[Sca-cooks] Andouille Sausage, and casings

[Maggie MacDonald]

I'm still working on that sausage thing for the feast that I'm doing in June.

In doing further research on Andouille, I came across an interesting page
(that had no references/citations, of course), that gave me a whole new
perspective on the elusive Andouille Sausage.

On the page http://www.gumbopages.com/food/andouille.html there is a "Chef
Folse" from Louisiana is quoted. What he had to say was:
>Traditionally, the andouilles from France were made from the large
>intestines and stomach of the pig, seasoned heavily and smoked. In parts
>of Germany, where some say andouille originated, the sausage was made with
>all remaining intestines and casings pulled through a larger casing,
>seasoned and smoked. It was served thinly sliced as an hors d'oeuvre.

Um. wow. I think I'll be conservative here, and go with the pork/garlic
blend that we had discussed earlier.

My query to the list at this point regards sausage casings.  I was able to
buy a small portion of hog casings through the backdoor of a local
yuppy/healthfood place, they are pretty straight forward and not very hard
to use. I also found some collagen casings in an online store, and I have
50' sitting in front of me in a little blister pack.  I can't find exact
directions for these things. Do you soak them before use? Do you just use
them dry??

I just did a test batch, using both ways, and while the ones that have been
soaked look better, we'll have to see what the final results are after I
pull them in off the smoker. (Which I'm going to go fire up here in just a
minute).  Of course this would all be a LOT easier if I could just find
what I did with the brand new ball of cooking twine I just bought (BAH!).

But if any of you have used these collagen casings before, I'd appreciate
hearing about your experiences, disasters, and advice.

Regards,
Maggie MacD.