Net for meat product

A shrinkable food preparation product comprising a knitted food encapsulating structure formed from a heat-shrinkable thread comprising one or more yarns of a heat-shrinkable material, the heat-shrinkable material comprising or formed entirely from a high-shrinkage polyester that shrinks when heated in the temperature range 75° C. to about 225° C., whereby the knitted food encapsulating structure shrinks in the presence of sufficient heat, said high-shrinkage polyester being a polyethylene terephthalate-based yarn having a boiling water shrinkage of at least 40%, the knitted food encapsulating structure thereby being configured such that upon heating the food preparation product, permanent shrinking of at least some of said heat-shrinkable threads imparts a compressive force onto a food product prepared using the food preparation product, the shrinkable food preparation product being in the form of a knitted, seamless, tubular net suitable for encapsulating a meat product, the knitted, seamless, tubular net comprising spaced apart warp threads and spaced apart weft threads, said weft threads being connected to the warp threads, said weft threads and/or said warp threads at least in part comprising said one or more yarns of heat-shrinkable material, the arrangement being such that upon heating a food product encapsulated in the knitted, seamless, tubular net, shrinking of the warp and/or weft threads imparts a compressive force on said food product.