Storing natural hog casings

[hansjoakim]

Hi,

A friend of mine purchased almost 15 meters of natural hog casings for me at a local butcher yesterday. The butcher told him that they usually stored their casings in a brine under refrigeration.

I am planning on using the casings in a couple of weeks time, and I have for now put them in a 5% brine in my fridge. Ruhlman and Polcyn's "Charcuterie" suggests that natural casings stored in a brine will keep roughly a month in the refrigerator, and I guess I should be able to use the casings within a month's time. However, do I need to use a stronger brine to keep them that long, or will a 5% brine do? Will an overnight soak be sufficient time to rid the casings of the salty flavour before filling?

This is my first time at making the real deal at home, so any thoughts and advice are very welcome!

Thanks!

[nickrey]

The brine solution used to store casings is around 25% salt.

[dougal]

Long term store 'dry' in salt, in a closed jar, in the fridge.

But a couple of weeks isn't long term.

Brine % means different things to different people - beware!

To some it means % salt by weight in the brine, so saturated is about 30% at room temp.

To others it means the % of saturation ...

Tip/Hint before the first time -- buy a kitchen sink plughole strainer (normally used to prevent potato peelings etc from going down the drain). Its VERY useful when you are rinsing and flushing out your casings before use!

ADDED - a couple of hours soaking, followed by a few minutes of rinsing/flushing/playing, is fine for salt-stored casings. Overnight is maybe a bit much.

Edited June 9, 2011 by dougal (log)

[hansjoakim]

Thanks, guys!

Really helpful advice there, thanks dougal. When I think of brines, I understand e.g. a 5% brine to be 5 parts salt per 100 parts water (50 grams salt per liter water). Perhaps I'm wrong? Should a 5% brine technically be 5 parts salt and 95 parts water?

Ah, the confusion. And don't get me started on baker's math

[Food Man Chews]

I keep mine in the freezer in a strong brine. After defrosting I then soak for 1 hour and then rinse inside and out to get rid of the salt.

[hansjoakim]

Food Man Chews,

I had the impression that one should avoid freezing casings, as that could cause small tears in the casings themselves. You haven't had any problems with that?

[PetersCreek]

Manufacturers for all of the salt-pack casings I've ever used do not recommend freezing.

[HKDave]

I've successfully stored hog casings for a year without brine. Just throw a handful of salt on them and leave them in a plastic bag in the back of the fridge. Been doing this for years; it was recommended to me by a casing supplier as the best way to store casings long-term.

I've never had a need to freeze casings, but a chef friend does it all the time and hasn't had any problems.

It seems to be gospel that you need to run water through the inside of hog casings to rinse them out, despite the fact that it can be a pain in the butt if you're doing volume. I used to do it, too, but I've since worked at high-end artisanal charcuterie makers that don't, and there was nothing wrong with their product. They just soak casings for a few hours, none of the running-water-down-the-inside. I now usually don't bother with this step, and haven't noticed any difference.

[qrn]

I've successfully stored hog casings for a year without brine. Just throw a handful of salt on them and leave them in a plastic bag in the back of the fridge. Been doing this for years; it was recommended to me by a casing supplier as the best way to store casings long-term.

I've never had a need to freeze casings, but a chef friend does it all the time and hasn't had any problems.

It seems to be gospel that you need to run water through the inside of hog casings to rinse them out, despite the fact that it can be a pain in the butt if you're doing volume. I used to do it, too, but I've since worked at high-end artisanal charcuterie makers that don't, and there was nothing wrong with their product. They just soak casings for a few hours, none of the running-water-down-the-inside. I now usually don't bother with this step, and haven't noticed any difference.

I do this as well,just cover with pickling salt, and refrigerate.I have some that are more than a year and are still good

Bud

[hansjoakim]

Thanks so much for all the helpful replies!

I made my first batch of fresh sausage on saturday, and they turned out delicious! I used the fresh garlic sausage recipe from Ruhlman's and Polcyn's book, and me and my dinner guests found them very tasty indeed. I followed the metric measurements, used about 1.8 kg of pork shoulder butt and 400 gr of additional fat, and we found the sausages juicy and flavourful. Simple, but that was exactly what I was looking for in my first batch of sausges. I had dinner guests over, and served the sausages together with braised pork belly, potato puree and spring vegetables. A true celebration of the pig.

Thanks again guys!