I have 10 pounds of Pepperoni in the smoker as I type. Today is the first day that I used collagen casings... Always used sheep or pork casings in the past.

This batch of pepperoni is going to be super hot, at a request of a female friend... She want's the whole batch, and she wants it to hurt at both ends of the dietary tract.

The collagen casings have got to be the easiest things I have ever used in my life... they are already dry and ready to slide on the stuffing tube. I was worried that I would not be able to form loops, cuz they feel like paper and I was afraid that they'd be too brittle... Well, as soon as the first crank of the stuffer was in the casing, I knew I'd never go back to the gut type, the moisture in the sausage makes it really pliable. This stuff is so easy to use, but tough enough to really pack meat into. It took only one tube to make 10 pounds. They are all uniform in diameter, and it was very easy to pack them to a consistent density. They are in the smoker and will be until tomorrow morning, then I'll be able to report on the finished product's appearance.

The recipe I used is a bastardized recipe from Rytek Kutas' "Great Sausage Making Recipes and Meat Curing". It is bastardized due to the fact I add more to it, but still use the basic recipe...

Season meat with the above spice, mix thoroughly, allow to sit overnight or 8 hours. Stuff into casings, allow to dry at room temp for 1 hour. Move to preheated 165 degree smoker and smoke until internal temperature is 145 degrees. Remove from smoker, use a cold water shower until internal temperature is less than 100 degrees. Allow to come to room temperature then package up in whatever size "servings" that you want. I package them to the pound, so that when people want to buy them, it's easier to come up with whole dollar figures