When the war ended in Poland in 1945 there was no butcher’s twine available but people were making sausages all the same. A very simple and quite ingenious method of tying sausage casings was invented and people still use it today. The method had one big advantage over butcher’s twine: all that was needed was a knife and a tree branch to make a few wooden picks. The round wooden picks that are used for holding meats on sandwiches will be a perfect material. This method is not suitable when poaching sausages in water as they move around and the picks might puncture the casings.
1. Wooden pick on top of a casing. 2. Casing bent over the pick. 3. Pick rotates 180 degrees making a knot. 4. Pick ready to puncture the casing. 5. Knot is secured, the casing is tied up. Although the drawings might look confusing the method is very easy and fast. Practice with wooden toothpicks and a plastic bag for a minute and you will see how easy it is. You can make more than one rotation with a pick and the knot will be even stronger.
