Country of origin: Uruguay
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Natural casings are made from visceral organs of farmed animals (cow, sheep, pig) – guts, bladders, etc., which have special names in sausage production – thick end (the afterend of the bung gut), middles (middle gut with the capend of the bung gut), bung (blind gut with the capend of the middle gut), rounds (jejunum and ileum), fatend (bung gut), chitterling (middle gut), bung cap (blind gut).
Intestinal walls consist of four layers: serosa, muscle layer, submucosa and mucosa. The strongest layer is the submucosa. It is always left in the product when handling casings. The weakest mucosa is removed when handling all types of raw casings except for pig fatend, bladders and horse casings. The serosa and muscle layers are left or removed depending on their strength or development (the serosa is usually left in beef rounds and mutton bungs). As a rule, only the submusoca is left when handling sheep and pig casings, as it is sufficiently strong and at the same time so tender that it can be consumed together with the product.
After removal of unnecessary layers, casings are cooled, graded by quality and size, bundled and preserved. The following types of casing preservation are used: salting (dry salting and preservation in brine) with cooking salt, drying or freezing. Casings are stored for 1 to 2 years while observing the temperature conditions. Before filling natural casings are soaked and rinsed with flowing water.
Raw casings are a natural material traditionally used in sausage production possessing certain vapor and gas permeability and suitable for all kinds of sausages. The experts of the meat processing industry consider sausages in natural casings the tastiest. However, the handling process is demanding, requiring observation of special storage conditions, and the shelf life of casings is limited. Besides, it is difficult to create good working conditions in casing handling rooms with their unpleasant smell and high humidity.