What are artificial casings made of

The casing is a layer of plastic-like skin that we usually wrap around sausages. This layer of skin will break with a slight bite and has a certain degree of elasticity and toughness. This artificial casing can be eaten or not. It is mainly used as a main outer coating when enema. It can wrap the meat to make artificial casings. The main material chosen is the small intestine of animals.

Casings can generally be divided into two types: natural casings and artificial casings.

Tianchang casings mainly use the longest small intestine among the animal's internal organs. Now generally sheep's small intestine is used, so it is also called sheep casings. When pig small intestine is used as casings, it is called pig casings. In the past, cow and horse intestines were also used as casings.

The characteristic of these natural casings is good air permeability, so after the product is properly dried, it is smoked, and the smoked ingredients adhere to the product to obtain the flavor that people like, and the casings can be eaten directly.

Artificial casings are divided into gas permeable casings and non-gas permeable casings. Breathable casings can be divided into edible and non-edible casings. Edible casings are made from animal skins and other materials, and their properties are similar to natural casings. We call them collagen casings, which are breathable and edible.

Inedible casings mainly include cellulose casings and cellophane. Cellulose casings can be further divided into cellulose casings and fibrous casings. This type of casing is characterized by being breathable but inedible. Currently there is also a kind of non-edible casing made of plastic. This casing is also breathable and can be smoked, so it is named smokeable plastic casing.

Non-permeable casings are mainly plastic casings, which can be divided into polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) casings and nylon casings according to the different materials, and can be divided into sheet casings and cylindrical casings according to the different shapes. This type of casing has many varieties and specifications, can be printed, is easy to use, smooth and beautiful, and is suitable for steaming and cooking products.