A lot goes into the making of a good sausage and it all comes down to using a good sausage casing. Using the right casings gives homemade sausage the correct bite and ensures that the sausage cooks evenly and completely. Today, we will discuss two options for sausage casings: traditional natural casings and collagen casings.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Shengmao.
Both products are made from animal parts and both work extremely well for sausages that will be cooked or smoked after stuffing. So before you mix up a batch of ground meat for bratwurst or breakfast sausage, consider your options for casings.
At the most basic level, a sausage casing has one job. It must contain ground meat, seasonings, and spices while the sausage is handled, cooked, and stored. There is an art to sausage making that requires patience and practice. The meat must be pushed into the casings without air bubbles or tearing the casing. One of the reasons that artificial casings have become popular is that they are often easier to use than natural casings. However, not all casings are the same, and you will need to use different types of casings for different types of sausage.
Making sausage is a skill that developed so far back in time that the origins are lost to knowledge. What we do know is that the process of making sausage developed as a way to preserve meat long before anyone ever thought of refrigeration. Our ancient ancestors learned that by coarsely grinding meat and fat, then stuffing the mixture into tubes and smoking it, they could create a meat product that offered all of the health and nutrition benefits of fresh meat in a portable, shelf-stable package.
Even though tens of thousands of years have passed since the first sausage was made, some of the original principles remain. Natural sausage casings are still among the most popular and are a go-to for many people making fresh sausage at home. These natural sausage casings are derived from portions of the digestive tract of animals. The most common part is the submucous lining of the small intestine.
Hunters who are interested in finding good uses for as many parts of an animal as possible might want to try their hand at making the casings at home the old-fashioned way. Sausage casings can be made from pigs, sheep, deer, cattle, and likely almost any animal, even bear or elk. The process begins by carefully cleaning the body cavity to locate the stomach and the intestines. The small intestine is a tangled mass of tubes held together with a membrane.
The intestine is severed from the stomach and the large intestine, unraveled, and then manually cleaned and flushed with water. Since the intestine can be very long, cutting it into six to ten-foot sections or wherever a portion of the intestine tears during the rinsing and cleaning process is common.
The intestine is then flipped inside out to complete the cleaning process. A thin, whitish layer on the inside of the intestine is scrapped off with the back of a knife, and then the intestine is rinsed again. Finally, the cleaned intestine is packed in salt and water to cure before being used. Fresh, natural sausage casings should be used as soon as possible.
More modern sausage-making techniques have led to the development of artificial casings made from collagen. Collagen is a naturally-occurring protein found in all living animals. Collagen is found everywhere in the body but is most easily recovered from the hides of animals during the slaughtering process.
The process typically involves exposing the cleaned animal hides to either an acid or an alkaline that causes swelling of the proteins. The swollen proteins are extracted from the remainder of the hide using pressure, dried, flattened, and then formed into tubes.
Making collagen casings at home is not something that anyone should try. The process requires specialized equipment to get it right. The collagen degrades and becomes gelatin when the process doesn't work right.
Most of the time, natural casings and collagen casings can be used interchangeably. Both collagen and natural casings are used to make similar types of sausage and both work very well when used correctly. Deciding between the two comes down to personal preferences and practical considerations as there are benefits and drawbacks to collagen casing vs natural casings.
Many people find that sausage made in collagen casings has a better bite and a more firm texture than sausage in natural casings, and there is some scientific evidence to back this idea up. A study published by the National Library of Medicine demonstrated an improvement in texture using collagen casings for fermented sausage over natural casings.
Collagen casings are made in a bunched-up tube, making them easy to load on a sausage stuffing horn. The casings fill evenly and smoothly without the tube becoming tangled. They also have a uniform shape, thickness, and size.
Collagen casings do not require any prep work, either. There is no need to rinse, soak, or salt them, so when you are ready to stuff sausage, your casings are ready to go.
If you're looking to start making your own sausage at home, check out some of our popular videos before you get started:
Collagen, a naturally occurring protein in animals, is the foundation of these casings. Primarily sourced from beef hides during the slaughtering process, collagen casings offer numerous advantages.
One big advantage of natural casings is that they are made from a part of the animal that often is discarded. We always believe that every part of a harvested animal that can be used should be used. Many people report that the flavor of natural casings is superior to collagen and that the casings allow a better permeation of smoke flavor. Some natural casings are better for hanging in a smoker than others, but most people have success hanging natural casings.
Some people are squeamish about eating intestines. We get it – sometimes things sound so unappealing that they will never taste good.
Natural casings have an irregular shape that can make stuffing the sausage more difficult. Certain types, like sheep intestine, can be very delicate and difficult to stuff without blowouts and air pockets. The natural shape often means that your sausage will look lumpy rather than smooth.
Natural casings must be stored and handled appropriately. They require rinsing before use to remove excess salt and can only be stored in very salty water.
Both types of sausage casings are appropriate for sausages that will be grilled, but the variety of options available with collagen casings often means that you'll have better sausage for grilling using collagen casings. Collagen casings are available in both an edible and non-edible variants. The non-edible type are thicker collagen casings, frequently called fibrous casings or cellulose casings. They are intended to be peeled off after cooking. Do not use plastic casings on the grill. Plastic casings are for making things like hot dogs that are removed from the casing before cooking.
Contact us to discuss your requirements of Sausage Casing Manufacturers. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.
Natural casings may split more easily on the grill. This is particularly the case for sheep casings and is less common with hog casings and beef casings. A general rule of thumb – and a law governing commercial sausage manufacturers – is that the source of the natural casing should match the primary meat blend stuffed in the casing. That means pork in pork casings, veal or mutton in sheep casings, and so on.
Collagen casings are the go-to for most people who are just getting into homemade sausage making. The benefits of the casings make them easy to pick up and use, but there are a few tips that can improve your results.
Natural casings are the authentic way to make sausage, but they require a little more care and patience (and a lot more cleaning) than collagen casings.
Sausage casing, also known as sausage skin or simply casing, is the material that encloses the filling of a sausage. Natural casings are made from animal intestines or skin; artificial casings, introduced in the early 20th century, are made of collagen and cellulose.[1] The material is then shaped via a continuous extrusion process—producing a single sausage casing of indefinite length—which is then cut into desired lengths, usually while the extrusion process continues.
Natural sausage casings are made from the sub-mucosa of the small intestine of meat animals,[2] a layer of the intestine that consists mainly of naturally occurring collagen.[3] In Western European cuisine and Chinese cuisine, most casings come from pigs, but elsewhere the intestines of sheep, goats, cattle and sometimes horses are also used. To prepare the intestines as casings, they are flushed, scraped and cleaned with water and salt by hand or with machinery; today they are primarily machine cleaned. The outer fat and the inner mucosa lining are removed during processing.[3] They are salted to lower the water activity (which inhibits microbial growth) and preserve the casing.[3] Natural casings have been used in the production of meat specialties for centuries and have remained virtually unchanged in function, appearance, and composition. US and EU organic food regulations only allow natural casings, which can be derived from non-organically raised animals as there are no large scale slaughter plants which handle and process only organic animals and sell their casings as certified organic casings. As a result, all large scale natural casing companies buy casings from around the world and send them to their selection facilities to be graded and packaged. There are four primary animal genera which are used to manufacture natural casings (although all mammals raised for meat could potentially be used to produce natural casing): cows, pigs, and lambs and sheep.
Natural casing sausages are distinguishable from collagen or cellulose casings because of their irregularity, although high quality sheep and lamb casings can be almost indistinguishable from a collagen casing as they have no noticeable imperfections. The main difference is in the way they are twisted and linked which impacts the appearance of the final product and makes it easy to differentiate a hot dog using natural sheep or lamb casing vs collagen casing. The size and usage of natural casings are impacted by the animal they are derived from, the narrowest being lamb followed by sheep followed by pig followed by beef. The size range for lamb is 14 mm to 28 mm in diameter (which is how casings are graded), the size range for sheep is 16 mm to 32 mm in diameter, the size range for pig is 28 mm to 58 mm in diameter, the size range for beef is 43 mm to 65 mm, although beef bung caps (which are not derived from the small intestine) have a size range of 115 mm to 130 mm.[3]
The process begins at the slaughter plant where "green" (uncleaned) runners (ungraded casings) are removed from the animal during the slaughter process. They are subsequently cleaned, which involves breaking the inner mucosa, usually with a machine that the runners go through and rollers to break the inner mucosa so it can be flushed out and removed. The cleaning process can be done by hand, but primarily casings are machine cleaned. This is a very water intensive process as the casings are vigorously flushed with cold water to remove blood from the mucosa which if not properly flushed during the initial processing can lead to "staining" of the casing where it becomes pink. The cleaned runners are then tied in bundles and packed in plastic drums and filled with a saturated salt brine for preservation. The runners are then sold to a company which processes natural casings by grading and packaging them to create finished units called hanks.
Natural casings are produced and sold almost exclusively by the hank which is a unit of measure that is 91 meters long.[3] A hank can consist of a varying number of strands (individual pieces of casing) which vary in length from 2 meters (which is the shortest length sold for commercial use) to as long as 28 meters. Each casing manufacturer has various "put ups" which dictate the maximum number of strands and the minimum length of each strand allowed in the put up. Casings are selected for size which is measured in millimeters and refers to the diameter of the casing; this is done exclusively by hand and is primarily done in China due to the availability of low cost labor. Commercially casings are available in various forms of packaging which are suited to different applications. Sheep/lamb and hog are available in all packaging types due to the high demand and long length of pieces; due to the shorter length and much lower demand for beef casings they are primarily only available loose or in net packs either salted or in brine.
Sheep, lamb and hog casings are available "tubed" where each strand is put on a plastic tube which allows the sausage maker to easily place the casing on the stuffing horn;[3] in recent years these tubes have been modified so they break open along a seam and the operator can pull them out at the back of the horn allowing greater efficiency; these are referred to in the industry as "zip tubes", due to the zipper-like nature of the seam. These tubed casings are then packed in plastic nets, usually two per net, and packed in plastic drums, which are then filled with a saturated salt brine, usually 200 per drum. These are available in all diameters and in lengths greater than 3 meters (as 2-meter or shorter pieces are cost prohibitive to tube).
Sheep, lamb, and hog casings are also available loose in brine in a vacuum sealed plastic pack; commonly referred to as "vacuum packs", these are primarily used by small- to medium-sized sausage makers who use less than 100 hanks per month of casing. The appeal of vacuum packs is the ease of use, their shorter strand length for hand stuffing (all sausage makers who do not use automatic sausage stuffing and linking machines) and their shelf life; they only need to be opened as needed so the sausage maker does not need to worry that they will not use their opened casings prior to a decrease in quality. These are available in all diameters and in put ups from short up to medium length, about 6 meter minimum, with a maximum length of about 14 meters.
Sheep, lamb and hog casings are also available in a net, commonly referred to as net pack. These are available salted or in brine and they are primarily used by medium to large sausage makers who do not want to pay the additional cost for the tubed casing and do not have automatic sausage stuffing and linking machines (which require tubed casings to operate efficiently). These are available in all diameters and in lengths greater than 2 meters.
Beef casings are primarily available only salted or in brine. They are measured in sets, not hanks, and the length is 32 meters; this is for beef "rounds" and "middles" only, as beef bung caps are only about 1 meter in length.
Artificial casings are made of collagen (often derived from cattle skin), cellulose, or plastic. Artificial casings from animal collagen are generally edible, though some are not.
Collagen casings are mainly produced from the collagen in beef or pig hides,[2] and the bones and tendons. It can also be derived from poultry and fish. They have been made for more than 50 years and their share of the market has been increasing.[4][5] Usually the cost to produce sausages in collagen is significantly lower than making sausages in gut because of higher production speeds and lower labor requirements.
The collagen for artificial casings is processed extensively. It is formed by extrusion through a die to the desired diameter, dried and shirred into short sticks up to 41 cm (16 in) long that contain as much as 50 m (160 ft) of casing. In a newer process, a form of dough is coextruded with the meat blend, and a coating is formed by treating the outside with a calcium solution to set the coating.
The latest generation of collagen casings are usually more tender than natural casings and do not exhibit the "snap" or "bite" of natural casing sausages. Most collagen casings are edible, but a special form of thicker collagen casings is used for salamis and large caliber sausages where the casing is usually peeled off the sausage by the consumer. Collagen casings are less expensive to use, give better weight and size control, and are easier to run when compared to natural casings.
Some innovative coextrusion processes have been developed in recent years, allowing 100% plant-based vegetarian casings to be created. Some special alginate coextrusion equipment is required to make casings that can be used in halal or kosher food making.[6]
Casings made from cellulose and plastics are peeled off food products and are not eaten.[2]
Cellulose, usually from cotton linters or wood pulp, is processed to make viscose, which is then extruded into clear, tough casings for making wieners and franks. They also are shirred for easier use and can be treated with dye to make "red hots". The casing is peeled off after cooking, resulting in "skinless" franks. Cellulosic viscose solutions are combined with wood or for example abacá pulp to make large diameter fibrous casings for bologna, cotto salami, smoked ham and other products sliced for sandwiches. This type is also permeable to smoke and water vapor. They can be flat or shirred, depending on application, and can be pretreated with smoke, caramel color, or other surface treatments.
Plastic casings are not eaten.[2] They also can be flat or shirred. Generally, smoke and water cannot pass through the casing, so plastic is used for non-smoked products where high yields are expected. The inner surface can be laminated or co-extruded with a polymer with an affinity for meat protein causing the meat to stick to the film, resulting in some loss when the casing is peeled, but higher overall yield due to better moisture control.
Plastic casings are generally made from polymers such as polyamide, polypropylene, or polyethylene. Polyamide (Nylon) plastic casings are the most commonly used in production of cooked sausages and hams such as luncheon meat and bologna. Polyamide casings come in two main varieties: Oriented and non-oriented. The oriented polyamide[7] are shrinkable casings and will shrink during the cooking process thereby reducing the water loss. Non-oriented polyamide casings remain the same diameter during the cooking process and thereby allow for expansion of the meat during cooking. The use of polyamide casings has expanded recently with the advent of various varieties and structures of casings such as multilayer casings.[8]
For more information, please visit Clipping Machine.