# sausage casings



## Guest (Jun 25, 2012)

How would one go about making a rabbit stomach into a sausage casing?
Right now we buy hog casings, but if we couldn't get them we wonder why we couldn't use a rabbits stomach. gross subject I know. But if I don't ask, how can I learn?


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

why use rabbit?its so small...most use hog and sheep. wouldnt the stomach be more like the haggis they prepare across the big pond?


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## Guest (Jun 25, 2012)

We do use the hog now, but wanted to know if it were possibly if we couldn't get any.


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## longshot38 (Dec 19, 2006)

i think the intestine is what is used not the stomach, but those of a rabbit might be too small. 

just my .02.

dean


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

my buddy made a sausage casing from a pvc pipe and a plunger for it.he packs it tight and then pushes it out.he makes salami and smokes and bakes it and it never falls apart.it slices real nice too.but you cant hang it though.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

veggiecanner said:


> We do use the hog now, but wanted to know if it were possibly if we couldn't get any.



grind ya sausage and can it then.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

you could use different size pvc to get what you wanted .i made some killer deer baloney this past winter but i used synthetic cases.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

i think the foxfire books has it i it about casings...going on memory but you need to turn them inside out and scrub the soft tissue lining off and clean clean clean.

does any of this help.


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## Guest (Jun 25, 2012)

canning is a good idea, thanks.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

heres a link you might like


Sausage Recipes and Formulations


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

At some point, I read where you could make casings out of muslin fabric, for people who didn't want to use intestines or didn't have them available. If you watch the fabric stores, they have pretty regular sales on muslin, and you can pick up a whole bolt or whatever amount you want really cheap. HTH


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

found this for you too

Intestine Cleaning | Home Butchering


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## BillHoo (Mar 16, 2005)

I think lamb intestines are used for hotdog casings.

A rabbit would probably make a really thin (pencil-thick) sausage casing.

The stomach could probably be rinsed and cleaned out for a haggis-like delicacy. (quit a bit smaller than sheep stomach) I'd stuff the stomach with rice or steelcut oats, chopped onions, chopped carrot, a dash of salt, pepper and garlic powder and maybe some pork sausage. Sew it up and steam it for a few hours.

That could be a boutique, gormet shop item - Individual mini-haggis. For when you don't have the appetite to eat a whole, regular haggis all by yourself!


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## andabigmac (Jan 10, 2011)

My SIL makes a sausage that uses poultry neck skin as the casing. She ties one end, stuffs it, and ties the other end. It's pretty good.


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## cnichols (Jan 5, 2010)

elkhound - Thanks for that link! Never would have guessed there were so many ways of making sausage! 

which brings me to a question ... how many casings would one have to buy to last for a year? I mean .. if there are "synthetic" casings available, is the price reasonable enough to stock up on them? Do they have an "expiration date"?

I've never made sausages before so this is pretty interesting.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

you can but salted packaged pig intestine casings at gander mountain , and thru may places , they keep quit a while unopened and you just soak them when ready to use 

with the way home sausage making is getting more and more popular i don't figure it will be difficult to get casings unless it's difficult to get everything else 

i have seen summer sausage recipes where they roll it in foil then cook it in the oven

anything that will hold the meat together , or worst case , eat it loose but seasoned

making Brats got to be to much work sometimes but we really liked them so now we mostly do brat patties , we grind and season the meat , the pack on wax paper into jelly roll pans then we score it with a butter knife and freeze the patties break apart and go into zip locks then back in the freezer , we cook them from frozen , they taste great and less work


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

heres a place that has a great rep

Meat Processing Equipment | Sausage Making Supplies | LEM Products


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

cnichols said:


> elkhound - Thanks for that link! Never would have guessed there were so many ways of making sausage!
> 
> which brings me to a question ... how many casings would one have to buy to last for a year? I mean .. if there are "synthetic" casings available, is the price reasonable enough to stock up on them? Do they have an "expiration date"?
> 
> I've never made sausages before so this is pretty interesting.


that would depend on the amount of critters killed.back in the day they cleaned the intestines and stuffed what they had and then went from there with other cuts of meat.

if you ground the entire critter you would need extra casings.

here in my area all the old timers here never used casings the make breakfast patties and freeze it and can it.i was in my 20's before ate a cased type meat.

my buddys salami turns out nice using no casing in the pvc and pussing it out like a giant jerky gun.after he bakes it it even holds together and slices nice.

hope this helps.


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

Rabbit casings would make those skinny little jerky sticks, fer sure. :grin:

Pops has been making smoked sausage from his own hogs since he was a little feller....and kept the tradition all through my growing up years through today.

You pull the intestines out of the critter, of course, and there is a surrounding membrane that holds the whole mess together.

It's not much of a trick to get ahold of a section of the core intestine, and begin to pull it free of the surrounding membrane, not unlike pulling one strand of rope from a tangle, right up to and including the occasional snag, where you simply cut the intestine and start from another section again.

Once you have the core separated from the membrane, squeeze out the interior contents, which are kinda nasty smelling (and don't be surprisd if you squeeze out a few long round worms in the mess) then soak it in cold salt water until yer ready to scrape out the inner villa and related goop.

You can do the initial scrape with the intestine right side out, using the dull side of a butter knife and a rustic cutting board. After you're satisfied with that, you turn the intestine inside out for the final and most thorough scraping.
When you are done, what started out as a fleshy and spongy sort of mass will be magically transformed into a thin, very pliable and nearly transparent casing that you might actually not mind the thought of containing good cured, and/or smoked sausage that you actually plan to eat. :grin:

I've not considered rabbit, but deer and bovine small intestine would serve well.
As far as that goes, the large intestine of a deer, as well as a hog, work great for stuffing a much larger diameter sausage that slices nicely into 4-5 inch patties.

After stuffing, Pops always takes the ropes of sausage out to his latest homespun smoker, consisting of a five gallon steel bucket or small barrel, either super clean or burned out of it's original contents, which serves as the fire box.
He builds a small fire under the inverted bucket/barrel, and runs a length of four inch stove pipe from that assembly up into the larger barrel that he has pre-fitted with rebar shelving to hold the meat. He then lays in some wet hickory twigs, bark and split pieces on the fire, and never lets the temp of the smoking barrel get hotter than the hands can stand. You don't want to cook the meat, only smoke and slightly dehydrate it.

After smoking, he immediately cuts the ropes into 3-5 inch links, packs them in ziplocks or freezer paper, and sticks 'em in the freezer.
Of course, one batch is ceremoniously held back for supper that night, and one for breakfast the next morning. :thumb:


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## Badger (Jun 11, 2010)

I bought about 35 packages of salted pork casings at a store closing about 20 years ago and I still use them. They're fine - I can't tell any difference. I also have a bunch of synthetic ones that I havn't used yet but they look fine.


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## wogglebug (May 22, 2004)

elkhound said:


> my buddy made a sausage casing from a pvc pipe and a plunger for it.he packs it tight and then pushes it out.he makes salami and smokes and bakes it and it never falls apart.it slices real nice too.but you cant hang it though.


Run a search on "chevapi".


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

Forerunner said:


> Rabbit casings would make those skinny little jerky sticks, fer sure. :grin:


Slim Jims!


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## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

calliemoonbeam said:


> At some point, I read where you could make casings out of muslin fabric, for people who didn't want to use intestines or didn't have them available. If you watch the fabric stores, they have pretty regular sales on muslin, and you can pick up a whole bolt or whatever amount you want really cheap. HTH


this is how you buy authentic lebanon bologna from the amish...its in a muslin casing, stored in a springhouse


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## poorboy (Apr 15, 2006)

Back inna pre-freezer days when I was a youngin..dad always butchered 7 fat barrows every fall and the sausage meat was formed into balls, cooked, placed into jars with hot lard poured over them then sealed..The sausage would keep for years...Mom was having mental problems at that age of my life and sometimes she would not feed me and my sister lunch..i can remember getting a jar of sausages out and heating them to remove the lard at the age of 5, sure were tasty when your belly was growling...


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## bourbonred (Feb 27, 2008)

Good information, guys!


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