Collagen casings storage

[Parksider]

Jonathon
You know we do a lot of sausage and bologna so I like to buy the boxes of casings. We make stuff all year long whenever we run out so I’m interested in what is the best way to store them if we aren’t going to use them for a few months? Thanks!

[Jonathon]

Parksider What seasonings are you talking about? For Natural Hog Casings you can just store them in the fridge, or you can freeze them if it’s going to be longer than just a few months but be aware freezing them will somewhat weaken the structure of the wall and might make it more prone to blowouts. For collagen casings just leave them in the original, or sealed in some way, bag and put them in a cool dark place. The day before you go to use them take them out and see if they seem extra dry and brittle if they do you can leave them uncovered in the fridge overnight and the humidity in your fridge might help rehydrate them. If they are Fibrous or inedible collagen casings just store them somewhere cool and dry, those things will last years an years.

For more information check out this post https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/787/sausage-casings-104-shelf-life-storage

Also, congratulations on the new tag, I am fairly sure you are our only Power User at this point but gadahl must be catching up to you!

[Parksider]

Jonathon Sorry, I was talking about the 19mm smoke collagen casings not spices. We stored them at room temp in the clubhouse but they seem to have dried out a bit. I ended up soaking them in water and they came back okay but were a nightmare to get on the tube!
I did see the new tag-it was red…thought I was being tossed!!
Very cool, I enjoy the community and have learned a lot. Thank you!

[Jonathon]

Parksider Yeah for the collagen casings I would recommend putting them in the fridge overnight before stuffing if you feel like that are dried out, that might help rehydrate them without causing the difficulties with the stuffing tubes.

[lamurscrappy]

If you have a vacuum sealer you can vacuum seal a few of them (dont pull a complete vacuum or youll smash them) and then put them in the back of your fridge or somewhere out of the way in your fridge where your wife wont yell at you. They will be fine like that for well over a year. And like jonathan said you can cut open the package and leave it in the fridge overnight to help rehydrate. Even placing a bowl of water next to them in the fridge will help increase humidity a bit. If no vacuum sealer use a ziplock bag just make sure and get a good seal and majority of air out.