Loose casings on snack sticks

[cgreen]

I’ve made 2 5lb batches of snack sticks and on both batches the collagen casing is loose. I use 1/2 cup of carrot fiber, 1 1/2 cup of water, I get good protein extraction in the mixing process. I water bath for 20 mins. after smoking, hang dry for an hour then cut to size, vacuum seal and freeze. When I open a package and enjoy one the flavor is great but the meat wants to slide out of casing. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[twilliams]

cgreen is your water bath, a ice water bath? The colder the better. After water bath and dry i put into refrigerator until next day before cutting to size and freezing

[cgreen]

Thanks you.Yes water is ice cold. I was wondering about trying to dry them longer before sealing and freezing. When I unthaw a package there seems to be moisture in the bag, about a spoonful. I have also read about putting them in a paper bag in the fridge to absorb moisture. Any thoughts.

[skibumben]

I think twilliams has got it on the drying overnight in fridge before packaging advice. Trapped moisture will loosen casings, especially if you are getting ~spoonful of liquid out of the bag.

[Larry Eck]

I have run into the same situation and I can’t speak for you’re procedure but I think I failed to allow the sticks to warm up properly after being refrigerated overnight before I vacuumed packed them and popped them in the freezer…just that little bit of moisture is brought to the surface causing the collagen casing to come lose just a enough to be annoying …and it didn’t occur on all…? Perhaps another half hour at ambient room temp and I wouldn’t have experienced it at all…I’ll be making another batch as soon as I get a little more high temp cheese…

[cgreen]

Thanks everybody for your advice. I’m going to increase drying time on future batches.

[Jonathon]

cgreen You might want to increase your water too. 1.5 cups for 25 lb batch is pretty low, especially when using carrot fiber. I’d recommend you use at least 1 qt, probably 1…5 - 2 would be better. Also, make sure you stuff it a little more fully than you were!

[twilliams]

Jonathon he is saying two 5lb batches not 25 lb

[Clint Hunter]

I actually had to read this twice to make sure it wasn’t my post as I had the exact same experience. However, I dried the second batch in the fridge over night and packaged the next day. Big Improvement! I know everyone has already come to this conclusion but I wanted to give you some confidence in the solution working.

[cgreen]

I appreciate everyones words of wisdom.
Thanks