It is impossible to match the quality of natural casings. They can be used for almost any product. The biggest advantage of using natural casings is that they shrink equally with the meat and thus are great for making dry or semi-dry salami or sausages. That leaves their use to smaller butchers or sausage makers. Another advantage is that they are edible, and you don’t even feel them when eating a well-made smoked sausage.
Natural casings are usually packed and stored in salt. Before use they should be rinsed on the outside and flushed out with water inside. Then they should be left for 30 minutes in a water filled container. That removes more salt from the casings and makes them softer and easier to work with when stuffing.
There are several types of natural casings, namely
- Beef casings
- Sheep casings
- Hog casings
Beef Casings
The three most used types of beef casings are: beef bung caps, beef rounds and beef middles. Beef bung caps are used for Capocolla, veal sausage, large Bologna, Lebanon and cooked Salami. Beef rounds are used for ring Bologna, ring liver sausage, Mettwurst, Polish sausage, blood sausage, Kishka and Holsteiner. Beef middles can be used for Leona style sausage, all other types of Bologna, dry and semi-dry Cervelats, dry and cooked Salami and veal sausage. The wall thickness is largely determined by the amount of fat left on the finished casing.
Beef casings with a heavy textured wall will have some fat on the casing wall while casings with thin texture will have virtually no fat.
Beef casings are tougher than hog casings and should be soaked in water longer. When making fermented sausages beef casings also have a higher tendency to become slimy during fermentation or the drying stage. This is a minor inconvenience, and the slime is simply wiped off.
Sheep casings
Sheep casings are the highest quality small diameter casings used for the finest sausages such as: Bockwurst, Frankfurters, Wieners, Polish Kabanosy, Knackwurst, Chipolata, Merguez, Nürnberger Bratwurst and breakfast sausage links. These casings combine tenderness with sufficient strength to withstand the filling, cooking and smoking operations. Natural lamb and sheep sausage casings are perfect for fine emulsion or coarse grid products, including cooked, smoked or fresh sausage. Each sheep casing is translucent and white to provide a glossy, professional look. We offer long and extra-long strand specifications for maximum efficiency during processing. Calibres ranges from 14 mm to 28/+ mm
Hog casings
Natural hog casings are ideal for fresh, smoked and dry sausages. Hog casings are used for numerous types of sausages such as grill sausage, Bockwurst, Boudin Blanc / Noir, Chorizo, cooked sausage, Pepperoni, Italian sausage and Bratwurst
Uniform size and shape allow for consistency and minimal waste. Because our hog casings are all natural, they have a tender and firm bite, providing just the right resistance. They’re also transparent so they easily highlight your sausages’ quality ingredients. calibres ranging from 26 mm to 51/+ mm
