Using Fibrous Casings

Varieties of Fibrous Casings

• Mahogany or Smoked Fibrous Casings are the most common variety and are commonly available from 1.5" x 12" to 2.9" by 24"
• Clear Fibrous Casings will have a slightly opaque look to them but will appear clear when cooked, and are available from 1.5" x 12" to 2.9" by 20"
• Camo Casings are a mahogany-colored casing with a camo pattern printed on them. Often used to identify something as being made from wild game. They are 2.9" X 20"
• Clear Venison Sausage casings are a clear fibrous casing with a venison head printed on them for easy identification. They are 2.9" X 20”
• Smoke Toned Fibrous Casings. These are a smoke toned (lighter than Mahogany) casing that is lined with protein to help the meat stick to the casing. 3" x 24"
• Red Bologna Casings are a vibrant read and are designed to be used in very large diameter sausages, such as bologna. 4.6" x 24"
• Football Shaped Fibrous. These are specialty casings that will form a football shaped sausage
• Beer Bottle Shaped Fibrous. These are specialty casings that will form a beer bottle shaped sausage
• Red Santa Casings. These casings are a vibrant red with a picture of Santa, and a place to write a "To" and "From" making them great for Christmas Gifts.
• They come in pre-stuck, or non-stuck varieties, most of them ARE pre-stuck and do not require you to perforate before smoking.

While Summer Sausage is by far the most common sausage made with fibrous casings these casings can be used for different sausages such as Bologna (listed above) Salami or even Pepperoni.

How to Prepare Fibrous Casings

When Fibrous Casings arrive to you they will have a dry papery feel to them. To get them to form to the shape of the sausage we will need to follow a few easy steps to make them pliable yet retain their strength.

• Separate individual casings from the bundle.
• Soak in a bowl of hot to warm water for 30 minutes.
• Drain excess water from the inside of the casing before placing them on the stuffing tube.

Tips for Stuffing Fibrous Casings

• After casings have been soaked for 30 minutes in hot water, drain any remaining water from the inside of the casing and load onto stuffing tube.
• These casings come pre-tied on one end, so load it from the open side and use the largest stuffing tube that your casing size will fit over.
• These casings are very strong, blow-outs are a minimal concern, hold them on as tightly as you can to avoid having any voids in your sausage.
• Twist the open end until the casing has folded over itself enough times to securely fit a hog ring on it.
• Hang from the pre-tied end in the smokehouse.
• If your casings are not peeling cleanly from the meat, return them to an ice-bath for 10-15 minutes.
• All these casings, whether they are pre stuck or not are smoke permeable, so smoke can easily pass through the casings.

Storage and Shelf-Life

Any Fibrous casings that have been soaked and not used can easily be dried back out and saved for future use. Simply leave out at room temperature in a place with good air circulation and allow them to dry until they are dried out and have a paper-like feeling to them. In this state the casings will stay good for many years.

• Avoid storing in direct sunlight and high humidity environments
• Leave in bag they arrived in until ready to process
• Leftovers can be saved for future years processing

While technically they do not have a never ending shelf-life they will easily last 3-5 years without any degradation.