Casings
Sausages may be formed into loaves and oven baked; however, most sausages are stuffed into
casings. Two types of casings are available, natural and synthetic. Natural casings are from sheep
(¾-inch), hog (1 d inches) and cattle (1¾ inches) intestines. These usually come in lengths of
several feet packed in salt in one pound cups or in bulk by the yard. Although they may cost 12 to
15 cents per pound of stuffed sausage, they offer the advantage of being edible. One hank or
small container of pork casings will stuff 40 to 50 pounds of sausage.
Edible synthetic casings made from collagen are also available in approximately the same sizes as
the natural casings. Large synthetic casings which are used for slicing products, such as summer
sausage or bologna, are not edible. These cellulose or fibrous casings have the advantage of
being uniform in size (diameter) and generally free of defects. They are available from most
butcher supply houses in sizes from 3/4-inch to six inches in diameter.
Be sure to select the proper size casing for the sausage being made. Small edible natural casings
from sheep or hogs are used for fresh sausage, while the larger beef casings are used for cooked
and smoked sausages. Recommended casing size and type will be given for each sausage