Baker's - Norwich Market - Norfolk Pork Sausage

I found Bakers the butchers on Norwich Market in February, when visiting the Norfolk Diet farmers’ market outside the Forum.  Their stall is very close to that of the most excellent Pickering's butchers, whose sausages we loved.  Pickering's Norwich Sausage  Could this smashing city centre market provide us with two smashing butchers, selling super smashing sausages?

Well...

You only get one chance to make a good first impression, and sadly Bakers fluffed their lines.  I had to loiter with intent for several minutes before I was noticed, and then, when I did eventually show up on their Customer Radar, the demeanour was gruff and surly.  Seriously Not Good guys!  There was no please or thank you during the transaction, another huge disappointment.  Frankly I felt as if my presence and potential custom was something of an inconvenience. Very depressing.  The sausages would need to be absolutely exceptional if Bakers had any hope of emerging with their reputation intact.

How did they fare? Read on dear sausage lover....

Meat Content:

70%.  The lumps and bumps of meat inside indicate a decent amount of pork content, and it “seems” to be decent quality pork at that.  Not bad but nothing to write home about. 

Flavour:

Warm on the tongue, there is a Lot of salt included here, in my opinion too much of the warm stuff.  Very little going on, flavours-wise, and these sausages taste cheap.

Texture:

These snorkers looked very finely chopped when sliced, as you can see, and smelled exactly like a motorway service station banger (tasting notes show two “sad-face smilies” at this point).  BUT! Amazingly, and a first positive note in this entire review, they were much lumpier than they looked.  Disappointment melted away and became “OK, not too bad”....actually the texture was very good, lots of chunky bits and bobs, and a lovely welcome surprise.

Shrinkage: 

Average weight uncooked - 65g

Average weight cooked - 52g

Shrinkage - 19%

Average numbers for this average product. Neither good nor bad, unremarkable sums it up.

Value For Money:

£2.54 for six sausages, weighing 390g - this works out as a price of £6.50 per kg, or 42p per snorker. For me this price is on the lofty side for what you get.  Based on this pricing I’m rating Baker’s Norfolk Pork sausages as below average value for money.

The Bisto Factor:

Notes read “smell fab when frying”.  These are short and stubby, smell great, and appealing - just like me!

The Imaginatively Titled Next Day Cold Sausage Test:

Tasty! Surprisingly the skins became rather chewy and weren’t a patch on the hot version.  The filling was juicy and crumbly.  Some like it hot but taste-wise these bangers revel in the cold. Worth buying some just to fry, chill, and enjoy.

Stan Spotting:

There was a Stan in the background, but sadly he was either engrossed in the butchering he was undertaking or completely disinterested in customers.  The former, I hope.

And Finally, Esther:

Great texture, shame about the taste.