Sausage casing refers to a variety of different products into which ground meats, spices, and vegetables can be stuffed in order to produce a firmly packed product. Some sausages go into casings to then be smoked or pre-cooked. Others are packed into fresh edible casings and are sold fresh. You can also find some sausages that are not made in casings, but are rather, molded together. These are less common.

The sausage casing can come in several varieties. Some forms are not edible like the fibrous sausage casing. These tend to be made of cellulose, and tend to resemble paper. They may be treated with wax to seal in the flavors of certain sausages. You’re likely to see the fibrous sausage casing on products like salami, or summer sausage. These casing types have the disadvantage of needing to be peeled off prior to eating the sausage.

There are two types of sausage casing that are made from collagen. One form is chemically produced to form uniform sizes so that you can always make sausages in predictable sizes. Some sausage experts prefer what is referred to as the natural sausage casings. This is also collagen, but is usually made from intestine of pig, lamb, or cow, that has been cleaned and stripped of fat. Since intestinal size can vary, sausages forced into natural casings may vary a bit in size. If you’re looking for strictly Kosher sausages, you do want to check that any beef sausages do not make use of pork sausage casing.

When not on the sausage, both collagen and natural sausage casing resemble a semi-clear sheath. They are usually placed onto a sausage maker, which forces the meat and other ingredients into the casing. Both types are completely edible, but may pop when exposed to high heat. They also add crunch to the sausage if you overcook them a bit.

To date, there are few vegetarian sausages that come in an edible casing. Morningstar Farms® has a breakfast link with a pretty good snap to it. Some other vegetarian sausages may get a crumb coating so they’ll be similar to a sausage casing in crunch. Others merely place sausage in a plastic casing, from which you can make sausage patties, always a good alternative. If you feel a little leery about eating animal intestines in general, most sausage patties do not feature any type of casing and may be preferred.