What is Ultramid H and why does it matter for smoked-sausage casings?
BASF’s Ultramid® H33 L is the first thermoplastic polyamide (PA) engineered with intrinsically high water permeability while preserving the material’s hallmark strength and processing stability. This unique balance allows artificial casings made of pure polyamide (PA) to admit smoke during the smoking step and release moisture during drying, delivering authentic flavor development and texture without sacrificing puncture resistance, tear strength, or runnability on modern casing production lines.
The artifical casing with the hydrophilic properties of Ultramid H
Such casings have so far been made of collagen or cellulose, for instance. As the new polyamide can be used to produce artificial casings with significantly thinner walls due to its strength, it is an attractive alternative to these materials. Thanks to the hydrophilic properties of Ultramid H, the desired smoke aromas pass through the artificial casing made of pure polyamide into the sausage products during the smoking process. The high water permeability allows subsequent drying directly in the casing.
“Ultramid H opens up new fields of application for thermoplastic polyamides that were previously beyond technical capabilities and is unique among thermoplastics. It can be processed like any other polyamide, enabling our customers to incorporate Ultramid H into their production processes without making any adjustments,” explained Dr. Rolf Minkwitz, who is responsible for polyamide product development at BASF.
With the development of this innovative material, BASF is setting new standards for both polyamide research and its applications and will present Ultramid H for the first time at the world’s largest plastics trade fair “K”, which will take place in Düsseldorf from October 8 to 15. Experts will be available at the BASF stand in hall 5, C21/D21 to answer questions about the product’s properties and will discuss initial application experiences with the customer PODANFOL S. A. on October 9 at 3 pm.
