A method for packing a shirred tubular casing segment in a tubular net which packed segment is subsequently used with an automatic sausage-making machine comprising the steps of:
- thrusting an unshirred tubular casing with a shirring tool onto a shirring tube extending into an opened end of the tubular casing while air is conducted out of the shirring tube whereby the tubular casing is shirred about the shirring tube, said thrusting step including the step of initially thrusting an initial portion of the tubular casing over a first abutment provided on the shirring tube to a second abutment where the first abutment is configured to be slightly smaller than the opened tubular casing so that the initial portion is not shirred;
- separating the shirred tubular casing from the remaining unshirred tubular casing to form the shirred tubular casing segment;
- removing the shirring tube and first abutment from the shirred tubular casing and initial portion;
- sealing the initial portion to form a casing tip;
- pushing against the casing tip axially to initially push the casing top into the shirred tubular casing segment and then to push the shirred tubular casing segment through a cylindrical carrier to engage a sealed end of a tubular net which tubular net is drawn from around the cylindrical carrier and turned inside out in passing through the cylindrical casing to surround the shirred tubular casing segment pushed therethrough;
- sealing the tubular net at two points along the length thereof adjacent the casing tip;
- and
- separating the tubular net between the two points to separate the surrounded tubular casing segment from a remainder of the tubular net and from the sealed point of the remaining tubular net which subsequently engages the next shirred tubular casing segment.