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Unpopular opinion: I finally stopped soaking my casings in warm water after 12 years
I always figured warm water was the way to go for natural casings because that's how I was taught back at my first shop in Tulsa. Then a rep from a casing supplier stopped by two weeks ago and asked why I was soaking them warm. I said that's just what you do. He told me warm water makes them weak and they tear when you stuff them tight, and that cold water with a little rinse is all you need. I tried it on a 40 pound batch of brats that Saturday and not one casing blew out, which almost never happens for me. I've been doing it wrong this entire time, and now I feel kind of dumb about it. Anyone else get set in their ways on something basic like this and only find out by accident?
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mia_lopez8d ago
The water temperature thing gets tricky because it depends on how the casings were packed. If they came packed in salt and you toss them in warm water, the salt pulls out faster and the tissue takes on too much water. Cold water slows that whole exchange down so they stay firm. There is also the timing issue people skip over. A five minute soak in cold water does nothing, you still need a good 30 to 45 minutes for them to loosen up right. The rep was right about the tearing, but the real fix is cold water plus enough time, not just switching temps.
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