Sausage casings hold the meat and spices inside and shape them to keep them all contained. Basically, casing the sausage gives you access to the meat inside, allowing you to use the ground meat for other recipe ideas.
Typically, natural casings are made from the submucosa of the intestines of MEAT animals (beef, sheep and pigs). The Food Safety and Inspection Service requires that the source of natural sausage casings be disclosed on the product label if the casings are from a different type of meat or poultry than the one encased in the sausage.
Collagen casings (artificially edible) are usually made from collagen derived from animal skin. Inedible casings are usually made of cellulose or plastic. Sausages packaged in retail containers with artificial casings must have a prominent statement on the label next to the product name, such as "Remove casings before serving.
The easiest way to remove the casings from sausages is to remove them while they are still uncooked. The casing can be easily removed with a simple knife.
Use the tip of the knife to cut through the sausage from end to end. The cut should be shallow enough to pierce the casing - do not cut all the way through the sausage.
Turn the sausage over, cut side down.
Grasp the open end of the casing with your thumb and forefinger and pull back on the casing.
Use the newly released ground sausage or store for later use.
To make this process easier, place the uncooked sausage in the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes before slicing. This will help prevent the filler from sticking to the casing.
You can still remove the sausage casings after they have started cooking. More care is needed here, but it is still an easy process.
Simmer the sausage in hot water for 2-3 minutes
Remove the sausage from the hot water and rinse it with cold water to prevent it from cooking further.
Dry the sausage with a paper towel.
Using a knife, make a shallow cut the entire length of the sausage.
Gently peel back the casing.
Finish cooking the skinless sausage.
While some sausage lovers swear by the satisfaction of removing freshly cooked sausage from the casings, no one can deny the wonderful flavor of sausage. Learning how to remove sausage casings isn't about removing something from the sausage, it's about finding new and creative ways to add the sausage to other culinary creations. Please contact SHENGMAO today if you need to buy them.
