Collagen Casing Meat Adhesion

Post Reply
User avatar
Butterbean
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 1955
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 04:10
Location: South Georgia

Collagen Casing Meat Adhesion

Post by Butterbean » Mon Nov 25, 2019 16:17

Occasionally I've seen people having difficulties with mince not adhering to collagen casings and thought after seeing this I might share this to give food for thought in this matter.

I recently made a batch of snack sticks which required fermentation. Each day I would cut about three inches off a snack stick and remove the mince to test. Being impatient, I did this frequently.

At first, I could simply squeeze the mince out of the casings however the longer they rested and fermented the tougher this became and after a day I had to slice the stick and scrape the mince out of the casing. On the second day I was unable to get all the mince out of the casing since about 2 mm had adhered like glue to the casing.

I don't know if this would explain why people have trouble with collagen casings but it did appear to me that if you have proper myosin extraction the mince will adhere to a collagen casing very well if given the time. So I wonder if the problem might be explained by impatience and poor myosin extraction.

Here is a photo and if you look at the top line where the casing is cut you can see an area which has essentially bonded to the casing and would require a knife to remove.

Image
User avatar
redzed
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3852
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2012 06:29
Location: Vancouver Island

Re: Collagen Casing Meat Adhesion

Post by redzed » Wed Nov 27, 2019 17:12

Your're probably right about the myosin helping with the adhesion. I have also found that adding a small amount of milk or soy protein powder also helps in the meat adhering to the casing. Another reason for failed collagen casings is that they are not all the same. Anyone buying them should make sure that they are suitable with the product they are making.
Post Reply