Patent ID: 7476147

Claim:
A package for feeding food casing material into an automated food casing stuffing machine, the package comprising: a belt having a length greater than a width and including a plurality of elongated pockets configured to engage indentations in a drum of an automated food casing stuffing machine; the plurality of pockets attached with an elongated axis oriented transverse to the length of the belt, each pocket substantially enclosing shirred casing material comprising a material different from the associated pocket, the shirred casing material positioned in the plurality of pockets prior to engaging a drum of an automated food casing stuffing machine, an open end of the shirred casing material and an open end of the enclosing pocket aligned to receive an automated stuffing horn while the shirred casing material is substantially enclosed by the pocket such that the shirred casing material is removed from the enclosing pocket in connection with stuffing the shirred casing material, the pockets spaced at substantially even intervals along the belt, and wherein the plurality of pockets maintain, independent of a soak tank, the shirred casing material above a predetermined moisture level prior to loading the belt on the automated food casing stuffing machine.