Irina Kamshilina
Cooking for someone is much more pleasant than cooking for yourself))
Content
Cooking sausages at home or in industrial conditions requires compliance with certain requirements. They apply not only to the minced meat used to form the product, but also to the part that the buyer traditionally pays less attention to – the shell of the product. The range of materials for its manufacture today is very wide, it provides the manufacturer with the opportunity to choose a material suitable for each type of product.
What is a sausage casing?
The production of sausage products cannot be carried out without casing. This essential part of the product, which helps keep its shape, protects it from the penetration, development and adverse effects of pathogenic microorganisms. In order to withstand high temperatures during the preparation of the product, the film must have the necessary strength and density, and allow steam, water, and gas to pass through.
The use of artificial materials as packaging provides ample opportunities for increasing the volume of sausage production, but puts forward a number of additional requirements for casings:
- constant diameter along the entire length;
- high elasticity;
- moisture resistance;
- ease of preparation for filling with minced meat;
- the ability to automate the process of product formation;
- ability to retain applied markings.
Types of sausage casings
Packages are classified according to several distinctive features. The most common division is by type of material. There are 2 large groups: natural (from the entrails of domestic animals) and artificially created, which are divided into:
- casings made from natural raw materials (collagen, cellulose, fibrous);
- synthetic (from polymer films).
The permeability of packaging to gases and vapors largely depends on the material of manufacture. The following types of sausage casings are distinguished:
- with a high degree of permeability (natural);
- medium impermeable (cellulose);
- low and impermeable (most plastic films).
Natural
Natural sausage casings have long been highly valued by manufacturers for their high degree of steam, water and gas permeability. Made from the internal organs of animals, they have a protein base similar to the composition of minced meat. They are not afraid of the high temperatures and pressure to which the product is exposed during the production process. As a result of the treatment, the elastic intestines are homemade sausage acquire the necessary strength, they protect the product well from the action of microorganisms for at least 5 days.
The disadvantages of natural materials include properties that complicate the industrial production of sausages:
- instability of diameter and quality in general;
- insufficiently high strength;
- short shelf life of finished products;
- corruptibility;
- difficulties in automating the process of filling and labeling finished goods;
- high price.
Sausage casings
The small intestines of animals are called casings. They have a diameter of 2.5-5 cm and are used in the manufacture of most sausages. Most often, casings are used in the formation of wieners, sausages (intended for boiling, smoking, semi-smoked), and sausages for frying. Many home craftsmen prefer this type due to the following properties:
- sufficient length (up to 15 m in a bundle);
- strength (especially beef casing).
Sinyuga
The cecum of a sheep is called cyanuga. It has a diameter of 4–8 cm, suitable for boiled sausages and ham. This packaging is convenient due to its capacity: to make 1 loaf of sausage per 1.% kg or two sticks 15-20 cm long, one blue sausage 6-7 cm in diameter is enough. The size is good for preparing sausage at home without help.
Artificial from natural raw materials
The expansion of sausage production required minimizing the disadvantages of natural films while maintaining their positive properties. This is how artificial casings were developed from natural materials: protein (collagen), cellulose, fibrous. Their use simplified the technological process, preserving the advantages of natural raw materials, adding to their advantages compliance with higher production requirements.
Collagen
To make the protein film, the crushed inner part of animal skin, called flesh, is used. Dense packaging is made from collagen-containing raw materials using the extrusion method, which can be edible or inedible. Disadvantage - the relatively high rigidity of the material for products is not large diameter, which makes it unsuitable for consumption along with the contents.
Collagen film for sausage ensures storage of products for 3-5 days. Its advantages include:
- natural appearance of products;
- high permeability, providing products with excellent taste;
- consistency of caliber.
Pulp
The casing for homemade sausage made from seamless cellulose is made from cotton fibers or wood. An extruded hollow sleeve is convenient for molding sausages, wieners, boiled, boiled-smoked, semi-smoked sausages of small diameter. Highly permeable cellophane is much cheaper than casings made from natural raw materials, but its quality meets high requirements.
The shelf life of such products is 48-72 hours. Among the disadvantages of the material, low tensile strength and low moisture resistance can be noted. To combat these shortcomings, hemp frame fibers are included in its composition. This type of sausage casing is called viscose-reinforced and is used for preparing smoked products of medium and large diameter.
fibrous
A sausage casing made of viscose, reinforced with paper and cotton fibers, which is an air- and moisture-permeable membrane, is called fibrous. It has a complex structure, covered inside or outside polymer layer designed to extend the shelf life of products. Products in such film (this can be any type of boiled and smoked sausages) are stored from 2 weeks to 4 months, subject to the required temperature and humidity conditions.
Synthetic polyamide shell
A durable polymer film with good heat shrinkability and low oxygen permeability has become the main raw material for the production of a new type of artificial materials - polyamide. This sausage casing does not allow the product to oxidize; products can be stored in it from 2 weeks to 2 months. This material is classified as a barrier material and protects the product from interaction with microorganisms. Its advantages are wide possibilities for marking, smoke permeability, and low weight loss of the finished product during storage.
Preparing the sausage casing
When using intestines to make homemade sausage, a simple procedure must be carried out before shaping the product. preparatory work. When using natural packaging you need:
- Measure out desired length intestines, cut off from the total amount and rinse under cold running water for at least 10 minutes.
- Fill the material with warm water (no more than 35°C) and leave for a couple of hours.
- Rinse it again.
Collagen sausage casings require just as many steps. It is prepared for filling as follows:
- Immerse the film in a solution of warm water (40°C) and table salt. The required amount of liquid is 1 liter, salt is 1 tablespoon.
- Leave in the solution for several minutes.
- Rinse under running cold water.
How to choose a casing for homemade sausage
The variety of types raises many questions regarding the choice of sausage film. With the industrial production method, its type and caliber are strictly regulated. The home master can afford greater freedom, based on the availability of the range and personal preferences. The choice depends on the storage capabilities of finished products, the availability of casings for sale, and the preferred method of molding the product.
For sausages
When preparing small-caliber products, materials are used that provide a finished product with a diameter of one and a half to 3 cm. Such casings include:
- lamb casing;
- protein casing for straight or ring-shaped sausages;
- cellulose film;
- polyamide shell.
For sausages
A diameter of 3-4.5 cm is typical for sausages. This product caliber can be obtained using the following types of shell:
- pork casing;
- beef casings;
- protein shell;
- polyamide;
- cellulose sleeve.
For boiled sausage
The most common type of homemade product is sausage with a caliber of more than 4 cm. The following are suitable for its production:
- blue;
- bubble;
- circle;
- artificial shells of large diameter.
For cooked-smoked and semi-smoked sausages
Sausages with a diameter of 4-8 can be smoked. Both natural and artificial shell materials are suitable for this:
- Suitable for salami and cervelat: beef rounds, lamb blue, protein film;
- for hunting sausages – collagen sausage;
- for smoked and semi-smoked products – fibrous and special polyamide films for smoking.
For dry-cured and uncooked smoked sausages
The dense consistency of dry-cured and uncooked smoked products requires the use of materials that provide a caliber of one and a half to 10 cm. It is made in the following casings:
- natural;
- protein;
- fibrous.
For pates, liver sausages, brawns, saltisons
The specific composition does not reduce the number of fans of the unique taste of liver sausages, pates, and brawn. To prepare them at home, use film from 4 to 14 cm in diameter:
- natural - beef, lamb blues, pork bladders, beef circles;
- artificial – polyamide, cellulose materials.
Sausage casing price
You can buy film for homemade sausage in Moscow in supermarkets, markets, and online stores. The prices for it are as follows.
The natural casing for homemade sausage is divided into two types: casings and sinyugi. Each type is used for different purposes. The shape and integrity of the future sausage depends on the casing, so you need to be able to prepare it correctly.
The casing for homemade sausage is selected depending on the cooking method
- Number of servings: 5
- Preparation time: 40 minutes
- Cooking time: 30 minutes
What is the natural casing for homemade sausage made from?
Initially, fresh livestock intestines were used for homemade sausage, and they are still used today. Cleaning is carried out in several stages and requires a lot of effort. It is more convenient to purchase a “semi-finished product” that does not need to be cleaned, but is still required to be prepared in advance.
Worms are considered almost universal. These are small intestines with a diameter of 2.5-5 cm. They are suitable for smoking, frying, boiling, steaming and drying and can withstand almost any temperature. The strongest casing is considered to be beef casing.
Sinyugi is the dead-end end of the cecum. It has a larger diameter and is used mainly for cooking and ham.
You can prepare sausage using a meat grinder with a special tubular attachment. It is placed instead of a grille. One end of the shell must be tied securely, for example, with a strong thread, and the other must be pulled over the pipe with an accordion. Start feeding the chopped minced meat, and it will enter the intestine on its own. Fill it to the desired volume and retie if necessary.
Try not to stuff the shell too tightly - it may burst during cooking.
If you don’t have a meat grinder, you can use a trimmer plastic bottle with a neck, a funnel with a wide opening or a culinary syringe.
Basic rules of preparation
The following types of natural casings are sold:
- dry - measure the required length, soak for 30 minutes in cold water, rinse, check integrity, then soak briefly in water with the addition of 1 tbsp. l. alcohol vinegar;
- in brine - rinse them, measure out the required amount, rinse from the inside, soak in brine for 60 minutes;
- frozen - carefully defrost them, it is better to leave them overnight. Soak in brine for 2 or 3 hours.
If you find holes in the shell, simply cut off this area.
The sausage casing prepared at home must be pierced in several places before cooking - this will allow air to escape.
Sausage casing: preparation, use, storage.
Homemade sausages / Sausage casing: preparation, use, storage.
Just as a theater begins with a hanger, so a sausage begins with a casing.
You can make sausage without twine, without a smokehouse, without a special device for stuffing sausages... Some manufacturers manage to make sausage even without meat.
But you can’t make sausage without a casing. Sausage casings can be natural or artificial.
Natural casings for sausages.
Natural or, as they are also called, natural casings are specially processed intestines: beef, lamb, pork.
To extend shelf life, natural shells are salted. This method of preservation allows you to store intestinal membranes for 1-2 years at a temperature of 0...+5 degrees Celsius.
Sausage casings vary in diameter (by caliber) and quality (by grade). There is also the concept of minced meat capacity (capacity) of a sausage casing.
IN sausage shops The type of casing used for sausages is clearly regulated by regulatory and technical documentation.
When we make sausage at home for our own consumption, we are more free to choose the casing for the sausages. True, this choice is often dictated by the inability to buy one or another shell.
But homemade sausage will not be worse if instead of a casing with a diameter of 50 mm. When making, for example, Doctor's boiled sausage, we use a casing with a diameter of 32 mm.
There are a lot of types of natural casings for sausages: casings, esophaguses, passages, sinyugi, circles, bubbles, curls...
At home, casings and blues are mainly used.
Chereva are small intestines with a diameter of 25 to 50 mm. This casing is suitable for the production of almost any type of sausage: wieners, frankfurters, sausages (smoked, raw smoked, half-smoked, boiled), sausages for frying (kupat, shpikachek, Bavarian sausages).
Beef casings with a diameter of 45-48 mm are, in my opinion, best option for making sausages at home.
Firstly, there are 15 meters of casing in one bundle. This is enough, that is, not too much and not too little.
Secondly, beef casings are stronger than pork casings, which is very important when the sausage is made not by a sausage production technologist, but by a home cook who, perhaps for the first time in his life, decided to make homemade sausage.
Lamb blues.
Lamb blues are caecums with a diameter of 40 to 80 mm.
Sinyugi are suitable for preparing boiled sausages and ham.
Minced meat capacity of one lamb bluegill with a diameter of 60-70 mm. approximately 1.5-1.7 kg. At home, it is convenient to form two sausage loaves 15-20 cm long from one blueberry.
Artificial casings for sausages.
There are many artificial casings: cellulose, protein, polyamide...
For homemade sausages, it is advisable to use a collagen casing.
The collagen (protein) shell is produced from natural raw materials - collagen, which is obtained from split cattle hides. Therefore, such a shell is edible.
The collagen casing is easy to store. Shelf life is two years at a temperature of +15... +25 degrees Celsius.
Collagen shell with a diameter of 24 mm. used for preparing various sausages, for example, Okhotnichy, as well as small sausages.
Collagen shell with a diameter of 32 mm. Suitable for almost all types of sausages: boiled, smoked, semi-smoked, raw smoked and dry-cured.
Preparation of natural sausage casings:
Cut off required amount sausage casings
Rinse in cold running water for 10 minutes
Soak in warm water (30-35 degrees) for 1-2 hours
Rinse under running water
Preparation of collagen casing for sausages:
Soak in water with the addition of 1 tablespoon of table salt per 1 liter of water
Water temperature 35-40 degrees Celsius
Time 2-3 minutes
Rinse under running water.
Fill the prepared sausage casings with minced meat, tie with cotton twine and cook according to the recipe.
Casings are necessary for the production of sausages; they allow the product to be shaped and protect it from environmental influences.
Sausage casings must be strong, dense, elastic, non-hygroscopic and resistant to microorganisms; they must withstand the pressure of minced meat and the effects of temperatures during heat treatment of sausages.
Technologies for the production of sausage and sausage casings do not stand still. However, sausage packaging remains the most conservative and retains many of the traditional methods that remain in demand among consumers.
Each type of packaging has its undoubted advantages, and each has its adherents.
What are sausage casings made from?
The most common types of sausage casings are natural (from the organs of domestic animals), artificial (using natural materials - collagen, cellulose, fibrous) and synthetic (from polyamide, polypropylene, EVOH, etc.).
Initially, when making sausage, only natural casings were used to fill it with minced meat.
With the increase in demand for sausages, the production of artificial casings began to actively develop.
Classification of sausage casings and requirements for them
Sausage casings can be classified according to a number of technical and consumer properties.
The most common classification is based on two parameters: the material from which the sausage casing is made, and the level of gas and vapor permeability (see diagram). These factors are interrelated.
Natural casings and artificial casings made from natural materials differ high level permeability to water vapor and gases. Artificial shells can be permeable or impermeable.
By creating an artificial shell, the developers sought to preserve all the best properties of the natural one, but at the same time eliminate its shortcomings.
In this regard, requirements for shells were formulated. They must have:
- uniformity of caliber (same diameter)
- resistance to microorganisms
- meet increased hygiene standards
- high mechanical strength, elasticity
- the ability to prepare for use without much labor
- a certain level of vapor and gas tightness
- heat resistance and moisture resistance
- the ability to automate the process of filling and forming sausage loaves
- Possibility of marking
In general, artificial casing meets higher requirements than natural casings.
Natural casings for sausages
Intestinal membranes have good moisture and smoke permeability, they are elastic, and retain their properties when wet.
Considering that natural casings have a protein composition close to the composition of meat, they can withstand all the changes that minced meat undergoes during technological processing.
Under the influence of smoke and hot air, natural casings acquire strength and resistance to microorganisms.
The shelf life of meat products in natural casings is up to 5 days if the temperature is maintained.
Artificial shells
Made from high quality raw material, obtained from the middle layer of cattle hides. Such shells can be edible or inedible.
The shelf life of finished products in a protein shell, subject to temperature conditions, is from 3 to 5 days.
The main advantages of protein shells:
- natural appearance
- good taste of the product due to the permeability of the shell
- consistency of sausage loaf caliber
Cellulose casing (“cellophane”) has high permeability. Produced on the basis natural material cellulose.
The shelf life of finished products, subject to temperature conditions, is from 2 to 3 days.
These casings are cheaper than protein and natural casings, which makes it possible to reduce the cost of products while maintaining the required quality, because The cellulose casing is highly permeable.
This makes it possible to pack in such a casing not only boiled sausages and frankfurters, but also boiled-smoked and semi-smoked sausages, sausages, and bacon.
Fibrous casings - permeable membranes that allow air, smoke and moisture to pass through well.
They can be compared to “tea bags”, but more complex design. The fibrous casing is characterized by the fact that the viscose fibers in it are reinforced with cotton-based paper. Has average permeability properties.
The product in such casings can be smoked; they are suitable for almost any type of sausage.
To give the fibrous membranes barrier properties, apply polymer coating(from the inside or outside), which ensures an increase in shelf life (used especially for boiled sausages).
The shelf life, subject to temperature conditions, is from 15 to 120 days.
- shells of the 21st century. Polyamide heat-shrinkable casings belong to a wide class of barrier casings.
The material for their manufacture (polymer film) has high mechanical strength, puncture resistance, heat shrinkability, low oxygen and moisture permeability, bacterial purity, etc.
Polyamide, used as a raw material for the manufacture of barrier shells, is a hygienically clean material. And the shells themselves are safe for contact with the product.
Given their impermeability properties, polyamide casings protect meat products from oxidation and microbial spoilage.
Undoubtedly, it is polyamide shells that open up the widest possibilities in terms of implementing the flight of design ideas when applying markings.
The shelf life, subject to temperature conditions, is from 15 to 60 days.
The Russian sausage casing market is characterized by high importance polymer materials, the share of which in the packaging of boiled sausages and sausages reaches almost 80%.
Protein and natural casings are approximately equally important in the production of smoked sausages. The scope of application of cellulose and viscose-reinforced casings is much narrower. We are talking mainly about the production of boiled-smoked and semi-smoked sausages.
Which casings are suitable for which types of sausages?
1. According to the method of heat treatment.
All sausage casings can withstand heating up to 75-80C. But for higher temperatures - for example, when grilling or baking in the oven, natural casings (guts) are more suitable.
Here are the heat treatment methods and suitable shells for them:
- frying, baking sausages (in a frying pan, grill) - pork intestines, beef casings, lamb casings
- cooking sausages - polyamide casing, collagen casing, cellulose casing, natural casing
- hot and cold smoking of sausages - natural casing, collagen casing, cellulose casing
- drying and curing sausages - natural casing, collagen casing, fibrous casing
2. By type of sausage:
- boiled sausages - natural (blue, krug, bubble), artificial (collagen, polyamide, fibrous, cellulose). Distinctive features - the caliber of these sausages is usually more than 40 mm
- sausages - lamb casings, sausage collagen casing (straight and ring), cellulose casing, polyamide casing. Distinctive features - the diameter of the sausages is from 16 to 28 mm
- sausages - narrow pork casing, beef casing, collagen casing, polyamide casing, cellulose casing. Distinctive features - the diameter of the sausages is from 28 to 45 mm
- semi-smoked and boiled-smoked sausages, cervelat sausages, salami - usually a collagen casing, from natural ones - beef round, lamb blue (for Okhotnichye sausages - lamb and collagen sausage casing), fibrous casings, recently new types have appeared - polyamide permeable shells that become permeable for smoking only when heated to 45-500C. Distinctive features - the diameter of the shells is usually from 40 to 80 mm
- dry-cured and raw smoked sausages and sausages - natural, collagen, fibrous sausage casings. Diameter from 14 to 100 mm
- liver sausages, pates, brawns and saltisons - natural (beef and lamb blues, pork bladders, beef circles), artificial (polyamide, cellulose casings). Diameter - from 40 to 140 mm.