We all know what sausage skin is. And while it may sound disgusting and be umpleasant to comtemplate, there isn’t much that of anything that is better suited to the purpose of not only containing chopped meat in a nice little package, but also providing that delightful tiny “crunch” when you bite down.
But beef intestines would be organ meat, wouldn’t they, and therefore not kosher, right? So is an exception made kosher sausages, or is animal intestine not considered organ meat, perhaps since it’s only the container and not the real meat, as it were?
I propose a new SDMB law - If someone has a question about kosher rules, it will inevitably be posted on a Saturday. It seems to happen often enough (I think i’ve done it myself, as well).
Say, why not just ask Kosher Frank? Hey Kosher Frank, do you have a natural casing?
“Khe Sanh? There was nothing natural about Khe Sanh, boychik… 120-degree heat, leeches as long as my arm… When they sent in the 26th Marines, we knew something big was going down… Charlie was massing to the north and east… Sometimes I’d wake up at night and those big jungle cockaroaches would be sitting right on my forehead, drinking my sweat…”
At least some organ meats are kosher. Liver can definitely be kosher - it is a staple ‘stereotypical’ Jewish food. I even remember ages ago the guys from Queer Eye got some kosher foie gras for one of their projects.
Natural casings are not not kosher because they are organ meat, but they do indeed appear to be not kosher.
Pork intestine natural casings are not kosher because they are pork, of course.
The general kosher substitute for natural pork casings are natural sheep intestine casings. Lamb and mutton are kosher animals.
Really, any kosher animal’s intestines could be used as sausage casings but sheep/lamb casings are similar in size to pork casings and make the ideal sized sausage.
Scratch that entire post…I was totally wrong. apparently some Rabbi decided sheep casings aren’t kosher. So, there you go. I guess the answer would be no. No such thing as a kosher natural casing. I’m guessing it has to do with the fact that intestines are unclean, period.
I’m going by that NY times article, but does anyone know why sheep casings are deemed not kosher? Could it also be because the sheep casings available commercially cannot be certified Kosher slaughtered under supervision?
What exactly does Kosher-Style Frank mean? (Or, is that just your Gay Jewish Uncle? )
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