Game/cattle guts' conversions into edible product: sausage casing, andouillettes, etc

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essorx

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Hi folks,

I've been interested in making traditional dried sausage, aka "saussisson". It would seem that the traditional european way is to use cleaned up pigs' intestine. 1) if anyone is doing their sausage that way, how do you proceed with the clean up (from the slaughter time) and/or long term preservation of the intestine (I'd be thinking about drying them in salt ?) 2) could any other game / farm cattle intestine could be used for casing ?

Thanks !

edit: I am *not* looking for commercial advice, please do not give any. This thread is specifically about the processing of guts into finished edible products. Thanks.
 
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You can just go to a butchers shop, ask if they use natural casings and if they do ask if you can buy some. It has always worked for me.

Make sure to use cure number 2 if you are fermenting meat products like you do when making saucisson sec. I would recommend the book "charcuterie" by ruhlman and poclyn. Fermented/air dried sausages are a lot more complicated than wet cured fresh sausages like smokies, I would suggest starting there if you don't have any experience.

If you want to make your own I'm not sure how to proceed. Natural casing always comes cured/packed in salt. Lamb casings are also used for thinner sausage like merguez. Beef lower intestine was used for making larger cased sausages like bologna, but I have never seen it done.

Have fun.
 
'Boo said:
Stuffers Supplies in Langley will mail you any type of casing you require easier than cleaning your own.
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I know I can get these commercially, I'm just trying to plan for the future to save the guts on top of the meat and organs. "Tripes" and "andouillettes" are pretty tasty, even though way too strong "flavors" for north american standards.
 
essorx said:
I know I can get these commercially, I'm just trying to plan for the future to save the guts on top of the meat and organs. "Tripes" and "andouillettes" are pretty tasty, even though way too strong "flavors" for north american standards.
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not worth it, they are cheap as is from store, washing/cleaning plus salt plus your time is just don’t add up, if you hell bent on doing it have fun, you couldn’t pay me enough to do that
 
the last time I bought casing (natural)
it was at the superstore

At certain times of the year it is in season .... In the refrigerated meat section ... just ask the butcher

Wash in / out side with cold running water .. do in the sink with in a large pan .. each pc will be 4- 6 ft long .. just wash what you need..

I have frozen it for up to 6 months and then used it ... but not as good as fresh ... more tear outs

use shorting on your funnel/ stuffer .. slide the 4-6 ft over the funnel/

tie a knot in the end.. stuff .. but not too full if you want to twist it to make links .. tie the end repeat
ps try to keep the air out

if you get a blow out .. just tye the ends and restart ..
 
rhino519 said:
not worth it, they are cheap as is from store, washing/cleaning plus salt plus your time is just don’t add up, if you hell bent on doing it have fun, you couldn’t pay me enough to do that
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I'm doing a lot of activities which are probably "not worth my time", hunting is probably one of them. I can just buy a whole damn cow freezer ready for a few grands and be done with it for the year. It's most likely cheaper on the long run than doing my own sausage, my own meat cuts, etc. But thanks anyway to worry about "being worth my time".

FWIW, right now, I'm looking at using vitamin C (ascorbic acid) as a way to prevent the nitrosation of amines to nitrosamine in cured meat and sausage, but the practical literature on the subject is pretty thin :-9 Oh, and btw, I don't have an organic chemistry degree either, just basic knowledge, but that's fun (to me)... but probably not worth my time either.
 
only you can decide what your time is worth and how to spend it, you can take advise/others experience or discard it, getting knowledge is never a waist of time so cudos on your attempts on learning ways to cure the meat, but hey your condensenting attitude speaks volumes, good luck
 
rhino519 said:
only you can decide what your time is worth and how to spend it, you can take advise/others experience or discard it, getting knowledge is never a waist of time so cudos on your attempts on learning ways to cure the meat, but hey your condensenting attitude speaks volumes, good luck
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How "condescending" is it to ask how to process intestines ? Or is there a cultural taboo on eating (or even touching) them in Canada ? All the people answering by "buy them commercially" are the condescending ones, as they *clearly* do *NOT* answer the question asked.

ps: I can't find "andouillettes" commercially in western Canada.
 
Got Juice? said:
Tagged for interest. If making a dry Sausage, can you smoke it, and then reduce it in the dehydrator? Will that get you close?
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I'm sorry, but this thread might diverge (or as already diverged) with all the commercial advices, which my questions were *not* about.

I'd be looking for slow air drying, no heating involved. I already have a few pieces of meat in the garage drying, and a few more in the fridge getting cured. All are mostly experiments so far :)
 
You need to scrape the “stuff” out of the intestines first - you can use a wooden spoon or the spine of a knife, but be careful to avoid cutting or puncturing the intestine. You need to remove the last length before the anus as that can have an unpleasant door. You then start washing the intestines in warm water. The large intestines do not need as much, or any scraping and can be washed right away. You will need to turn them inside out as well and continue to rinse and wash. I think it was washed with salt water and maybe some vinegar in the water too. I can’t remember as it was a long time ago.
 
Rinse the inside out with a hose, soak in salt water, turn inside out, clean again, soak again in salt water.
 
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