Buying and Stuffing Sausage Casings and Precooking Sausages

Cleaned and salted intestines (called casings) come in various sizes and can usually be bought in 1-pound tubs, enough for a lot of sausages. Hogs’ intestines are for small- to medium-size link sausages and beef casings, called “beef middles,” are for larger, salami-size sausages, about 2½ inches in diameter. You can ask your butcher to order the casings for you, or you can mail-order them (see Sources). Because sausage casings are usually packed with salt, they can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 1 year and don’t take up much room—if they’re not salted you can freeze them—and since they’re inexpensive, it’s worth stocking a small supply. You can also resalt casings that you’ve rinsed and keep them in the refrigerator—just be sure to use noniodized salt.