Hog Home Pack Sausage Casings 32mm (8oz.)

Update: These have been kept in a small jar, salted, in the back of the fridge, for 4 years. I'm making sausage, which I do once in a while. There's just one string left so I'm reordering. They seem as fresh as the day they went in there.... Hand-cranked 2 pound sausage maker. Never had one break or split. Price is within a couple bucks of what I paid. I just hope the quality has been maintained. July 2023 End update. This is my first time using natural casing. I was anticipating difficulties but there were none. Open the package and drop them into a bowl of warm water. The mass of perhaps 20 strings quickly softens. Gently pull one length out of the bundle. Then another. They are slippery and if you're careful they slide over each other, and won't get knotted up.. These are very clean. No odor and no residue to wash off. Just packing salt. No holes or tears. No splits while stuffing.. I didn't realize how strong the natural material actually is. Made a small, 2 1/2 pound batch of Italian sausage, and no problems.

Excellent casings. They don't smell at all even after soaking and I didn't have any ruptured during the stuffing process despite my novice-ness. I learned the hard way that one string of intestine is enough to case about 3lbs of sausage and ended up having to throw away the second one that I had already soaked, so I hope this tip saves you from doing the same.

The company that shipped me these is out of Florida and I live in California. The first time I ordered them it took 4 days (not bad for USPS), the second time 3 days (great). I have used apx 1/2 the product for my first ever sausage making experience. You must soak & rinse prior to use (does not take long, do while prepping other stuff). They are not the easiest to get on the stuffing tube (but I assume that is typical for any casing). I and a friend spent about 4 hours making 3 types of sausage, this product worked well. The only drawback is that if you overstuff & try to twist the sausage rope into links it may burst (this is no fault of the product though). When cooking, this product holds up well & is nice visually (unless you burn them, again no fault of the product). The most important however is that when you bite into the cooked product there is the anticipated snap when you bit through the casing, the casing is not tough and the flavor was only of the sausage stuffed inside. All in all a great product that I will continue to use. I am also trying the sheep casings they sell.

Packages were sealed and casings were packed HEAVILY in salt and there were no foul odors. Please realize you are NOT buying a whole hank, the product will be several shorter lengths of casing. This is actually a benefit in my opinion, I was easily able to sort 8 or 9 lengths of casing rather than getting frustrated trying to untangle one 75 foot long piece of casing. I had no issues getting the casing to fit and slide onto the standard 32-35MM stuffing tube and the only issue I had was one length of casing tore in several places as I was twisting links but I believe I may have overfilled the casings. I made roughly 17 pounds of sausage, three different types and had no issues whatsoever with this product.

I was at the store where I have purchased the casings for several years and they did not have any on display. When I spoke to the manager to see if they had any that were not on display , I was told that Amazon purchased all of their inventory and I should buy from them. While in the store I used the Amazon Ap and bought the casings for less than they would have cost me at the store. While saving money is almost always a concern, I was disappointed that I could not support my local grocery store. The product worked well and i was able to make traditional Polish Kielbasa for my Christmas morning breakfast.

I bought three brands of hog casings; Oversea was the best, Hi-Country the worst, and Home Pack/DeWied in-between. The Hi-Country casings are completely packed in salt and dehydrated, needing a lot of soaking to get them ready to use. Because the contents are one-stiff block, you have to use them all at once. Finally, they are so rank that there is a notice on the package that the stench is normal. Someone once told me: “Only ever eat chitlins made by a woman who loves you”. Now it is clear why. The Home Pack brand is okay, although they do tend to get tangled up a lot. In contrast, the Oversea casings are cut into similar lengths and threaded through a plastic ring. This makes them easier to lay out and separate, with hardly any tangling. In addition, they seemed to be much more pliable than the others with very few bad spots. This is the brand I will use from now on.

These came quickly in a rather small package. Being a newbie to sausage making, I thought at first they were sort of small. After following the SIMPLE directions, I cut off about 10-12 inches for a 5 pound pork tenderloin I had ground and seasoned for Italian sausage. Within minutes, I had about a 30 inch or so link of sausage from the short piece of casing AND had much left over! I cooked the sausage that night and it was perfect. The casing holds together perfectly and has the perfect "SNAP" when bitten into or cut. I will keep buying this due to the great quality, quantity and price. If you love sausage like me, nothing tastes better than your own homemade links and these casings help make it the best.

A lot of reviews had comments on the freshness or odor, so I was a little worried. But they smelled just like casings packed in salt. Not the most pleasant smell, but not bad. After soaking in water with a touch of vinegar and a thorough rinse, they were fresh as a daisy. Had zero issues stuffing them, even though one of us was a first time sausage maker. I’ve made lots of sausages, and these casings were zero trouble. No blowouts, nothing. We have a big batch of salchichas colombianas hanging to age now, so can’t comment on the taste just yet.