Who will refuse a delicious juicy sausage that tastes so good? This is an almost universal product that can be consumed in its pure form, built with it sandwiches or fried for breakfast. Unfortunately, a truly high-quality sausage is now becoming less common, which is certainly very sad. The collagen shell for sausage is more expensive to manufacture than the film analog, but the finished product is tastier and better. What is the secret?
The old fashioned way
Usually, in order to make a shell of sausage, intestines, esophagus and even bladders are used, that is, all products of animal origin with a film base. There are nuances of processing. In particular, the intestines need to be processed immediately after cutting the carcass, since under the influence of their contents and gastric juice they deteriorate, lose strength and elasticity.
Collagen sausages are also in demand. The recipe is not very difficult, but first we discuss how to cook the old fashioned way. It is better to carry out work on several “fronts” at once, you can take a pig carcass as a basis. First of all, you need to carefully remove the mesentery and fat from the intestines. Then they should be cut into segments and squeeze out the contents. Now the intestines need to be wrung out and washed in warm water. To twist them, you need a hook. When the shell softens, it needs to be scraped off with a blunt knife, washing off the mucus with running water. To remove the smell will help salt, which the intestines need to sprinkle. The final stage of odor elimination is associated with vinegar rinse. And the intestines are prepared, which means that for some time they need to be stored in clean water and in a cool room. For a home-made sausage, the casing is ready; you can fill it with meat and enjoy an excellent product, which, however, should be smoked beforehand.
For the future
If you stock up on shells for future use, then preservation will be required. To do this, guts should be salted cool and kept in the cold. If they freeze, then you can thaw them in warm water. Immediately before use, the salted guts need to be soaked for several hours in warm water, then cooled. If you use a bladder for the membrane, then it needs to be incised, twisted, washed and rubbed with salt. The colon and stomachs require the same treatment. In conclusion, they must be wiped with soda and rinsed.
Minced sausage
Preparing meat for homemade sausage will not work out so quickly. It must be separated from bones, cartilage and other elements that only spoil the taste. About 3 percent of the salt will be needed for the entire processed mass. The meat must be mixed with salt and put in the cold. Next, the meat must be passed through a meat grinder with spices, spices and garlic. Through a large grid of the meat grinder, you also need to skip the fat and the fat. If you use several types of meat, then you need to grind them separately. So that the minced meat does not crumble, it is flavored with skimmed milk powder, wheat flour, mustard powder, starch, corn syrup, and sugar. It is also worth adding chopped bacon. It's time to stuff the guts. But in production they have long been replaced by a collagen membrane. It is also suitable for home-made sausage. By its properties, such a shell is close to natural. It is gas, moisture and smoke permeable.
Collagen "case"
So, what is sausage good in the collagen shell? The recipe will be no more complicated than a home analogue. The basis of such a shell are natural fibers, and therefore it is edible. The process of its creation is not very complicated, but it involves chemical and mechanical processing, as a result of which the ballast is removed and the structure softens. After all the procedures, the collagen casing for the sausage becomes thin but strong. In addition, pathogenic microorganisms are almost completely absent on it. The diameter may be variable. By the way, the shell itself is very easy to clip. The final product can be stored for a long time, but with strong heating it becomes unstable. Therefore, in the semi-finished products accumulations of broth are possible.
How to work with collagen?
In fact, the preparation of sausages in a collagen shell is even easier compared to other recipes. Before applying the shell, it must be soaked for 15-20 minutes in warm water to give elasticity. Then we stretch it and start stuffing with minced meat using a syringe. Air bubbles should not form in the shell, otherwise liquid will accumulate in them. When the “case” is full, the ends are tightened with twine or a harsh thread. Especially densely need to fill the sausages prepared for smoking.
After heat treatment
The collagen casing for sausage stuffed with minced meat must go through the cooking stage. In several places you need to make punctures so that the air comes out. Sausages need to be hung up for 6 hours. Now you can bake, cook or fry them. Seasoned chefs recommend using the meat of adult pigs and bulls from the scapular part of the carcass for such sausages. For a greater flavor, the collagen shell for sausage can be moistened with madeira or cognac. If you bake sausages, then you can use one secret for easy washing of the mold. Halve the potatoes to put in a mold and mix them with sausages. All together send to the oven for 40 minutes. Ready-made sausages can be even tastier if you eat them with herbs and vegetables. The shell, as has been said, does not need to be removed; it is edible and pleasant to the taste. Enjoy your meal!