Tough Skins

[Norman Walsh]

I have just finished smoking some Bratwurst that I had made, my first go at smoking.

I used natural sheep casings.

Everything went fine they look good and taste good.

The only fault was that the skins were quite chewy after the smoking.

Is this natural after the smoking process?

The skins were o/k when I tried them prior to this.

I smoked them about 3 hours to an internal temperature of 140c

The mix was 100% meat plus seasoning and curing salt.

Any suggestions welcome.

wallie

[jmcgrath]

140C doesn't make sense. Did you mean 40C? Since you used curing salt, I assume you were cold smoking. Sausage casings will get tough is you cook at too high of a temperature for too long.

Jim

[Norman Walsh]

Sorry about that; the internal temperature of the sausage was 140f at the end of the smoking period.

I smoker temperature was around 120f for 3hours.

wallie

[k43]

Lightly brown them all over in a skillet. That will crisp up the casing and give it a good flavor.

Or you could just peel the casing off, like you do with a liverwurst.