I made fresh sausage and stuffed it in fresh collagen casings. they are nice and plump. i cut them into bun sized lengths without twisting them. When placed on the grill or heated in a pan with water to poach before browning them, the casings shrink from the ends until only the middle of the sausage is “within” the casing. By then, the sausage has setup and doesn’t crumble or fall apart. However, the casing that remains seems to be twice as tough/chewy as expected. i typically cut it off to remove it. I want to share the sausage with friends and hate suggesting they should cut away the casing before eating the sausage.
Am i doing anything wrong? should i twist the sausages into links rather than simply cutting them to length?
I’m willing to switch to the natural casings on the pre-loaded tubes for future batches, but i have a decent supply of fresh collagen casing to work through first. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

]]>https://waltonsdev.nodebb.com/topic/4887/fresh-collagenRSS for NodeThu, 10 Sep 2026 19:55:55 GMTThu, 13 Jan 2022 16:18:35 GMT60Nice! It is definitely my favorite brat.

]]>https://waltonsdev.nodebb.com/post/65329https://waltonsdev.nodebb.com/post/65329Tue, 18 Jan 2022 13:39:55 GMTGrimpuppy, I just cooked up some of the Hatch Green Chile brats you gave me the recipe for back in July or so. Used the cooking method you showed and the came out great. And the flavor is fantastic.

]]>https://waltonsdev.nodebb.com/post/65286https://waltonsdev.nodebb.com/post/65286Tue, 18 Jan 2022 02:09:34 GMTRich R I never cook in water, so i can’t speak towards that. I’m sure there are guys here who might, who may chime in.

]]>https://waltonsdev.nodebb.com/post/64871https://waltonsdev.nodebb.com/post/64871Thu, 13 Jan 2022 20:28:16 GMTthanks, the high heat makes sense. some times they shrink less than others. grilling seems to shrink the least. the water poaching is the worst situation. I’ll try to get pics out soon.

]]>https://waltonsdev.nodebb.com/post/64851https://waltonsdev.nodebb.com/post/64851Thu, 13 Jan 2022 18:31:05 GMTThose look absolutely fantastic

]]>https://waltonsdev.nodebb.com/post/64847https://waltonsdev.nodebb.com/post/64847Thu, 13 Jan 2022 17:52:55 GMTThis is my brats with fresh casing. I always twist and leave them in a tub in the fridge overnight. Then cut them apart the next day. This was cooked on my Traeger at 325 degrees for 20 minutes on the upper rack. Turned once at 10 minute mark. They always come out with perfect snap.

]]>https://waltonsdev.nodebb.com/post/64844https://waltonsdev.nodebb.com/post/64844Thu, 13 Jan 2022 17:31:19 GMTRich R You need to cook them over a lower temp, the high heat is causing the casing to shrink. There will always be some shrink to the casing, but it should be as much as you are describing. Can you post a picture of it as well.

]]>https://waltonsdev.nodebb.com/post/64843https://waltonsdev.nodebb.com/post/64843Thu, 13 Jan 2022 17:02:23 GMT