Sausage casings, in the sausage making process, play a role in shaping and protecting the meat. It wraps the meat inside, withstands the pressure of the filling, and is finally dried and shaped. The meat that would otherwise be loose is held tightly in place by the casings, so that even if the casings split during steaming, the meat inside will not spill out.
There are two types of casings, natural casings and artificial casings. Natural casings are intestines, derived from the small intestines of animals such as pigs, cows and sheep. Most of the natural casings used in China are pig casings, as the largest number of pigs are farmed. It is only in places such as Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang that sheep intestines are used to make dishes with casings.
Apart from the small intestine, there are actually parts of the large intestine, cecum, rectum and even the stomach that can be used as casings, as long as they are animal offal, they can be called natural casings. They can be eaten, but they come in different shapes and sizes, are not easily preserved and are more costly.
C400 smokable casings
Artificial casings are made from the skin, intestines and tendons of livestock. These parts are not originally shaped for pockets, but after artificial intervention, the shape can be changed into casings to meet the need for "meat". These artificial casings are also edible. There are two types of artificial casings that are not edible. One is the casing of air-dried sausages, which is thick and only suitable for shaping, not for eating. The other type is the plastic casings on the exterior of ham sausages, which are flexible, well coloured and can be printed on the surface, but are absolutely inedible.
Generally speaking, the big sausage countries such as France, Italy and Germany make high-end sausages with natural sheep sausage casings, which are very tasty because of their small calibre and crispy texture, so European countries, especially the Mediterranean countries, favour sheep sausage casings.
The United States, on the other hand, a country that consumes hot dogs, uses natural pig casings. Pig casings have a tougher skin, but for Americans, who have a big-hearted food culture, they are perfect for making hot dogs.
The most common type of casing used in many developing countries is artificial collagen casing, which is cheap, plentiful and tasteless. The main function is for shaping and can be bought in supermarkets. Send us a message and get the quotes.
