Venison sausages bursting

[STEWARTSMITH]

Hopefully some of you guys can help. Last time I had a go at making venison sausages, the skins kept splitting as soon as I applied any heat when cooking. Recipes always ask for water to be added to the mix but surely this is causing excess steam??
What am I doing wrong?
I use pork, venison, seasonings and rusk from Weschenfelder.

Stew.

 

[roaring_stag]

Which type of casings are you using? Collagen/synthetic type or Natural casings e.g. lamb/hogs casings?

 

[takbok]

Collagen casings will split easily, but are easy to use.

Sheep casings work better but are slightly more hassle.

 

[shakey jake]

could you be over stuffing them?

 

[STEWARTSMITH]

Which type of casings are you using? Collagen/synthetic type or Natural casings e.g. lamb/hogs casings?

Sorry, should have stated which skins! Lamb and hog casings.

 

[finnbear270]

My very first reaction on reading the OP, "Water" ... biggest factor, but also skins.

 

[STEWARTSMITH]

could you be over stuffing them?

I don’t think so, even the “baggy” ones split too.

 

[STEWARTSMITH]

What is the purpose of adding water? Do you guys all add water too?

 

[VSS]

Lamb casings can be more prone to splitting if they're from new season spring lambs.

The water (or beer, wine, cider etc) is important, otherwise your sausages will just be like dough.

 

[finnbear270]

I find a slow increase in cooking heat alleviates the high pressure steam, along with the water droplets bursting out.

 

[roaring_stag]

We use 30/32 or 32/34 gauge natural hog casings, mostly from weschenfelder.

Make sure you don’t over soften them in water before stuffing them. Of course the quality/thicknesscan vary as VSS suggests, however Weschenfelder are usually pretty good for quality.

Potentially you have received a really poor batch, worth asking the question perhaps?

 

[gelert]

You definitely need water in the mix. try soaking the rusk first, then adding to the meat and mix. Are you hanging them over night to swell? Not wishing to teach you to suck eggs, but have you tried cooking them in the air fryer or oven slowly? so much better than a hot pan, and far better the next day. Incidentally that's where the term banger came from when cooking sausages during the war, the fillers and water would caused them to pop and bang in the pan.

 

[David Barker]

stab the sausages all roung they cook fine then other wise make Lorne

 

[Cheviot]

copied this
A big mistake is using heat that's too high, which can cause exploded casings and uneven cooking. More moderate heat is the way to prevent sausages from bursting. For properly-cooked and juicy sausages, cook them in the oven around 355 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the links.

 

[JTO]

I seem to remember my mother always stabbing sausages with a fork before cooking them, 70 years ago now!.

 

[potshotpat]

Hopefully some of you guys can help. Last time I had a go at making venison sausages, the skins kept splitting as soon as I applied any heat when cooking. Recipes always ask for water to be added to the mix but surely this is causing excess steam??
What am I doing wrong?
I use pork, venison, seasonings and rusk from Weschenfelder.

Stew.

It might help when you've made the sausage to hang the links up in the fridge/chiller for 24 hours. This time gives the rusk time to swell and fill the cases and excess water to drain out.

 

[STEWARTSMITH]

I finished a 20lb batch of sausages last night. I'd forgotten how long it takes by the time you wash and pack everything away! Anyway, I used a ready mix of rusk and seasoning called Hunters Feast from Weschenfelder. This time I put the water in the rusk then mixed it with the meat after the first mince, then left it overnight in the fridge before mincing it again through a 10mm plate straight into the skins. I used lamb and hog casings and gave both a test run in the frying pan on varying heats to see how durable they were. No problems at all, skins took quite a bit of punishment even on over stuffed bangers on high temp. No idea what I did wrong last time!
Using a dual purpose mincer and sausage stuffer is bloody hard work though, not easy to use at all. Any recommendations for a stand alone sausage stuffer without spending a fortune?

 

[south-nofolk-stalker]

I spent an apprenticeship making bangers, your packing the skins too tight.

 

[NoIDeer]

Find a butcher, he'll supply everything except the venison. Much easier and surprisingly cheap.

A proper stuffer makes all the difference btw.

 

[south-nofolk-stalker]

Also you need a hand powered sausage stuffer not electric, they are renown for being a pain in the arse to control, whereas hand version you can go as slow as quick as you need to