The Cooking Inn : Sausage and Prepared Meats

Sausage Casings

Home sausage makers often inquire about where they can buy sausage casings. Usually a small supply of natural and synthetic casings can be purchased from local meat processors, who use these casings in the manufacture of their own line of sausages. If local processors do not have extra casings to sell, they could direct you to their casing suppliers. Most casings used in sausage making are either natural, collagen or synthetic. Natural casings are from the G.I. tract of animals. Most fresh bratwurst are in pork casings. Natural casing wieners and some breakfast sausages are in lamb casings. Ring bolognas are typically in beef casings. Natural casings always have a natural "curve" to them.

Collagen is an animal protein, often extracted from beef hides, and manufactured into an edible casing (collagen is also the main protein present in natural casings). Collagen casings are used on some breakfast links, bratwurst (especially pre-cooked bratwurst and other types of linked sausages. Collagen casings provide straight sausage links (no curve).

Synthetic casings come in a variety of forms. "Skinless" hot dogs are manufactured in cellulose casings (made from cottin linters), which allow smoke to penetrate and moisture to escape during cooking. After skinless franks are cooked and cooled, the cellulose casings are peeled off and discarded, producing "skinless" products. Larger size cellulose casings have paper fibers added for strength, and are termed "fibrous" casings. They are used for summer sausage and larger diameter slicing products.

Using Muslin for Casing

Type	Diameter	Usual Use	Length Needed
Hog Casings
Narrow Medium Wide Extra Wide	32 mms or 1.25 ins 32-38 mms or 1.25-1.5 ins 38-42 mms or 1.5-1.75 ins 42+ mms or 1.75+ ins	pork, beef and cumberland, bratwurst, boerewors, kielbasa, kiska, savaloys, bierschinken, etc	23 metres or 25 yards
Hog Fat Ends or Hog Bungs in USA	50 approx mms or 2 approx ins	liver sausage, hard cervelat, braunschweiger	Sold in full lengths in GB but 24" (60cm lengths in USA)
Chitterling Used as ingredient	n/a	andouilles, andouillettes	n/a
Beef or Ox Casings
Runners Middles Bungs	35-48mms or 1 3/8-1 7/8 ins 45-55 mms or 1.75-2 1/8 ins 75-150mms or 3-6ins	black pudding, white pudding, bologna, etc. cornish hog's pudding, salami, knackwurst, cervelat haggis, copocolla, large bologna, etc	17.5 metres or 20 yards 17.5 metres or 20 yards Cut to size, full length 1-2 m
Sheep Casings			Number of Links
Narrow Medium Wide Extra Wide	16-18mms or 5/8ins 18-20mms or 3/4ins 20-22mms or 7/8ins 22-24mms or 1ins	chipolatas, bockwurst, frankfurters, bavarian bratwurst, etc	32 16 14 12