Sticks with pics and collagen questions

[dward51]

What brand collagen casings did you use? Brand can make a huge difference as can age and how they were stored.

I have been disappointing with the LEM casings I bought at Bass Pro and Gander Mountain (before they closed). I think the problem is stock rotation and storage method/time. With those I think they end up sitting in the warehouse or back room too long and end up being more dried out than fresher collagen casings. The package even has a hanging hole in the plastic so they can dry out real bad even in a "sealed" bag. One day I ran part of a batch with the last of my 17mm LEM casings and the remainder with 21mm casings from The Sausagemaker. Night and day quality comparison in the final casings on the sticks. They were all from the same batch of meat & spices, smoked at the same time with the only difference being the casings. Ever since, you could not give me a set of mass market LEM casings. No issues with casing separation since I only use fresher casings from a sausage making supply house. I've used The Sausagemaker and B&P collagen casings and both work fine IMO. A fresher collagen casing has a slight oily presence if you rub it on a piece of white printer paper. Not much, but a little. The older "dry" ones feel different and do not have that slight oily presence.

Try collagen casings from a sausage supply house and see if it makes a difference. I think it will.

[Fishawn]

What brand collagen casings did you use? Brand can make a huge difference as can age and how they were stored.

I have been disappointing with the LEM casings I bought at Bass Pro and Gander Mountain (before they closed). I think the problem is stock rotation and storage method/time. With those I think they end up sitting in the warehouse or back room too long and end up being more dried out than fresher collagen casings. The package even has a hanging hole in the plastic so they can dry out real bad even in a "sealed" bag. One day I ran part of a batch with the last of my 17mm LEM casings and the remainder with 21mm casings from The Sausagemaker. Night and day quality comparison in the final casings on the sticks. They were all from the same batch of meat & spices, smoked at the same time with the only difference being the casings. Ever since, you could not give me a set of mass market LEM casings. No issues with casing separation since I only use fresher casings from a sausage making supply house. I've used The Sausagemaker and B&P collagen casings and both work fine IMO. A fresher collagen casing has a slight oily presence if you rub it on a piece of white printer paper. Not much, but a little. The older "dry" ones feel different and do not have that slight oily presence.

Try collagen casings from a sausage supply house and see if it makes a difference. I think it will.

Solid advice

[SMOKE FREAK]

What brand collagen casings did you use? Brand can make a huge difference as can age and how they were stored.

I have been disappointing with the LEM casings I bought at Bass Pro and Gander Mountain (before they closed). I think the problem is stock rotation and storage method/time. With those I think they end up sitting in the warehouse or back room too long and end up being more dried out than fresher collagen casings. The package even has a hanging hole in the plastic so they can dry out real bad even in a "sealed" bag. One day I ran part of a batch with the last of my 17mm LEM casings and the remainder with 21mm casings from The Sausagemaker. Night and day quality comparison in the final casings on the sticks. They were all from the same batch of meat & spices, smoked at the same time with the only difference being the casings. Ever since, you could not give me a set of mass market LEM casings. No issues with casing separation since I only use fresher casings from a sausage making supply house. I've used The Sausagemaker and B&P collagen casings and both work fine IMO. A fresher collagen casing has a slight oily presence if you rub it on a piece of white printer paper. Not much, but a little. The older "dry" ones feel different and do not have that slight oily presence.

Try collagen casings from a sausage supply house and see if it makes a difference. I think it will.

And there you go...I bought my LEM casings at the local farm store because I didn't want to pay shipping...I'm just guessing, but their sales of sausage supplies may be kinda slow...They had a certain dryness to em...Certainly not oily by any standards...Oh well...It's what I have to work with for now...I guess peeling them and still having a good stick is not the worst that could happen...

[curious aardvark]

been telling you guys about mixing properly and why for almost a decade now :-)

good to see it's sunk in


sheep casing - whether pretubed or loose - is much better. But it's that thin that even the 'pretubed guarenteed no hole' stuff is riddled with little holes.
For snackstix it's nowhere near as crucial as for fresh sausage. So worth a try.

I do have a gadget - somewhere, that lets you extrude caseless sticks. And I will find it as soon as I remember at the same time I'm in my workshop

[SmokinOutBack]

Nice job on the stix Craig. I've never done them, so I can't help with any suggestions. Maybe after I retire I'll give them a go.

[Kicken Asphalt]

What brand collagen casings did you use? Brand can make a huge difference as can age and how they were stored.

I have been disappointing with the LEM casings I bought at Bass Pro and Gander Mountain (before they closed). I think the problem is stock rotation and storage method/time. With those I think they end up sitting in the warehouse or back room too long and end up being more dried out than fresher collagen casings. The package even has a hanging hole in the plastic so they can dry out real bad even in a "sealed" bag. One day I ran part of a batch with the last of my 17mm LEM casings and the remainder with 21mm casings from The Sausagemaker. Night and day quality comparison in the final casings on the sticks. They were all from the same batch of meat & spices, smoked at the same time with the only difference being the casings. Ever since, you could not give me a set of mass market LEM casings. No issues with casing separation since I only use fresher casings from a sausage making supply house. I've used The Sausagemaker and B&P collagen casings and both work fine IMO. A fresher collagen casing has a slight oily presence if you rub it on a piece of white printer paper. Not much, but a little. The older "dry" ones feel different and do not have that slight oily presence.

Try collagen casings from a sausage supply house and see if it makes a difference. I think it will.

I by all my casing from B&P. I’ve been using natural sheep casing. They are a pain in the ass sometimes, blowout here blowout there. I like the snap of the casing. But when I do use collagen I by from B&P.

Still good looking sticks.

Good luck..

[zombini]

Nice do on the sticks.
Just a couple of things I have learned.
Follow CAs advise when it comes to grinding and mixing.
Don't overcrowd the smoker.
Use fresh collagen casings. They really don't keep very well. If they break easily when stuffing they are old.
Let them bloom and dry a bit after smoking. A day or 2 in the fridge helps too. I just got out a package of sticks from last year. The callagen is sucked up so tight you don't know that its even there. There is no way you could peel it off.
Dam, I need to smoke something!
z