I’ve made cured summer sausage many years, smoke them in the smokehouse and let them hang around six weeks. We usually do this late January, early February. I use my Grandpa’s old German summer sausage recipe for venison/pork and just straight pork. It works really well, but I wanted to try some new things and wondered if cheese can be used in hang cured sausage. I’ve used high temp cheese in hot smoked sausage and that works well, but my preference is the old fashioned cold smoked sausages. Any advice is appreciated!!

glen
Interesting, something to think about trying next time.
Thanks!

Jonathon
Yes, we’ve used these fibrous casings for many years with no issues, but like I said , something has changed in the composition of these casings. I talked with two friends who are having the same issues this year. Just have to keep my fingers crossed they will cure out OK, I will need to do something different next year, at least find a different manufacturer. Thanks for the reply!

Has anyone been having issues with fibrous casings getting loose during the dry curing process? We’ve been having this occur the past several years now. We use 1 1/2 x 14" fibrous casings with holes for 50/50 venison / pork summer sausage. It is dry cured by hanging in an insulated smoke house where the temperature and humidity can be closely controlled. It is cold smoked then left to hang usually at least 6 weeks, give or take. We’ve been making our sausage this way for many years, and never had any major issues, but the past few years we have had the casings get loose and sometimes mold spots form between the casing and the meat which affects the curing process. We buy the casings at our local butchershop, and they have had some other similar complaints, their supplier told them something has changed in the components of these casings. They recommended soaking at least 1 hr in 100 degree water. Also we stuff our sausages as tight as possible using an air powered stuffer. This year we soaked the casings to their recommendations and at week 2, casings are already getting loose.
Any thoughts?? Thanks.

glen ,
This is great information, thanks!!

Jonathon ,
I pulled all the sausage yesterday, removed the casings, some just slid right out, and wiped the patches off with a vinegar/water solution. So unfortunately I cannot get anymore pictures. I would say that about 30 % of the batch had these white patches on them. A few were large like the one in the pics I sent, most were smaller. Just a few were beginning to develop a greenish mold color on top of these patches. All wiped off cleanly with no apparent “rooting” into the meat. I keep about 1 inch spacings on the sausages while hanging. I sampled the one in the picture and it tastes good, no off flavor or anything. However if I let them hang any longer I am sure they would have continued to propagate. I believe this batch has been salvaged, but I am very interested in what this could be, and preventing it the next time.
Could you explain what tyrosine, or ghosting is.
Also this was a batch of 50/50 venison & pork and we trim a lot of the excess fat from the pork butts.
I cold smoke keeping temps below 50 F . Usually let the sausages hang a day or two before smoking, then smoke about 8 hrs per day for 3 days. This has always worked great for us with no problems.
Thank you again for looking into this, you have a great website!

glen
I appreciate your input, I sampled a stick last night and it tastes just fine. I am going to pull them all this weekend, clean and pack them. I’m going to blame it on the damp winter we had this year. I’ve never had this happen in over 25 years, so I was really concerned. I may get a dehumidifier for next year to help control things. Thanks again!!

glen
I would describe it as pasty . Not slimy. I cut one open and it has not penetrated into the rind. It wipes off easily with a dry paper towel.
They have been hanging six weeks now, and the one I cut open appears to be cured throughout.

Jonathon
Here is a picture of the sausage with loose casing and after removing the casing. The residue wipes off, unsure what it is though. Your thoughts??

Jonathon ,
What do you mean by a “good mold spray” ?? I don’t think the mold has grown “roots” as I can rub it off thru the loose casing. It may not even be mold, but it is a white residue forming on areas of the sausage, not the whole stick. I use perforated casings, I always have, with no issues. We have had a pretty damp winter here( St. Louis area), humidity may be the cause. Yesterday I set a small space heater in the smokehouse set at 50 degrees , just to dry the air out some, still have the small fan circulating air. I’ll try to get some pictures posted.

glen
Thanks for your input, yes it is white and I guess you could say powdery, I can rub it off thru the casing,
I have wiped sausages down in the past with a vinegar/water solution, but only on the outside of the casings. I’m going to pull some casings off and have a look.

I currently have a batch of 100 sticks of summer sausage hanging in my smokehouse. I’ve been doing this for quite a few years, using my Grandpa’s receipe for old fashioned cured summer sausage. I usually let them hang 6-7 weeks and they are done. This year at the start of week 4, just as the sausages began to firm up, a lot of the casings became loose, not adhering to the meat. I keep air moving through out naturally by opening a vent at the bottom and top of the smokehouse. Recently I added a small fan to help circulate more air. The air temp inside stays relatively stable since it is well insulated. Anyone have any suggestions? A few are developing mold spots between the meat and the loose casings.