Term of storage of products in casing

Products, packed in Pentaflex-Extra RTU® casing, have shelf-life up to 60 days (by temperature interval +2°C-+6°C), which is confirm by the results of researches and by the State sanitation service, given in Ukraine and Russia.

Recomendation on application

Storing at the production facilities

Casings should be kept in the manufacturer’s packaging in clean and dry storage area, without strange smells, protected from exposure to direct sunlight, at a distance of not less than 1 meter away from heating appliances at room temperature not exceeding 25 degrees centigrade with relative humidity of not more than 75%. Pentaflex-Sinuga® casings are provided with manufacturer’s warranty and are good for use during for 24 months since the date of production. 
They should be handled with caution and proper care to avoid hitting and falling down.
Casing is frostproof, stand temperature -20°C.
Casings that have been stored at temperatures lower than 0C should be kept at a room temperature for not less than one day before using.

Preparation of Casing for production of sausages

 During preparation of casing for production process, when a reel of casing is unwinding and being cut into pieces, it is necessary to monitor side parts of the reel and surface of the casing sleeve to prevent them from rubbing against various types of uneven or rough surfaces. It is recommended to unwind the reel of casing in the vertical position.
Pentaflex-Extra® casing used without presoaking that shorten the process of its preparation to use. Cut of the casing should be done out of production facilities as its high humidity may caused blocking of casing in reels and breaks during unwinding. After cutting remains of casing in reels should be stored in manufacturer’s packaging.
During using of casing it is possible that casing may contact with moist surfaces (equipment, inventory, hands and other). Casing, designed for manufacture, doesn’t afraid of humid. Its physio-mechanical behaviour don’t changed.
Pentaflex-Extra® casing can also be used with presoaking. Operation factors of soaking process should correspond to typical recommendations on application of Pentaflex® casing.

Recommendations on technological peculiarities of sausage production process using polyamide ring casings

Technological process of sausages’ production should be implemented in strict conformity with the acting technological instruction.
Due to the gas and moisture impermeability of Pentaflex-Extra® casing, no losses of humidity is observed at thermal treatment of sausages; that’s why the amount of water, added to sausage meat when it is chopped should be decreased to 5-10%. This will allow to exclude the formation of bouillon and fat substances and breaking of the casing during thermal treatment, and the planned output of the finished products will not change. The use of additives when making boiled force meat in polyamide casing requires special attention in further cycles of technological process.
Increase of water-retaining quality of meat leads to intensive swelling of proteins, which facilitates increase of internal pressure of force meat of the sides of the casing during thermal treatment.
Therefore the observance of required recommendations on application of additives, stepped thermo treatment of sausages will allow to exclude the breaks of sausages during cooking.

Stuffing of casings

Depending on equipment casing can be staffed at 11% at once. To prevent the fall off of clip during clipping, it is necessary to control the conformity of number of clip to brand of equipment. Clips, which are used for this type of casing, should ensure thickness of stuffing (for example, clipping-machine KOMPO). Stuffing of casings should be started from 8-10%. At that end sides of sausage will have rough wrinkles, gathered in bun before clip. During 5-10 minutes casing «began to work», wrinkles smooth out, staffed with forcemeat, sausage stick grow in diameter. %. Percentage of the overstuffing is determined by experienced method and depends on conditions of production and type of equipment. Chosen percentage of overstuffing has to be unchanged during entire stuffing process, the stuffing must be compact along the whole length of a sausage stick.

Clipping of casings

Pentaflex-Extra® casing can be used in production process involving usage of both automatic ("ALPINA", "POLI-CLIP", "TEHNO-PACK") and semi-automatic types of equipment, as well as for clipping manually. 
When clipping, it is necessary to pay attention to regulating of clipper, the right choice of clips that corresponds to the type of the casing and diameter. Clips should ensure firm clipping of the ends of the casing, so that clips do not move and damage the casing. The internal diameter of sausage sticks’ rings amounts to 160-180 mm.

Thermal processing

Thermal treatment of sausage products should be done according to the functioning technological instruction demands. Due to gas impermeability of the casing frying process of sausages is excluded. It is necessary to use boiling in steps – to raise temperature in steps, to boiling temperature.
First step: start of boiling from +55C to +60C. Quantity of steps of temperature raise depends on sausage diameter, the more diameter the more steps. Duration of boiling on every step provides by requirements of technological instruction on production of sausages.
Last step of thermal treatment – is a process of boiling, temperature should correspond to requirements of technological instruction.
Preparedness of sausages is characterized by reaching of temperature inside of stick +72C. 
Cooking of the sausages in the boilers
On sausages boiling in boilers you should observe technological instruction demands and to recommendations on using of the casing:
- sticks load into boilers with water temperature from +55C to +60C. (It is forbidden to load sticks into the water with cooking temperature. It may cause premature shrinkage of the casing and sticks deformation.);
- sausages should be fully immersed into the water;
- raise of temperature should be done by degrees with intervals.
After thermal treatment surface of sausage stick smooth out, wrinkles on end sides of sausage staffed with forcemeat, small wrinkles disappear, reach up the percentage of stuffing (up to 11%).
Pentaflex-Extra® casing, due to high elasticity, during boiling of sausages stretches easily, increases its staffing capacity. Before cooling of sausage stick as recommended it is strictly prohibited to scratch or mechanically damage surface of sausage.

Cooling
After the cooking sausages should be cooled in two stages.

1stage – cooling with shower to achieve the temperature inside the stick from +25C to +30C. Behaviour of casing allow to exclude the process of showering. At that appearance of wrinkles on surface of casing excluded. Exclusion of showering process is determined by enterprise based on sanitary requirements of sausage manufacture.
2stage – after cooling with shower sausages will dry in surrounding temperature, then sausages load to the cooling chamber with temperature from +4C to +6C.

Slicing and removing the casing off the sausage stick

Pentaflex-Extra® RTU casing is very easily removed off a sausage stick. After removal, the surface of the product remains smooth and glossy.
In order to prevent tearing and decrease the tension on the casing during cutting of sausages, it is advisable to cut both clips first.

Packing and storing of the sausages

After the cooling sausage sticks are transferred to the storage facilities for storing and selling. Temperature in the storage area should be set according to the requirements specified in the technological instruction for production of the given type of product.
Sausage sticks with the clean and dry surface are packed in the sanitized containers not exceeding their weight capacity and shipped for sale. During the storing, sharp changes in temperature are unacceptable to exclude possibility of appearance of condensation moisture on the sausage sticks’ surface.
In the retail the sausage sticks should be taken out of shipping containers and stored into the refrigerators, showcases and so on.