Plastic casings are the invisible engine behind the ready-to-eat (RTE) meat category. They allow for the safe, efficient cooking of whole-muscle products and logs, which are then peeled and pre-sliced for supermarket deli counters and packaged goods.
By providing a hermetically sealed, hygienic barrier during the cooking and pasteurization process, plastic casings prevent recontamination. This is a non-negotiable requirement for products consumed without further cooking.
The superior barrier of plastic maintains the texture, color, and flavor of cooked meats as they travel from the processing plant to distribution centers and finally to retail shelves, ensuring the product tastes as intended upon purchase.
Plastic casings enable the production of seasoned roast beef, honey-glazed ham logs, and flavored turkey breasts. The casing contains marinades and seasonings during the tumble-massage and cooking process, ensuring even flavor distribution.
They are essential for creating uniform products that are easily portioned into snack sticks, diced for salads, or sliced for sandwich kits. The consistency provided by the casing is key to automated slicing and dicing.
From plant-based roasts to hybrid meat/plant blends, plastic casings provide the necessary structure and moldability for innovative products that require precise thermal processing and shape retention.
The strength of plastic casings minimizes burst-related losses during cooking (e.g., in water baths). Their compatibility with automation maximizes line speeds for high-volume RTE production.
The casing acts as a stable, predictable vessel during thermal processes, allowing for exact time/temperature control to meet food safety standards (like USDA Appendix B) and ensure perfect product texture.
The clean, easy-peel characteristic of many plastic casings allows for rapid stripping and direct transfer to high-speed vacuum packaging or modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) lines, creating a seamless “cook-in-pack” workflow.
