Small casings for waltons electric 26lb stuffer.

[jbellboy]

Hello,
I recently purchased the 26lb stuffer to allow me to make all the sausage by myself. I was all set to make some breakfast sausage yesterday and I could not get the sheep casing to go on the smallest stuffing tube that comes with the stuffer. Which stuffing tube will work for these sheep casing and possibly snack sticks? In the notes of the stuffer it says not recommended for stuffing snack sticks. Has anyone used this stuffer to do smaller diameter meats? I plan on making a couple batches of snack stick but I don’t want to get it all ready and find out it won’t stuff it. I’m ok with it going slow maybe if I turn the control to the slowest setting? Let me know if you’d had any issues are tricks with this stuffer.

Thanks
Jake

[dino21]

I also had trouble when I first started with casings. I finally gave up and started ordering the “tubed” casings and made it alot easier. Plus I soak them for a day before I use them.

[jbellboy]

Thanks for the input, that’s a good tip. I agree the tubed ones were new to me and really handy when only making 25-50lb so you don’t have to sort through the whole Hank for just a couple strings of casings. So I realize the smallest stuffing tube that comes with the 26lb electric stuffer is not small enough for the sheep casing and snack stick sizes ie 19-21mm. I have a lot of non commercial home use experience making sausage with natural Hog casings. I’ve been doing it since I was a kid, but I am very new at the snack stick and smaller sizes. I just now saw the chart on the website showing the recommended stuffing tube size for each specific casing size. My dilemma is if the “not recommended for snack sticks” disclaimer on the stuffer is gospel or others have been able to get it to work successfully for the smaller diameter meat sticks. I just upgraded to this stuffer from a small cheap 11lb stuffer that had made hundreds of pounds over the years. I hope I’m not regretting spending the money on this new stuffer if it is limited to only hog size and larger. Hopefully someone who has made snack sticks with this stuffer can shed some light.

[Mean Dean]

I bought the LEM 20 lb electric stuffer right after Thanksgiving when they had a One day, 8 hour sale, 40%off. (sorry Walton’s, couldn’t pass up this price and I had free shipping on top of that) It came with a stuffing tube that will easily fit 19mm natural sheep casings. That said, dino21’s recommendation of soaking a day ahead of time with sheep casings makes a big difference. I found this out by mistake when I was still manual stuffing. An emergency came up, and I had to put everything away and respond. I returned 3 days later, and the breakfast links stuffed so much easier. I also use pre-tubed for convenience.

To help the meat get through those smaller tubes, I add just a little more ice water. It flows much better - also found that out during manual stuffing. Now that I have an electric stuffer, I am glad I made the purchase. Hint - start at the slowest speed until you get used to it. Only one blowout, and that was my fault. I usually make 20 lb batches, and it is nice not to have to stop to reload.

Try adding a little more water if you have difficulty stuffing - it has no effect on taste after cooking. Happy sausage making!

[jbellboy]

Awesome thanks for the tips fellas. I will try it thanks

[TexLaw]

You can by smaller stuffing tubes for the Walton’s stuffers (but you might want to check and make sure it’s a good idea).