Different Types of Meat Casings
Casings are mostly used in the production of sausage and
processed meat items. Casings are considered the oldest form of packaging
materials for sausage. These are actually the ones that determine the final
shape and size of the sausage product. They serve as processing molds, vessels
during shipping and handling, and as merchandising units for display. In the
past years, sausage production was restricted to the number of available animal
intestines. With the development of fibrous, collagen, and cellulose casings,
sausage production is only limited by the accessibility of raw materials.
Sausage casings have evolved from old-world novelty and applied to today’s high
paced processed meat production. They are made of two basic materials, collagen
or cellulose. Particularly five casings are generally used in the production of
sausage products- animal, cellulose, regenerated collagen, fibrous, and plastic
casings. Some of them are discussed here.
Natural Casings
Natural casings are attained from the gastrointestinal tract of
animals. Natural casings are obtained from the submucosa, a large collagen
layer of the intestine. The inner and fat mucosa lining is removed. Natural
casings have the benefits of traditional texture, traditional appearance, and
tempting performance that is expected of sausage. Natural casings are produced
from the intestines of hogs, cattle, and sheep.
Beef Casings
The three most common beef casings are beef bung caps, beef
middles, and beef rounds. The beef casings are available in a variety of sizes,
depending on which type is used (e.g., bung caps, middles, or rounds.). Beef
bung caps are used for big diameter sausages such as salami and bologna. Beef
rounds have the feature ring or round shape that is used in the making of ring
bologna and polish sausage. Beef middles can be hemmed so that the resultant
product will have a uniform length and uniform diameter. Beef bladders can also
be utilized in the making of large diameter sausages like the special sausage
(souse or head cheese). Bladders are the massive diameter of casings from
cattle and are oval in shape.
Hog Casings
Hog casings are used for smaller diameter (30-44 mm) sausages.
The salted hog casing supplier provides these casings for fresh
sausage as well as wholly cooked smoked sausage. After cleaning the salted hog,
they are measured to ensure a more uniform size and shape to attain uniform
portion control of the resultant product.
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