Help, sausage casings keep spliting open??

[TMB]

Well I get home today thinking I'm going to stuff the 10 lbs of Italian sausage I made yesterday.  Well started to stuff with casings I just bought a month ago and they split three times. 

I soaked them for 40 mins or so cleaned out really well and I thought all is well until I started to stuff.

Any ideas??  They are not old and they were not dry so I'm lost.   They split when trying to turn them into links, I did not over fill them either.
 
Any help would be great

[Keymaster]

Possibly overstuffed Tommy. It works well to pinch every 6 inches as you stuff to leave a space for twisting. not sure if you did that

[TMB]

Possibly overstuffed Tommy. I works well to pinch every 6 inches as you stuff to leave a space for twisting. not sure if you did that

No I didn't but I will keep it in mind next round

Thanks

[teesquare]

I twist as I go, Tommy, and tho they don't look as pretty....I tend to under stuff a little. I can always twist a few more times to tighten 'em up, but - if the gut is stuffed to tight to twist.....you can split them.
I soak mine in almost hot water for about an hour, then force water thru them , then squeeze the water out. Remember after you load them on your stuffer tube - you need to use them pretty quickly, as they can lose moisture if you push too many gut sections on a stuffer tube, and then if it takes too long to use them.

And - of course, you could just have gotten some bad casing..

[Sailor1]

Some casings could just be weak, they could have a hole in them or they could be over stuffed.  Hey i still get blowouts every once in a while it's no big deal, practice makes perfect

[teesquare]

Sailor is right Tommy...sometimes I get some gut that is weak - and it will blow out sometimes 3 or 4 places on on string of gut.  Can happen....

[nepas]

HOW TIGHT SHOULD THE SAUSAGE BE STUFFED?

How tight you stuff sausage casings depends on the type of sausage and how it is to be linked. For natural casings: When making a rope sausage, without linking, stuff to slightly less than the maximum expansion of the casings. If linking by hand stuff 4-5 mm (1/4”) below the maximum expansion of the casing. Hand linking can put uneven stress on the casing. By under stuffing, you can reduce breakage during linking. Check the firmness of the link and adjust the stuffing pressure.



HOW DO YOU SOAK OUT CASINGS AND FOR HOW LONG?

    Salted Hog Casings:

For best results soak over night in refrigerator in water that starts out at 90º F (32.2ºC). If in a hurry, follow these instructions but understand that you may not get maximum expansion capacity from the casing. Rushing the soaking process can result in the casing being sticky and they may not slide easily from the horn. This can result in breakage and sausage that is irregular in diameter or too small.  Link Bratwurst's Additional Note: Flushing the inside of the casings allows better sliding onto and off the horn.  Open the end of the casing and dip it into the bowl allowing a bubble of water to enter casing.  Pull casing out of bowl and water bubble will follow down casing until it comes out the other end.  You can do this with a faucet as well.

     

    The fast soak:

Rinse salt from casings
Soak in fresh water at 70º F (21.11ºC) for 1 hour
Soak in fresh water at 90º F (32.2ºC) for 1 hour
Place in fresh warm water 90º F (32.2ºC) at the stuffing table

     

    Sheep Casings:

Soak in fresh water at 85-90º F (29.44ºC - 32.2ºC) for 30 minutes
Place in fresh warm water at the stuffing table




HOW CAN I MAKE MY CASINGS MORE TENDER?

Soak casings longer
Add lemon juice or pineapple juice to the soak water.
Use proper moisture levels during smoke cycle.


WHY ARE THE CASINGS TOUGH AFTER COOKING FRESH SAUSAGE?

Sausage was cooked in a pan too hot and too quickly.
Casings were not soaked long enough.
Origin of casing.
Sausage was under stuffed

[TMB]

Good info guys thanks!   

Here are the sausages ready to go into bags

Learned a lot so far but need to keep on going to learn more

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[teesquare]

Keep a sharp needle or straight pin nearby when you stuff. You see those "voids" in the sausages? Those are pockets that trapped air while you were stuffing. If you prick those with a needle or pin - the air can get out, and you can fill those voids with sausage.

They look good to me tho Tommy. Heck I would eat all any of them!

[GusRobin]

Keep a sharp needle or straight pin nearby when you stuff. You see those "voids" in the sausages? Those are pockets that trapped air while you were stuffing. If you prick those with a needle or pin - the air can get out, and you can fill those voids with sausage.

I use a corn on the cob holder. They have a good handle and the points work well.

[Saber 4]

I'd eat them up.

[MoHuka]

The Sausage Maker sells a "Sausage Pricker" .....not that these other ideas won't work...

[sparky]

your sausages look real good tommy.  put some on the grill buddy.  I'll be over w/ some FT's. 

I use a corn on the cob holder. They have a good handle and the points work well.

yeap, me too.  the corn cob holder works real well. 

[TentHunteR]

Tommy, you can follow all the advice in the world but there's one thing you can count on. As long as you make sausage you are NEVER going to get away from having casings burst. It's just part of the game.

In this case, my guess is you one that was smaller than the others, or you simply got a bad casing.

Keep in mind: If you're using one of the home packs, they are leftover casings and not as uniform.  You are going to get some that are smaller diameter. You have to stuff those a little less than the others.

Rick's advice on how much to stuff is good, and the more you do it, the better a feel you will develop for it.


I have learned to always soak more casing than I think I'll need, just in case I do get a bad one.  If you have casings left that you didn't use, just re-pack it in some pickling salt and put it in the fridge. Re-soak and use it next time.

[TMB]

After going over the issue I believe I didn't let the casings go long enough in water.  I only soaked for 40 mins and I'm betting that just wasn't long enough.

 Keymaster did have a good idea about pinching the sausage so there would be room and the rest of y'all gave good info as well

Will make another batch soon and will let y'all know how it goes

Thanks!

Tommy