Sausage casings are classified according to a number of technical and consumer properties, the main of which are two interrelated parameters: the material from which the casing is made and the level of its vapor, moisture and gas permeability.
Despite the development of sausage casing technology, taking into account the latest requirements for packaging materials, the first and most environmentally friendly packaging for sausages — natural intestinal casing, due to its natural properties, is still the most common and versatile in the application of various types of sausage products (cooked, semi-smoked, cooked-smoked, raw smoked and dry-cured).
Natural casings (of beef, pork, lamb origin): runners, middles, caps, bladders, fatends by their composition are completely identical to the meat protein, are permeable to smoke and steam, easily carry smoking substances and flavors of spices into the product, easily allow drying dry-cured sausages. Due to the protein composition, which is close to the composition of meat, natural casings withstand well all the changes that the minced meat undergoes during technological processing. Under the influence of smoke and hot air natural casings become durable against microorganisms. Products in natural casings can be marinated, smoked, grilled and subjected to many types of processing without removing the packaging.
The natural casing is the main indicator of the high quality of the finished product.
The disadvantages of natural casings include:
Despite the development of sausage casing technology, taking into account the latest requirements for packaging materials, the first and most environmentally friendly packaging for sausages — natural intestinal casing, due to its natural properties, is still the most common and versatile in the application of various types of sausage products (cooked, semi-smoked, cooked-smoked, raw smoked and dry-cured).
Natural casings (of beef, pork, lamb origin): runners, middles, caps, bladders, fatends by their composition are completely identical to the meat protein, are permeable to smoke and steam, easily carry smoking substances and flavors of spices into the product, easily allow drying dry-cured sausages. Due to the protein composition, which is close to the composition of meat, natural casings withstand well all the changes that the minced meat undergoes during technological processing. Under the influence of smoke and hot air natural casings become durable against microorganisms. Products in natural casings can be marinated, smoked, grilled and subjected to many types of processing without removing the packaging.
The natural casing is the main indicator of the high quality of the finished product.
The disadvantages of natural casings include:
- diameter instability;
- short shelf life;
- complexity of labeling the finished product.