Plastic casings provide a highly reliable and versatile solution for modern meat processing. Designed for cooked, processed, and sliced products, these casings offer excellent barrier protection, product uniformity, and extended shelf life while supporting efficient large-scale production.
Manufactured using advanced polymer technology, plastic casings can consist of multiple functional layers, each designed to deliver specific performance benefits such as moisture barriers, oxygen protection, mechanical strength, and product appearance. This multilayer construction allows producers to tailor casing properties to suit specific products and processing methods.
Plastic casings are widely used across the meat industry for cooked sausages, deli meats, hams, poultry products, and processed cheese, delivering consistent product quality and improved production efficiency.
Key Advantages
Superior Shelf Life Protection
Plastic casings provide excellent protection against oxygen and moisture, helping to extend product shelf life and maintain freshness throughout storage and distribution. This barrier protection reduces spoilage and protects product quality.
Consistent Diameter and Product Uniformity
Plastic casings deliver precise calibre control, allowing processors to achieve uniform product size and weight. This ensures reliable portion control and optimal slicing performance for retail and foodservice applications.
Improved Cooking Yields
High-performance barrier casings reduce moisture loss during cooking and processing. This helps increase cooking yields and maintain product weight, delivering improved profitability for processors.
Excellent Meat Adhesion
Plastic casings provide strong meat adhesion, minimizing purge and ensuring a firm finished product. This results in improved slicing performance and better product presentation in retail packs.
High Productivity in Manufacturing
Plastic casings are supplied in ready-to-use formats such as shirred sticks, reels, or cut lengths, enabling efficient processing on both manual and automated stuffing systems.
Customisable Properties
Using multilayer polymer structures, plastic casings can be engineered with specific performance features including barrier strength, flexibility, smoke permeability, or peelability to suit different production requirements.
Types of Plastic Casings
Plastic casings are available in several configurations designed to meet different product and processing needs.
| Casing Type | Key Characteristics | Typical Applications |
|---|---|---|
| Barrier Casings | Strong oxygen and moisture barrier for extended shelf life | Cooked sausages, deli meats, luncheon meats |
| Non-Shrink Casings | Maintain stable diameter during cooking and cooling | Sliced meats, frozen products |
| Smoke-Permeable Casings | Allow smoke colour, flavour and aroma transfer | Smoked sausages and cured products |
| Formable Casings | Designed for moulded or shaped products | Cooked hams, deli meats, block products |
| Small Calibre Polyamide Casings | Thin casings designed for small diameter products | Frankfurters, hot dogs, snack sausages |
Plastic casings can be supplied with different permeability levels, allowing processors to control smoke absorption and moisture loss depending on the product requirements.
Technical Features
Plastic casings are engineered to support efficient meat processing and consistent product quality.
| Feature | Benefit for Producers |
|---|---|
| Multilayer polymer construction | Combines barrier protection, strength and flexibility |
| High mechanical strength | Reduced breakage during stuffing and cooking |
| Calibre consistency | Uniform sausage diameter and weight |
| Excellent meat adhesion | Reduced purge and improved slicing |
| Controlled shrink properties | Smooth wrinkle-free finished products |
| Smoke permeability options | Controlled flavour and colour development |
Sizes and Formats Available
Plastic casings are available in a wide range of sizes and production formats to suit different equipment and product types.
Calibre Range
Typically available from small diameter casings for frankfurters to large formats for hams and deli meats, offering flexibility across multiple product categories.
Formats
- Shirred sticks for automated stuffing systems
- Flat reels for high-volume industrial processing
- Cut pieces for smaller batch production
These formats allow processors to select the most efficient option for their production environment.
Colours and Branding Options
Plastic casings can be produced in a wide range of colours to support product differentiation and brand identity.
High-definition printing technology allows manufacturers to add logos, product information, and branding directly onto the casing. This helps processors create distinctive products that stand out on retail shelves while reinforcing brand recognition.
Applications
Plastic casings are widely used across the food industry for a variety of processed meat and deli products.
Cooked Sausages
- Bologna
- Mortadella
- Frankfurters
- Luncheon meats
Deli and Sliced Products
- Cooked ham
- Poultry rolls
- Turkey breast
- Roast beef
Processed and Specialty Products
- Processed cheese
- Pâté
- Block or moulded meat products
Ideal for High-Performance Food Processing
Plastic casings provide producers with a reliable solution for products that require extended shelf life, precise portion control, and high processing efficiency.
Their engineered barrier properties, structural strength, and consistent calibre make them ideal for modern food manufacturing environments where quality, productivity, and product presentation are critical.
✔ Extended shelf life protection
✔ Consistent calibre and product size
✔ Excellent slicing performance
✔ High productivity on automated lines
✔ Wide colour and branding options
Contact US
Get in Touch
- sales@kiernans.ie
- +353 (42) 966 2096
Address
- Unit 8, Steadfast Industrial Estate, Carrickmacross, Monaghan County, Ireland A81 WD30
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