Ovenable Bags & Cook-in-Bag Packaging

Cook in the Bag, Serve on the Plate

Ovenable bags change the economics of prepared food. Products go from freezer or chiller straight into the oven - no repackaging, no preparation, no handling until they’re cooked and ready to serve. For food manufacturers, that means simpler logistics for your customers. For end users, it means convenience without compromise on quality.

The specialist PET-based films we use are rated to 200°C and above, maintaining seal integrity and dimensional stability through conventional oven cooking. Micro-perforation allows controlled steam release - essential for baked goods that need browning and crust development rather than steaming in their own moisture.

We supply ovenable packaging as pre-made bags or as film on reels for form-fill-seal equipment, depending on your production setup.

Bake-Off Bakery

Walk into any supermarket and you’ll smell fresh bread from the in-store bakery. Most of it arrives par-baked - 50-90% of the baking done at the factory, with just minutes needed to finish on site. The bread goes into the oven in its packaging and comes out ready for the shelf.

Ovenable bags make this possible. The micro-perforation promotes browning and crust development - your bread finishes looking and tasting fresh-baked, not steamed. The sealed construction prevents cross-contamination in busy retail environments where the same ovens might handle multiple product types.

We supply bake-off packaging for supermarket in-store bakeries, convenience stores, and food service operations. Bread rolls, baguettes, ciabatta, croissants, pain au chocolat, pastries - if it needs finishing in an oven, we can package it.

Airline and Food Service Catering

Bread rolls baked on board aircraft. Pastries finished in hotel kitchens. Scones reheated in café ovens. For food service operations running tight schedules with limited kitchen space, ovenable bags simplify everything.

Products arrive ready to cook. Staff load them into ovens without unpacking or transferring. Cooking times are consistent because the packaging is consistent. There’s no cross-contamination risk from handling raw or par-baked products. And when cooking’s done, there’s no oven cleaning - everything stays contained in the bag.

For airline catering specifically, where galley space is measured in inches and every second of prep time matters, ovenable packaging isn’t just convenient - it’s essential to making fresh-baked products viable at 35,000 feet.

Ready Meals and Cook-in-Bag Proteins

Roast-in-bag chicken. Salmon with herb butter. Marinated meats that cook in their own juices. Ready meals where the sauce and protein cook together, keeping moisture and flavour locked in until the customer opens the bag.

For manufacturers supplying UK supermarkets with own-label ready meals, ovenable packaging offers something beyond convenience: reduced contamination risk. Raw poultry stays sealed from factory to customer’s oven - no handling, no transfer, no opportunity for cross-contamination in home kitchens. When Campylobacter from raw chicken remains one of the most common causes of foodborne illness in the UK, packaging that keeps raw meat contained until it’s fully cooked has genuine public health value.

The Technical Side

We use specialist PET-based films engineered for high-temperature performance. Standard PET softens around 70-80°C - ovenable grades maintain their properties at 200°C and above through the cooking cycle. The side seal construction uses heat-sealed edges on both sides, which maintains integrity at high temperatures better than welded seams.

Getting the perforation right matters. Too few holes and pressure builds up during cooking, risking bag failure. Too many and products dry out. We specify the perforation pattern based on your product, your cooking temperatures, and how much steam needs to escape for the result you’re after.

If you’re running form-fill-seal equipment and need ovenable film on reels rather than pre-made bags, we can supply that too - see our flow wrap film page.

Printing and Branding

While printing on ovenable films is technically possible, it requires enhanced migration testing at high temperatures - expensive testing that often isn’t justified. Most customers opt for a separate sleeve, band, or outer carton for branding, which also gives more design flexibility than printing directly on clear film.

Working With Us

We convert ovenable bags here in the UK, which means lead times you can plan around - typically 3-4 weeks from order to delivery. No waiting for containers, no customs delays, no supply chain uncertainty.

All ovenable bags are made to order. Typical minimum is around 25,000 units depending on bag size, though we can discuss what works for your volumes. We’re a family-owned converter with four decades in flexible packaging, BRCGS AA(*) accredited with full batch traceability.

Whether you’re a ready meal manufacturer, a bakery supplier, or a food service operation, we can help you find the right specification for your application.