]

I always just stuff them and cut them right away (as soon as I finish the casings) and they do not open up. I think perhaps you are stuffing them a little tight. Just Saying.

[Weekend Smoker]

I was using fresh collagen casings and as I said they opened up. What I get from here is I must use natural casings and not over stiff them. The only question is if I do those two things will they stay closed if I use a tying machine. I see the Zlinker doesn’t tie them it mearly closes the casing ends and cuts them off and thos stay closed.

[Jonathon]

Weekend Smoker That is one of the major things with Collagen, it just doesn’t stay closed as well as natural casings do. Yeah, a Z Linker is great but all it really does is cut the sausage at the same length, it doesn’t tie them.

[Weekend Smoker]

Jonathon I agree but do they stay closed? I assume you hand link?

[Jonathon]

Weekend Smoker Yup, natural will stay closed and yes hand link is the best way to go for that at home. They sell attachments for vacuum stuffers that will actually twist tight enough to keep collagen closed but for a home processor I’d say its not realistic. The stuffers themselves run around 40k and then the attachments aren’t cheap either!

[Weekend Smoker]

Jonathon Do.you feel the same way about the linker that uses the string to tie them.off?