How Korean Samgyetang Is Packaged: From Whole Chicken to Retort Pouch

Korean samgyetang packaging is very different from packaging ordinary soup or liquid food. A typical samgyetang product contains a whole chicken, glutinous rice, ginseng, garlic, jujube and a large amount of broth. All of these components need to be packed into one pouch and then processed for shelf-stable storage.

This creates a packaging process that combines whole-food loading, liquid filling, heat sealing and retort sterilization.

For food manufacturers considering Korean ginseng chicken soup or similar ready-to-eat products, understanding this process is important because the product cannot be handled like a normal liquid pouch.

So how does a whole chicken become a finished retort pouch product?

1. Samgyetang Starts With a Whole Chicken

The defining feature of samgyetang is the whole chicken.

Instead of cutting the chicken into small pieces before packaging, the chicken is prepared as a whole bird. The abdominal cavity is cleaned and then filled with traditional ingredients such as glutinous rice, ginseng, garlic and jujube.

The final product therefore contains several different components:

• Whole chicken

• Glutinous rice

• Ginseng

• Garlic

• Jujube and other ingredients

• Chicken broth

This combination immediately creates a packaging challenge.

The machine does not only need to handle a specific weight. It needs to accommodate an irregular, relatively large solid product together with liquid.

That is why samgyetang packaging needs to be considered differently from ordinary soup pouch packaging.

2. The Chicken Is Stuffed Before It Goes Into the Pouch

Before packaging, the prepared ingredients are placed inside the chicken.

Glutinous rice is particularly important because it changes during cooking. It absorbs liquid and expands as the product is heated.

The chicken, rice and other ingredients therefore need sufficient space inside the package to allow the product to maintain its intended form during processing.

For manufacturers, this means the pouch size cannot be selected only according to the nominal product weight.

A 900 g or 1 kg finished product may require a relatively large pouch because the package has to accommodate the physical dimensions of the whole chicken, the stuffing and the surrounding broth.

3. Why a Retort Pouch Is Used

Once the chicken is prepared, it needs to be packed into a package capable of going through thermal sterilization.

This is where the retort pouch becomes important.

A retort pouch is designed for food products that will undergo high-temperature thermal processing after sealing.

Compared with an ordinary food pouch, the packaging material needs to provide suitable:

• Heat resistance

• Mechanical strength

• Barrier protection

• Seal strength

• Food-contact performance

The pouch is normally made from multiple functional layers rather than a single film.

For samgyetang, the package needs to withstand the entire process from filling and sealing through retort treatment, cooling, handling and transportation.

4. Loading the Whole Chicken Into the Pouch

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