best sausage casing? need recommendation

[elkboy]

Dear Hunt-WA folks-  I hope you are all well in these crazy times. 

I have about 40 pounds of "odds and ends" trimmings from a few deer, and a Cabelas DC Pro grinder just arrived in the mail.  The lady and I did several pounds of ground deer (burger) and uncased breakfast sausage, but we want to break into the world of making bratwurst and other sausages. 

What casing do you all recommend?  My grinder came with three different sizes of sausage stuffer funnels, but I am most interested in making bratwurst with the largest (about 32 mm, or 1.25") funnel. 

Also, if anybody lives in southeast WA, and has a lot of experience with game sausage making, I would gladly bring beer/whatever in trade for some mentoring.  Thanks all! 

[Stein]

I prefer natural casings but they are a bit harder to work with and will tear if you get too crazy with them.  Easiest is to get a Cabelas kit that has everything, I've been very happy with the results compared with getting recipes and finding all the stuff myself.

Summer sausage is pretty easy, you just need more meat and some way to cook it - smoker or oven.  The casings are very tough and hard to screw up.

Brats are a bit harder as the casing is more fragile and you have to do the twisty thing at the right size, right stuff pressure and no bubbles or broken casing.  You can over or under stuff brats where summer sausage you basically stuff it as tight as possible.

[hawks33]

I got into doing brats last year. I've only worked with natural casings, and as Stein said, they can be a bit temperamental. I always have a few casings with holes or issues, but overall,  pretty happy with the results. If you look up The Bearded Butchers on youtube, they have some good instructional in sausages and everything else...helped me. I just did up bear chorizo and andouille brats using the recipes from Meateater cookbook, pretty decent. If you buy any seasoning packs, be sure to try a little with some meat before you dedicate 20 lbs of hard earned venison, dumb mistake I made last year. Cheers!

[Twispriver]

I order all my casings from HiCountry Snack Foods - natural casings for brats, snack stick and summer sausage casings. Look hem up on the web, give them a call and you'll have it in a couple of days.

[Bango skank]

Durex

[Remnar]

 Use natural casings . They may take a little more finesse but once you use them a bit its not that big of deal . Think about the best Brat, "Kilbasa", Polish, etc. that you have eaten . Most likely natural casings .

Collagen and synthetics have their place  for sure . Just not here IMO.

There are plenty of commercial spice blends that will give you a good product . But as advised in above post try a bit first , if not in meat at least straight . I would recommend the same for any spice recipe you make yourself.

Getting a recipe dialed to your taste is half the fun .

Add enough fat when using game meat .

Once you get it all cased up let it set under (refrigeration) for 24-48 hours if at all possible before you smoke,cook,or freeze.

Dont worry unless you really F it up it will still be good . 

[Bigshooter]

Use natural casings . They may take a little more finesse but once you use them a bit its not that big of deal . Think about the best Brat, "Kilbasa", Polish, etc. that you have eaten . Most likely natural casings .

Collagen and synthetics have their place  for sure . Just not here IMO.

There are plenty of commercial spice blends that will give you a good product . But as advised in above post try a bit first , if not in meat at least straight . I would recommend the same for any spice recipe you make yourself.

Getting a recipe dialed to your taste is half the fun .

Add enough fat when using game meat .

Once you get it all cased up let it set under (refrigeration) for 24-48 hours if at all possible before you smoke,cook,or freeze.

Dont worry unless you really F it up it will still be good . 

Not enough fat in brats is like eating sawdust stuffed in a casing.

[Angry Perch]

Lots of online sources for casings, but any meat market that makes sausage should be able to sell you a hank of hog casings to get you going.

[dutchmanaz]

alliedkenco.com  has been my go to source for most sausage making supplies.

[Dhoey07]

Go into Egger's, they'll have casings for you 

[elkboy]

Awesome!  Thanks everyone!  I really appreciate the input.

I have a Cabelas DC Pro grinder-  was just planning to use the stuffer funnels that came with it.  I do see online that a lot of people don't like to use the funnels in combination with the grinder, but use a vertical sausage press instead. 
How many of you all use the funnel with grinder, and how many use a press? 

Thanks again- I really appreciate this forum!

[nwwanderer]

The man that runs the meats lab at WSU would probably supply some and he has a boat load of experience, Dan Snyder

[callturner]

I use hog casing for german sausage, 2 1/2 " collagen for summer sausage and salami, and the small collagen cases for peperoni sticks. I use a 10 lb stuffer instead of a grinder because it is easier for me to do the way MY recipes are made. I grind and store in tubs mixing every day for 3 days to break down the meat.

[Angry Perch]

If doing small and/ or infrequent batches, you can get by with the tube on the grinder. But a dedicated stuffer is so much faster.

[elkboy]

The man that runs the meats lab at WSU would probably supply some and he has a boat load of experience, Dan Snyder

All right, right across campus from me!  Thanks!  Some advantages to working at a land grant school...

[elkboy]

I use hog casing for german sausage, 2 1/2 " collagen for summer sausage and salami, and the small collagen cases for peperoni sticks. I use a 10 lb stuffer instead of a grinder because it is easier for me to do the way MY recipes are made. I grind and store in tubs mixing every day for 3 days to break down the meat.

Awesome tips- thanks!

[elkboy]

Well, the lady and I had at it last night!  We took all your good advice, and went to Hank Shaw's "Buck, Buck, Moose" for additional inspiration, and gave it a shot!  The Wisconsin-style bratwurst came out very good!  (I may use a little less salt next time).   We slow-grilled on a Weber kettle grill with indirect heat and hickory briquettes. 

Thanks again to everyone!  Good luck on your hunts this fall. 

-Mark