We fabricated BSCCO-2212 (2212) rod by the melt casting process (MCP) and evaluated the effect of the melt flowing on the critical current ($I_c$) by using vertical and tilt casting. It was observed that the $2212-SrSO_4$ rod processed by the tilt casting method with homogeneous pre-heating temperature of the mold had a higher $I_c$ than that processed by the vertical casting method. We also evaluated the influence of the strontium sulfates ($SrSO_4$) addition on the texture, microstructure, critical current and temperature, and mechanical hardness of the $2212-SrSO_4$ rods. It was observed that the addition of $SrSO_4$ improved the critical current ($I_c$) and mechanical hardness of the 2212. The $I_c$ of the 2212 increased as the $SrSO_4$ content increased and reached a peak value (260 A at 77 K) at an $SrSO_4$ content of 6 wt.%. In addition, the addition of $SrSO_4$ had a beneficial effect on the mechanical hardness of the 2212. We studied the possible cause of the variation in the $I_c$ with the melt flowing and the $SrSO_4$ content based on the XRD, EPMA analysis and the microstructural observation.