I bought three brands of hog casings; Oversea was the best, Hi-Country the worst, and Home Pack/DeWied in-between. The Hi-Country casings are completely packed in salt and dehydrated, needing a lot of soaking to get them ready to use. Because the contents are one-stiff block, you have to use them all at once. Finally, they are so rank that there is a notice on the package that the stench is normal. Someone once told me: “Only ever eat chitlins made by a woman who loves you”. Now it is clear why. The Home Pack brand is okay, although they do tend to get tangled up a lot. In contrast, the Oversea casings are cut into similar lengths and threaded through a plastic ring. This makes them easier to lay out and separate, with hardly any tangling. In addition, they seemed to be much more pliable than the others with very few bad spots. This is the brand I will use from now on.
I am a novice sausage maker but not a novice when it comes to knowing a good sausage. These are great if you are just starting out and need something that you don't need to worry about quality. The lengths are a bit on the short side but they are perfect if you are just starting out. You don't want to stuff a whole long length only to find out that you stuffed it too tight/loose.
Overall great casings, although you should make sure that you don't have holes/tears in the casings. Only happened to me on a couple of pieces, but it did so its something to be aware of. Overall a great product. Highly recommended.
Full disclosure: This was my first time making any type of sausage or working with any type of sausage casing.
We made South African boerewors (farmer's sausage) using this sausage casing. The casing was very strong and did not tear at any point during the sausage making, cooking, or handling. This type of sausage is made into one long segment, and lifting from one end did not cause damage to any part of it. There was probably enough casing in the package to make between 6 and 9 kilograms or 14 and 20 lb of sausage. We made the mistake of rinsing it all, being unsure how much we needed. We ended up making 3 kilo / 7 lb of sausage and all agreed that the quality of the sausage exceeded that of any of the boerewors we'd bought commercially. We used the kitchenaid mixer attachment to stuff our sausages which introduced a lot of air, but pricking the casing with a sharp knife made a hole large enough to vent the air bubble without compromising the integrity of the sausage lining. I think the diameter is between 25 mm and 30 mm (~ 1 inch) for our sausage but can probably be stuffed to a greater diameter if desired. Very happy with this product and will definitely buy it again in the future!
I am a novice to sausage making and used these casings for my first attempt last weekend. They worked perfectly. They were a little tangled when I first opened the package, but that was only a mild annoyance. I read that some folks were having issues with the casings splitting during stuffing. I had no problems with splits, tears or ruptures at all. The only split I had was due to my being inexperienced and trying to twist a firmly packed portion into a link after drying. The sausages were smoked at 225 degrees for a few hours and experienced no issues while cooking. They turned out snappy, browned and delicious. I will buy these again.
Relatively new sausage-maker here...have made loose-mixes in the past, and some emulsions that I cooked in pans or plastic. Needed to up my game, and figured these couldn't hurt based on the price and reviews. Smelled less than I expected, and only had one so far with a tear/break in the middle (no biggie, tie off, and keep on truckin'). Easy to handle and surprisingly robust. I did rupture one when I was a bit too aggressive redistributing the filling during linking, but again, I'm new. Wife was completely disgusted when she saw the package in the fridge, which is always a nice plus. She peeled the damn things off the first bite she tried, even though she knows every store-bought sausage is packed the same way, but I love her (and these casings) regardless. She promised next time she won't peel first.
Feature Product
- All Natural
- Quality Hog Casings from North America
- Will Stuff 20-25lbs of Sausage
Description
All natural, quality hog casings from North America, supplied by Oversea Casingl. For best results, do not freeze and use within one year. We recommend storing unopened product in a cool, dry place. After opening, re-pack unused casings in salt and refrigerate.
This is the first time I tried home made sausages, and the results turned out nearly perfect, I received many compliments from family and friends whom I shared my home made sausage made from these Casings. Please see my pictures.
Quite simply, the absolute best casings I have ever used. I have used all of the other brands - LEM, Gander Mountain, etc. I make all of my sausage from scratch and can tell you these casings were the easiest to work with... from cleaning them to loading them on the stuffer... the quality is miles ahead better than anything I've ever used. And if you look the company up, they have received awards for how clean and safe their products are... something very important to me considering how everything seems to be contaminated these days.
Wow, these hog casings are amazing. I miss British bangers so thought I would have a go at making some. Bought myself a little $23 grinder/mincer/sausage stuffing gadget from Amazon called Kitchen Basics. Ended up grinding the pork shoulder in my Vitamix as its proved much easier. But the gadget was great for stuffing the sausages. The hog casings come packed in salt. Just rinse it off and soak in water for 15 minutes until ready. Within 10 minutes I was putting the hog casings on the sausage funnel and churning out sausages like a pro. I was a little worried that they might split as I used the bigger funnel and the casings were stuffed full. But I was able to twist and separate them professionally and within half an hour I had myself a nice stash of British bangers. Highly recommend these. They're also made in the USA or Canada,
Very good quality. I've had zero problems with these casings. Tips: Over a cookie sheet, carefully untangle the bundle. Take the amount you need (I use approx. 1.5 feet per pound) and place in a small bowl. Put the unused portion back in the bag, seal it, and place in the refrigerator. Then using tap water, rinse the salt off the casing (inside and out) and return to the bowl. Add 1 cup of water and 1 tablespoon white vinegar to the bowl and let the casings soak for at least 30 minutes. Rinse them one more time (inside and out) and start stuffing. These are strong and pliable. Will buy again.
The BEST casings I have used so far. Great quality, no odor, nice long runs, very few holes, no Splits and SO COOL they come with a finger ring so that you can pull them easily and they separate very nice and don't get knotted up. Thread nicely onto the tube. Great Product!! Will buy Aqain
You DON'T have to handle these like egg shells!!!! We processed 70 Lbs. of Deer Breakfast Sausage and had only 2 small holes.
Only one thing... these casings stand a lot of handling.. therefore can be "snappy" depending on what you are processing.
0 comments:
Post a Comment