According to Innova Market Insights, snacking will continue to be one of the leading trends in the food industry, notes Hydrosol. For example, 83% of millennials snack instead of eating big meals, due to time constraints. Sausage, the company believes, is a classic snack, whether as hot dog, currywurst or salami stick, whether meat or plant-based. Hydrosol has developed a casing for all these sausages – SmartCasings, based on alginate. By means of co-extrusion, sausages can be made in all standard sizes.

SmartCasings are, the company claims, a small revolution in sausage-making. A liquid alginate layer is applied to the sausage mass and then hardened into a firm structure in a calcium bath. The result is said to be a strong and edible casing that gives sausages a crisp bite. What’s more, Hydrosol continues, this casing is and will remain available in unlimited quantity, and also offers processing advantages.

“The stabilising system is based on a complex mix of highly reactive hydrocolloids and starch. Synergistic effects upon exposure to a calcium chloride solution lead to the formation of a casing with good elasticity and tensile strength,” said Hydrosol Product Manager Florian Bark.

SmartCasings are designed to be suitable for fresh bratwurst, raw sausage and scalded sausage. The company says they are highly tear-resistant, and with raw sausages in particular they give a pleasantly soft bite.

“Scalded sausages are a special challenge, as they are exposed to damp heat both during manufacture and later during preparation,” said Bark, “so the casing needs to be not just tear-resistant, but also adhere to the sausage mass after cooking. To make sure it does, the sausages are cooked not by hanging in steam, but instead in a water bath using a special technique.”

For best results, the casing and sausage mass should be well adapted to each other. This is true for all product categories, but especially for scalded sausage.

“Here, our long experience in stabilising sausages is a great benefit, as in addition to the casing we can always offer the right stabilisation for the sausage mass. We take into account the specific phosphate content, salt content and viscosity of the mass. Thus, we offer the entire package for sausage-making, inside and out.”

SmartCasings are claimed to offer many advantages over conventional sausage casings. They permit a continuous manufacturing process, which results in low production costs. With SmartCasings there is no wastage or rework from intestine changes. Alginate cases also enable higher hourly throughput than is possible with conventional filling technology. The highly automated production technique requires less manual intervention and so has lower personnel costs. Furthermore, unlike cellulose casings there is no peeling step. There are also savings in material costs, as alginate casings are substantially more economical than natural intestine, collagen and cellulose casings.

Hydrosol SmartCasings also have another advantage – they are supplied as a powder. This gives them a much longer shelf life than finished pastes, rendering preservatives superfluous. Transportation and storage costs are also much lower with powder than with pastes. The SmartCasing powder can be made into a paste at any time. Hydrosol currently offers two powder versions, SmartCasing M as the standard version with animal protein and SmartCasing VR for vegetarian and vegan sausages. Hydrosol SmartCasings are available in halal and kosher versions.