Monday, August 3, 2015

Can I Smoke Sausages in Synthetic Casing?


Steve M. from New Market, AL wrote in:
I have always used an oven at a low temp to make sausage and had just figured that with the synthetic casings I use, smoking would just be a waste of time. My thinking is that the smoke would just stick to the casing and not actually penetrate into the meat. Having not ever smoked sausage, I was hoping you could advise if smoking would be worth the extra effort, or if a natural casing is needed to enjoy that great smoke flavor. 


Thanks for the question Steve,

Yes you can smoke fibrous casings. The smoke will penetrate the casing as long as the casing remains moist. Always remember moisture is the medium that smoke uses to penetrate through the casing and into the meat. Believe it or not, fibrous casings are perforated and the smoke will penetrate into the meat. Of course natural casing will work much better, but fibrous will absorb smoke also.

Good luck Steve and have a great fall.

Brad Lockwood