Rate My Sausage

Meat Market - Brandon - Regular Pork Sausage

2011-12-29T11:30:00.006Z

text

We're Back!

2011-11-28T18:55:00.000Z

The next review will be here very soon.

Some nice Suffolk sausages were tried and enjoyed tonight, and hopefully we'll get back in business.

If you're a sausage-related business and needing a new recruit (I'll work for minimum wage, as many hours as required!) then let me know!

M&M Rutlands - Melton Constable - On The Ball Bangers

2011-08-16T18:41:00.000+01:00

Back row (l to r): Drinkell, Foggo, Culverhouse, Holt

Front row (l to r): Keelan, Huckerby, Gunn, Bruce

A first for Rate My Sausage – this week we’re reviewing two sausages simultaneously. Not simply for the hell of it, but because these two bangers could not exist without each other. They’re called On The Ball Bangers, and have been created by sausage maverick James Rutland at the excellent M&M Rutland’s butchery in Melton Constable. We’ve presented their sausages here before, and have loved them all so far – will these latest creations match up?

Let’s kick off with some background information. The name of this porky treat isn’t derived simply because the bangers are “spot on” and “on the ball”, oh no! The Rutland family are, for the most part, dedicated fans of Norwich City Football Club – a team who have just been promoted to the top division of English football. To commemorate the achievement the family decided to create a sausage in the team’s colours of yellow and green – not easy shades to recreate in a meat product! As you can see from the Uncooked team line-up photo, they did a pretty good job with the aesthetics – but the main judgement must be (as always) how do the sausages taste?

“On The Ball City” is the traditional anthem of Norwich fans. Written in the nineteenth century its bizarre lyrics seem to have little to do with modern football, with lines including “have a little scrimmage” and “a splendid rush” hinting more at rugby. It’s definitely about football though as a later line in the song mentions the game. Still, it’s catchy and you will be able to hear it on Sky TV for at least the next nine months.

The Norwich Evening News ran a very informative piece about the sausages and the family, which you can find here: ON_THE_BALL_BANGERS Thanks to them too for the family photo at the end of this review.

So, on to the sausages....I will refer throughout to the green bangers as the Away team and the yellow ones as the Home team.

Meat Content:

Away - hard to isolate the pork flavour as the extra ingredients are to the fore, but you can tell it’s here. The pork in these sausages acts as Didier Deschamps did for Eric Cantona – “the water carrier” – a supporting role but still vital.

Home - it’s the same story here, the pork is thick and unsophisticated, but doesn’t make a lot of noise – just like the home end at Portman Road. If I sound negative about the meat content then I don’t intend to be, the pork is lovely but is sitting on the bench with these sausages.

Flavour:

Away - fresh, clean, and very enjoyable, like eating a Cotswold’s landscape complete with gamboling lambs. There’s plenty of green – pea I think, as they taste like the PEA AND PESTO LINK. There’s more to them though, something a little tangy, but I can’t quite work out what. These bangers are lush, these bangers are tasty, and these bangers are green!

Home - sweet with sour, which is becoming a recurring theme here recently. But with a little bit of heat too. OK, let’s try to identify what the flavours are....I have a clue of course, the colour. And there are mustard seeds aplenty, which are obviously responsible for the delicious spiciness. I “believe” I heard the word honey when I was in the shop, so I’ll cheat and claim it as my own identification. So – sweet but savoury – honey and mustard? Sounds right, and tastes most excellent Personally I’d prefer more mustard, but that’s just me.

Later addition – The missing flavour in the greens is mint! Of course! And in the yellows I completely missed the turmeric. Amazing what you can find out on the internet eh?

Texture:

Away - Spot on (the ball, heh), superbly crumbly with pieces of ingredient that you can see with the naked eye. Hard to beat!

Home – Even better than the green banger. Seems more densely bound together but still falls apart delightfully if pushed. Both varieties are right on the Rate My Sausage money, chunky, coarse and full of proper ingredients.

Shrinkage:

Average weight uncooked - 53g

Average weight cooked - 39g

Shrinkage - 26%

Quite a high figure for these bangers, but I guess that’s the penalty when so many veg-based ingredients are included. Just about the only thing that can be criticised with the On The Ball Bangers.

Value For Money:

£2.17 for four sausages, weighing 211g - this works out as a price of £10.27 per kg, or 54p per snorker.

“You gets what you pays for” is an oft-used phrase at Rate My Sausage. 54p per banger sounds, and is, quite expensive. For that you are given two uniquely flavoured varieties of sausage, and you take part in a one-off celebration of a county’s sporting success. Having said that, these are not Rutland’s best sausages, but still twenty five points clear of the supermarket horrors in the porky league table.

King's Lynn's Best Cafe Sausage

2011-08-06T09:12:00.000+01:00

What kind of sausages do you find in your local greasy spoon cafe? Universally rubbish ones is my experience. So, on your behalf, I boldly sampled the cheapest breakfast that included a sausage in four local cafeteria-type establishments.

Of course there has to be a way of deciding which is the best, so I judged on four criteria; Sausage Quality, Price, Meal Quality and Service. All except Price were scored with four points for the best, three for the next best, etc. Price was judged against an industry standard brekkie - Little Chef's Olympic Breakfast. This costs £7.49, so points were awarded by subtracting the cafe price from this sum....e.g. if the cafe breakfast cost £5.39 it would score 2.10. Nice and complicated, just the way we like it. The result surprised me:

The Winner - Pedlars Hall Cafe

The "Pedlars Breakfast" costs £3.95, and includes fried egg, bacon, sausage, beans OR tomatoes, toast and tea OR coffee. The cafe is located on the bus station and is very popular with drivers and passengers, offering a very friendly welcome.

The sausage was not as bad as expected, and although it was finely chopped it crumbled quite nicely when cut. Rather over seasoned though.

Sausage = 4

Price = 3.54

Meal = 2

Service = 3

Total = 12.54

--------------------------------------------------------

In second place - The Clock Cafe

"Breakfast C" costs £4.00, and includes 2 x bacon, sausage, egg, fries OR hash brown, beans OR tomatoes and 1 slice buttered toast OR buttered bread. A mug of tea costs 70p extra. The cafe is located on Lynn Road, Gaywood, right next to the Gaywood clock tower.

This meal was a very good plateful which looked nice and appetising. There are lots of good choices on the menu. Everything was cooked well, except the overdone sausage, which was a shame. The sausage may be a low cost butcher's sausage or a premium wholesale one, it's hard to tell. Better than most cafe bangers though. I felt full after eating at the Clock Cafe.

Sausage = 3

Price = 2.79

Meal = 4

Service = 2

Total = 11.79

----------------------------------------------------------------

In third place - Carousel Diner

The "Small Breakfast" costs £3.50, and includes egg, sausage (jumbo OR Lincolnshire), bacon, beans and fried bread. A mug of tea is 80p extra, and bread and butter another 50p. The cafe is situated off Edward Benefer Way, right next to a new Asda store - pop in for some food after doing your shopping!

The food was nice, and the fried bread was perfect, not overdone as you sometimes find. The sausage was jumbo sized (I wasn't offered a choice of Lincolnshire as per the menu) and was sadly a stereotype cafe banger - fine chopped, salty and not great. The staff were exceptionally friendly and chatty.

Sausage = 2

Price = 2.69

Meal = 3

Service = 4

Total = 11.69

---------------------------------------------------------

In fourth place - The Silver Spoon Cafe

The "Small Breakfast B1" costs £3.60, and includes egg, 2 x bacon, sausage and fried slice. A large mug of tea is £1 extra. The cafe is in Norfolk Street, is very large and has a range of tables to suit all parties, from one seater up to eight. The staff wear a nice uniform of navy blue cap, white shirt and black trousers and apron.

The sausage was poor, another low cost wholesale budget specimen, that merits no further description.

Sausage = 1

Price = 2.89

Meal = 1

Service = 1

Total = 5.89

-----------------------------------------------------

So where can you find the tastiest breakfast that offers the best value for money? Scroll down to find out......

....keep going, I'm building the suspense......

That's right - at my place!

Sausage was a beauty from a top notch King's Lynn butcher, and cost 36p

Bacon from the same butcher - 25p per rasher, total 50p

Free range egg from a friend - 21p

Black pudding (supermarket, sorry) - 16p per slice, total 32p

Mushrooms - approx 31p

Mug of tea - maybe 5p?

Total £1.75

Pickups - Blackburn Market - Pork Sausage

2011-08-03T04:31:00.016+01:00

Last of the Blackburn market butchers to be featured is Pickups. The guys behind the counter maintained a high volume of dry banter, with customers and colleagues alike, and I swear on my sweetmeats that legendary braces-twanger Bobby Ball was one of the staff. Trust me, I know my tragic eighties unfunny double acts….Thatcher & Reagan anyone?

I digress. Last week’s bangers made by Frank Littler (remember? The Fella from Mellor) were rather special, so will Pickups uphold the strong reputation of Blackburn Market bangers?

Meat Content:

68% the man on the stall said. He then, for some unknown reason, said “Rock on Tommy” before clenching his fist and gurning unpleasantly. 68% is about right I’d say, but I’m going to tell you that for once the percentage is irrelevant. I didn’t ask where these pigs are reared, but the pork is simply delectable. Exceptionally good. If you read this Pickups, let me know please?

Flavour:

Tangy and tart with a sour tone present. Does that sound unpleasant? It’s not meant to. The pork contained in Pickup’s prime pieces is exceptionally sweet, and when it’s mixed with the seasoning and flavouring here the combination is a winner. Savoury and sweet flavours go together beautifully in many dishes and cuisines, and Pickups have created a match made in sausagey heaven. If these sausages had their own Twitter account it would be “At Hashtag Bloody Underscore Gorgeous”

Texture:

Bitty (therefore good!). Very juicy and “squeaky” in the mouth, and made in natural casings which add extra quality to a good sausage. And these are a very, very high-quality product. The story goes, allegedly (if you ask the right people in the wrong pubs around the town) that when Tugay was playing for Blackburn Rovers and living in the posh Ecky Thump Hotel, he refused the caviar, the truffles, the oysters and anything with “a smear of pea puree” or “a gush of parsnip foam”, and would berate the waiters with the simple order “No posh crap! Bring me Pickups sausages!” And you can’t fault the Turkish midfield dynamo’s judgement.

Shrinkage:

Average weight uncooked - 76g

Average weight cooked - 70g

Shrinkage - 8%

Fabulous stats for Pickups. As if their sausages didn’t taste bloomin’ great, they also shrink very little indeed. Top marks.

Value For Money:

£2.44 for six sausages, weighing 454g - this works out as a price of £5.38 per kg, or 41p per snorker. I can only use another superlative, and report that Pickups Pork Sausages represent unbeatable value for money.

And Finally:

Well, that’s all the Blackburn bangers gone and I’ve got to admit that I’m quite sad to see them go. The overall standard was very high, with a couple of particularly fine examples. They seem to be generally a little longer and thinner than the East Anglian bangers we routinely review, which I always imagine makes them more child-friendly….perhaps they’re made that way for just that reason? I’d love to travel back to Blackburn sometime to visit the new market and see how the butchers are getting on.

Littler's - Blackburn Market - Pork Sausage

2011-07-28T05:33:00.002+01:00

Littler’s is another great butchers that we found on the recent trip to Blackburn. It's run by Frank Littler, and talking to the man, I heard a sad tale of council greed forcing this artisan meat merchant out of the market they’ve served for many generations. Read all about it in the following article:

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/8778736.Butcher_quits_Blackburn_Market_after_family_run_stall_for_150_years/

Utterly disgraceful, Blackburn Council. Shame on your greedy selves.

I visited Frank’s new shop in the lovely village of Mellor, and it’s a little cracker. Possibly the most picturesque meaterie we’ve visited so far. Frank and his staff are so warm and welcoming in their new home, and there’s a tangible sense of determination in the air, to overcome this huge upheaval and make a success of the future. I really, REALLY hope they pull it off, these are good people. To get a feeling for this place, imagine Last Of The Summer Wine scenery with Fred Dibnah’s accent. That’s a lovely combination.

There’s a web address, but apart from the location of the shop it’s not very interactive: http://www.franklittler.co.uk/

Anyway, how did Frank’s bangers rate? Read on....

Meat Content:

Oh wow, these sausages are fantastic! Meat, oh yes, there’s more yummy meat here than on Real Madrid’s massage table. It’s rare breed pork, reared on a farm at Balderstone, and you can really tell the difference. First impression was WOW, second and third impressions confirmed this – what a find. More meat here than in the raffle at Heckmondwike Working Men’s Club.

Flavour:

Juicy, sweet pork is the overwhelming whack to your taste buds. And what an assault! It’s like being mugged by Charlie’s Angels, who are wearing bikinis, and then they run away having put MORE money in your wallet. Delicious. More-ish. Utterly gorgeous. MAGNIFICENTLY DELECTABLE! Yes, in capitals. I hope you’re getting the impression that we like these sausages....

Texture:

The skins are snappy, which is a huge plus point. No artificial nonsense going on here. The filling is densely enticing, brooding like that buxom, hot sixth-form girl at her younger brother’s birthday party. Except you get to taste these bangers. Although we prefer a chunky cut, when the fine-cut version is this tasty, we’ll put up with it. Actually, scrub “put up with”, we want to go to the pictures with them. Nudge, nudge.

Shrinkage:

Average weight uncooked - 51g

Average weight cooked - 42g

Shrinkage - 17%

A good figure for Littler’s. Good, not great.

Value For Money:

£1.60 for six sausages, weighing 303g - this works out as a price of £5.28 per kg, or 27p per snorker. And, dear readers, for sausages as utterly brilliant as these, I’d pay double. At 27p these are completely outstanding value for money.

The Bisto Factor:

Oh, yes please. The mouth-watering waft from the kitchen was absolute torture. A pleasant kind of torture, not of the Max Mosley kind.

Summary:

From the depths of sausage hell with the bloody awful Plumtree Farms abominations two weeks ago Frank Littler’s bangers scale the heights of porky perfection. Into pole position in this year’s rankings, well played The Fella From Mellor!

Meridian Meats - Louth - Tomato Sausage

2011-07-21T04:11:00.003+01:00

Rate My Sausage LOVES Meridian Meats. A small independent butcher. Home to Young Butcher Of The Year. Fantastic Lincolnshire sausage, as we reviewed here:

http://bangersandsausages.blogspot.com/2010/10/meridian-meats-of-louth-best.html

It’s a shop with an established Good Rep at RMS. When I was there I couldn’t resist their Tomato Sausage. I remember tomato sausage from my nipper-hood - they didn’t seem to be very meaty but they DID taste delicious, and I wanted to find that taste sensation again. Could Meridian take me back to late seventies Sundays, in front of the 40 over cricket, watching Joel Garner, Viv Richards and Ian Botham playing for Somerset and scaring everyone else? Sundays were BLOODY boring back then.

Anyway, how did Meridian do with my childhood favourite?

Meat Content:

70% is the claim but these sausages seemed quite paste-y. The pork content is stated as 70% but it’s hard to tell if that’s right....the overwhelming texture isn’t meat, it’s....softer. Probably because of the tomato content I expect. Give ‘em the benefit of the doubt.

Flavour:

A Ronseal of a sausage – it does exactly what it says on the tin. A tomato sausage that tastes predominantly of....wait for it....tomato! A real blast from the past for me. There’s a lot of sharp salt though, which really detracted from the nostalgic tomato taste. Is there more salt to preserve the tomato? It takes over, and joins up with Mister Pepper to leave your mouth tingling and you reaching for a drink of water. What a shame.

Texture:

These sausages look coarse – you know that’s what we like. But the truth was that the texture was finer, blander, softer, and provided more disappointment. It was almost...almost....appropriate to use the word “mushy”. I am going to take a punt that this batch was an apprentice’s first go at the Tomato recipe.

Shrinkage:

Average weight uncooked - 67g

Average weight cooked - 55g

Shrinkage - 18%

I was expecting a lot of disappearing sausage, which one often finds when there’s a lot of vegetable included in the recipe, so just 18% was a pleasant surprise.

Value For Money:

£1.77 for four sausages weighing 266g - this works out as a price of £6.65 per kg, or 44p per snorker.

This particular sausage? Well.....there’s potential. Looks tomato-ey. Tastes a bit tomato-ey. Buy something else.

Which European Country Makes The Best Beer To Drink When You’re Eating Sausages Challenge - Final Part

2011-07-20T05:11:00.048+01:00

Number 7

Germany. Will they be the best or the wurst? The wurst! Geddit? Fair play is essential in taste tests like this, so we deducted the Jerries ten points for cheating at the 2010 World Cup. Ooooh, unlucky!

Country - Germany

Beer – Veltins Pilsener

ABV – 4.8%

Flavour – Classy! Clean, fresh, hint of autobahn with Trabant overtones. 7.5

Head – Thin and didn’t last long. Like Thomas Brolin at Leeds United, except he wasn’t thin. 1.5

Looks – Quite boring. 1.5

Better Than Fosters? Much. Y. 2

BSCF – Does a German bier go with sausages? Are you mad? Yes! 4

Do Flies Like It? 0

Punishment For Cheating At The World Cup: -10

Score – 11.3

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number 8

Greek alcohol. Ouzo. Retsina. But beer? Demis Roussos looked like he enjoyed a pint or two....

Country - Greece

Beer - Mythos

ABV – 4.7%

Flavour – Bitter, tangy, tart, rather good. As Socrates said “Get it down ya son!”. 7

Head – Crappos! 1

Looks – Nice moulded bottle. Good curves. Attractive, for a Greek. 4

Better Than Fosters? So much better. 2

BSCF – There’s a conflict here. Imagine your mouth is Cyprus, the beer is Greek, and the sausage is a hairy Turk. Not fab. 2

Do Flies Like It? 0

Score – 20.7

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Result

Belgium - 25.3

Italy - 22.6

Greece - 20.7

Holland - 20.0

Ethiopia - 18.0

Luxembourg - 17.8

France - 14.2

Germany - 11.3 (oooh, unlucky)

So, the best beer to drink with sausages remains the same - something brown and brewed in England. Failing that go for something strong and Belgian.

Which European Country Makes The Best Beer To Drink When You’re Eating Sausages Challenge - Part 3 of 4

2011-07-19T06:14:00.001+01:00

Number 5

Next up in the “Which European Country Makes The Best Beer To Drink When You’re Eating Sausages Challenge” is Ethiopia. Yes, I know....

Country - Ethiopia

Beer – St George Beer

ABV – 4.5%

Flavour – Hints of hop, but not enough going on. Quaffable. 5.5

Head – Weak, soon gone. 1

Looks – Gory death scene of dragon. Arabic writing. Good. 3

Better Than Fosters? Y 2

BSCF – Just average. Prob don’t go for a European imposter. (Not sure what we meant here). Do they have sausages in Ethiopia? 2

Do Flies Like It? 0

Score – 18.0

------------------------------------------------

Number 6

“Here Come The Belgians!” as Stuart Hall used to bellow on It’s A Knockout, all those years ago. I wonder if Eddie Waring liked a pint and a sausage?

Country - Belgium

Beer – Affligem Dubbel

ABV – 6.8%

Flavour - Smoky, heavy, intense, breathy, hardcore. 6.5

Head – Dark. Intimidating. Hung round like the hard kid outside the school disco. 4

Looks – Dark. Intimidating. Styx in a bottle. 4

Better Than Fosters? Oh damn Y. 2

BSCF – Doesn’t like sharing anything with anyone. It says “Grrr”. 2

Do Flies Like It? 0

Score – 25.3

Which European Country Makes The Best Beer To Drink When You’re Eating Sausages Challenge - Part 2 of 4

2011-07-18T06:12:00.000+01:00

Number 3

Can you name a beer from Italy, apart from Peroni? Can you? We worried whether the Italian lager would change sides halfway through the test and become a cider.

Country Italy

Beer – Birra Moretti

ABV – 4.6%

Flavour – 6.5

Head - 2

Looks – Cheesy. Manufactured Italian? BIIIIG glass on label, small bottle. Embossed bottle, nice. 3.5

Better Than Fosters? Y 2

BSCF – Good combination! 4

Do Flies Like It? 0

Score – 22.6

----------------------------------------------------------------

Number 4

The French are not well-known for their beer. Even their wines are being bettered by newcomers like Iceland, South Sudan, St Helena and Macclesfield. Bon chance!

Country - France

Beer – Kasteel Cru

ABV – 5.2%

Flavour – Harsh, snappy, but only for an instant. Then disappointed. 3

Head – Goood (sic), thick head. 3.5

Looks – Looks like a bottle of champers! “Cru” is like “Krug”. Stylish, like the French. 3.5

Better Than Fosters? No. -2

BSCF – Not good. Beer froths on impact. Potential vomit situation. 1

Do Flies Like It? 0

Score – 14.2

Which European Country Makes The Best Beer To Drink When You’re Eating Sausages Challenge - Part One Of Four

2011-07-17T18:48:00.000+01:00

Number – 1

First up was the Dutch entry. Surely a good benchmark for the entire field would be set?

Country - Holland

Beer – Lindeboom Pilsener

ABV - 5.0%

Flavour – Mild. Quaffable. Passive. 6

Head – Impressive when fecund, shrank quickly. 2

Looks – Green. Boom is Dutch for beer!! I want orange! 2.5

Better Than Fosters? Yes! 2

BSCF – 2.5

Do Flies Like It? 0

Score – 20.0

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number – 2

Ahhh, Luxembourg. Tiny place. Very wee indeed. Been there, wasn’t impressed. But how would their beer measure up?

Country – Luxembourg

Beer - Bofferding

ABV – 4.8%

Flavour – Tasted slightly flat. Sharp, tangy flavour, otherwise unremarkable. 5

Head - 0

Looks – Simple. Uncluttered. A little boring? 3

Better Than Fosters? Y 2

BSCF – Beer faded quickly. 3

Do Flies Like It? 0

Score – 17.8

Sausages And Beer Anyone?

2011-07-17T17:21:00.000+01:00

A question I am often asked is “What beer goes well with sausages?”

The obvious answer is a good quality English real ale. A marriage made in heaven, like Peter Andre and Jordan.

“But the supermarket’s sold out of Plume’s Old Knob! And there’s no Cockin’s Greasy Choirboy Light Ale left either!” Where do you go from there? Thinking laterally, sausages are a staple of the Great English Barbie, and what beer is handed out at 99.2% of barbies? Foster’s lager.

You’re now looking at plundering the European lager section for the perfect accompaniment for your bangers. And there you experience another conundrum....”Which European country makes the best beer to drink when you’re eating sausages?”

It’s a serious question. Hence the latest cutting edge investigation by the fearless Rate My Sausage team.

Welcome, gentlemen, to the “Which European Country Makes The Best Beer To Drink When You’re Eating Sausages Challenge”.

We invented an extremely complex and subjective scoring system, which we think fitted the nature of the debate. Beers were purchased from BEERS Of Europe, which is situated conveniently around the corner from Rate My Sausage HQ. Sausages were provided by Lynda Clark, who harvested them from some of the best butchers in Lincolnshire.

The scores are awarded in the following categories:

Alcohol By Volume: Does exactly what it says on the, errrm, bottle. Points awarded equate to the number on the label.

Flavour: We’re not complete heathens, so we chose to award a maximum of 10 points depending on how delicious the lager was.

Head: We all like good head, in a beer, so there are up to 5 points available, depending how long the head lasts.

Looks: Does the bottle look sexy? Inviting? Do you want to guzzle the contents? Up to 5 points for grabs.

Is It Better Than Fosters? It’s a simple question. Is the beer better than the default English barbie drink? 2 points if it is, -2 if it isn’t.

Beer/Sausage Compliment Factor (BSCF): Does the drink mix well with the sausage? No point buying it if it doesn’t! Up to 5 points on offer.

Do Flies Like It? Flies are pretty bloody disgusting creatures, we all agree. But they have a good nose for lager, and you often have to hoik them out of your pint. So, an extra point awarded for every fly that dives into the beer.

The draw for the order of tasting was made by landlord Ian of The Woolpack pub. Let battle commence!

Note: The comments are reproduced verbatim from notes made during the tasting. In vino veritas was our aim. Bold text indicates a comment made after the event.

Plumtree Farms - Pork Sausage

2011-07-13T19:25:00.000+01:00

“Plumtree Farms Sausages”. I spotted these little swines in the freezer of the local corner shop (Tennyson Stores, as a local shop for local people like me they are pretty good) and had to try them on behalf of Rate My Sausage. I’ve never heard of them before, have you? No, didn’t think so. I immediately assumed that Plumtree Farms is obviously a rustic-sounding nom de plume for some huge conglomerate to flog sub-standard crap to the masses. Was I right? Well....

Plumtree Sausages, according to the very lazily designed packaging, are “Produced in the UK by Tranfield of Cumbria, Liverpool Street, Hull, HU3 4HW”. Wow, three geographic locations in one address. I’ve never heard of Tranfield of Cumbria, have you? No, I didn’t think so.

Delving into the Internet in search of information, I eventually deduced that Tranfield of Cumbria is a...a....”part” of a much bigger organisation, namely Vion Food. I’ve never heard of Vion Food, etc, etc. Could Vion be the huge conglom that I suspected laid behind the Plumtree Farms brand name? The answer is a deafening “yes”.

Now, cast your mind back (or just click on the link on the right) to my less than enthusiastic review of Jimmy’s Sausages – Classic Pork. They were branded with a mugshot of Jimmy Doherty on the pack. I found them slightly underwhelming, and a Rate My Sausage regular agreed. Matt Cockin, the boss and founder of the wonderful Fruitpig Company, pondered thus, “This looks very much like a marketed sausage with Jimmy's name rather than a Jimmy sausage. His logo has changed and there's no "rare breed" which Jimmy is about. I'm guessing, but I'll go as far to say that they're not made at Jimmy's gaff and just carry his stamp.”

Now, there is no doubt that Matt’s surname, “Cockin”, is an Anglicised version of the French “coquin”, meaning “rascal”. And yes, he’s up for a bit of mischief for sure! But in this instance it seems he was bang on the money.

The next comment on that review came from Jimmy’s own, REAL company, and told us all “Indeed these sausages are not actually made at Jimmy's Farm.” Nice one Monsieur le Coquin. What’s the point of this Rate My Sausage nostalgia you may ask. Well, the point is this....

Starting with Plumtree Farms, passing through Tranfield of Cumbria (address in Hull), and ending up at the Vion Foods homepage, what should we find? None other than the very same mugshot of Jimmy Doherty that appears on the sausage packs. Jimmy’s own people were right – Vion have abducted his image to give their....errrm....”less well made” sausages an aura of quality.

Vion, you’ve been busted, dudes.

Of course, I hadn’t tried the sausages before I carried out my Deep Throat journalistic investigations. So, now they’re in the pan, I expect that they will come out cooked to perfection and be the master of the sausage universe. Or.....

Meat Content:

42%. But as we know already, when a sausage says 42%, that is certainly NOT 42% quality pork. What it means is that if these sausages were a sports programme they’d be Blandstand. If they were a film they’d Meatless In Seattle. I could go on.

Flavour:

What flavour? These are utterly, utterly tasteless. I had expected typical greasy spoon saltiness, but there wasn’t even that. I had very, very low expectations, but these bloody awful excuses for sausages didn’t even reach that high. These sausages didn’t make me feel ill. And that’s all I have to say about that.

Texture:

Mush. No discernible texture at all – cut them open, try to push the individual pieces of meat, fat, gristle, ANYTHING apart, but you just push against a knife-blade of vaguely meat-like porridge. Try cutting Readybrek and you’ll be close. You can see from the stripey appearance in the pictures that these are stuffed full of sugars, specifically included to make the surface turn...orange, in this case.

Shrinkage:

Average weight uncooked - 44g

Average weight cooked - 40g

Shrinkage - 10%

You lose one tenth of the rubbish that is pumped into these bangers. I wish it was more for once!

Value For Money:

£1.99, for ten sausages weighing 440g frozen - this works out as a price of £4.52 per kg, or 20p per snorker.

And that is 19p too much.

If you need some amusement, I implore you to visit the Vion Foods website here: http://www.vionfood.co.uk/

It’s written in corporate marketing nonsense-speak. For example, the main headings are “About Us”, “Core Activities”, “Media Centre”, “Taking Responsibility” and “Careers”. Not a single mention, or even a hint, of food. Not one.

Click on “Mission And Strategy” (always important in a sausage maker) and you find “VION wants to anticipate and fulfill customer and consumer needs with high-quality food and ingredients of an agricultural origin. VION wants to achieve this through a well-balanced and sustainable strategy. Passion for Better Food is VION’s motto. Healthy and safe products have to comply with the highest safety and quality standards.” Of an agricultural origin! Priceless! Where else would you find a bloody pig? And you’d think that a “safe” product went without saying?

On Plumtree Farms, “The Plumtree Farms’ brand offers great quality and outstanding value products to the foodservice sector, with its range including sausages (endorsed by the National Federation of Fish Fryers), lorne, meatballs and a Halal offering.”

Sausages endorsed by chip shop owners? Not because they’re cheap, and the punters can’t recognise the low quality once they’re fried in batter, surely?

The name Plumtree Farms nagged away at me. Made up or real? Some further investigation revealed this: http://www.snowbirdfoods.co.uk/news/supremo_celebrates_30_years.php

Oh no! It seems as if Plumtree did start out small and good, but saw pound signs and is now trading in crap. What a huge shame. Not for Rodney Masters, obv, who is now probably a millionaire. Does he worry that his carefully built reputation is now being used to peddle sub-standard sausages? Who knows.

All I do know, for an absolute certainty, is that these are the Very Worst Sausages it has ever been my misfortune to taste.

A H Butler - March - Pork Sausage

2011-07-06T06:36:00.001+01:00

So to the third and final butcher in the market town of March, Cambridgeshire. Previously…one good – very good, and one bad – oh so very, very bad. March’s entire sausage-reputation is in the hands of a shop called A H Butler, address 126 High Street. Don’t let your town down, Mister Butler….

The shop is currently run by a third generation Mister Butler – Martin Butler to be precise. A very genial, open chap who certainly knows his onions! His father was Harold, who ran the shop before Martin, and the original Butler of the shop-sign fame is Arthur Henry Butler. The pork sausage recipe that we’re trying in this review has remained unaltered since old Arthur Henry’s day.

Martin was most fascinated by the Rate My Sausage project. Slightly disarmingly, he told me “We had another one of your sort here a couple of years ago!” I enquired further of course, and discovered that the legendary Pork Pie News had purchased a pie there previously, no doubt to be written about in a Stephen Fry-esque manner, and judged to seven decimal places. It’s what they do, and it’s very entertaining, in a nerdy, but knowledgeable way (heck, who am I to accuse others of being nerdy about food? I measure sausage shrinkage To The Gram!). The Pork Pie News visitor was much more professionally equipped than me, with a tripod for the camera….and a proper camera with big pointy lens-things. Bloody elitists!

Anyway, back to the bangers. Just how did Arthur Henry’s third generation recipe fare?

Meat Content:

75%. It’s another “at least”. They taste very porky. Actually, VERY porky. Very impressed with these sausages, and I’d buy them again if I ever pass through March.

Flavour:

The seasoning is understated, but this is a very tasty sausage. It’s a shame for March that the two best butchers are not in the town centre, and the bloody awful Meat Market Sex Shop gets trade just from its location. If Butler’s or Betts’ moved in next door they would be out of business within a month. Butlers’ bangers have a light flavour that makes them a perfect part of your Sunday morning fry-up.

Texture:

Whereas the flavour is subtle, the texture is feisty, strong and challenging. And therefore rather blooming good. Coarse, crumbly, just how we likes ‘em. Delightfully held together, such that when you slice through you can see all the ingredients inside, and they seem to be inviting you to tuck in. Exceptional.

Shrinkage:

Average weight uncooked - 65g

Average weight cooked - 53g

Shrinkage - 19%

Less than 20% seems to be rather good this year.

Value For Money:

£2.12 for four sausages, weighing 259g - this works out as a price of £8.19 per kg, or 53p per snorker. Fifty three pence sounds expensive. Indeed, only two sausages have cost more so far in 2011. But you must balance cost against quality. So, on balance, I’d class Butler’s bangers as “good” value for money.

J D Spikings - Pork Sausage

2011-06-26T21:02:00.001+01:00

Upwell is a pretty, elongated village in Cambridgeshire. You’ll find Spikings’ butcher shop alongside the river that bisects the main street, in a lovely, quaint, idiosyncratic way. There’s parking aplenty outside, if you’re going to be there for just a few minutes. Otherwise you may offend the residents.

As you can see from the photo, we visited just before Wills tied the knot with Kate (wonder if they like sharing a sausage?). The shop was decorated decorously in an appropriate style. It looked fab, well done! It was a very happy shop full of charismatic local residents, with a brisk through trade of passing drivers as well. That can’t be a bad indicator that this place is doing something right. And my word, are Spikings hitting the right notes!

OK, they offer fabulous looking meat, at reasonable prices. I was quite surprised that such well butchered meat was on offer at their prices. I was also surprised to see a formidable and tempting range of local produce, ranging from honey, to licorice, to goose fat. And lots more quirky stuff. Honestly, you have to visit to have a look yourself!

Meat Content:
It’s subtle with these sausages, but sneaks up on you. This is a neat, sneaky trick – lots of meat, but you aren’t overpowered by it. Crafty. Good work with the pork.

Flavour:
This was a surprise. Where most sausages we try verge to the over-seasoned, these were different. Less salt, less pepper, but they taste.....they taste....delectable. Yummy. Fantastico. Spikings offer a light, tasty banger which may leave you wanting some more. I did.

Texture:
Absolutely fabulous texture! Rough cut ingredients lead to a splendidly fall-apart sausage. Bloody marvellous. They fall apart easily in the mouth but stick together quite well when sliced – but drop apart if cut too thin. A triumph of rough chopped pork. Butchers, do it chunky!

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 56g
Average weight cooked - 47g

Shrinkage - 16%

A good result for the Upwell royalists!

Value For Money:
£1.47 for four sausages, weighing 225g - this works out as a price of £6.53 per kg, or 37p per snorker. Considering the lovely quality of these bangers, this is good value for money.

Opening Hours:
M – Closed
T – 8.15 to 5.00
W – 8.15 to 5.00
T – 8.15 to 5.00
F – 8.15 to 5.00
S – 8.15 to 5.00
S - Closed

Riverway Foods - Cumberland Sausage

2011-06-14T05:58:00.003+01:00

Cumberland sausages are found wrapped in a lovely spiral shape right? Wrong! Riverway Foods, a yokelised name for some huge corporation (that I haven’t been able to name and shame....yet), offer their Cumberlands in flaccid, soggy, made-square-by-the-packing-and –transportatatin-process form. The coil shape is necessary because “proper” Cumberland sausages are made up to 65cm long, and NOT as shorter links, and the extra length demands the coiling as a space-saving storage method.

These bangers were on an incredible “less than half price” offer at Tesco, so I bought them and decided to carry out a little research into the subject of Cumberland sausages. Blaring out on the ether was the news that Cumberland sausages have been awarded Protected Geographical Indication status (CUMBERLAND ), and must therefore be produced inside Cumbria. Riverway Foods are based in Harlow. I emailed them to ask if they had a factory in the north-west, but haven’t received a reply....

According to the GPI status, a Cumberland sausage must contain 80% meat. These don’t.

Cumberland sausages are made with more pepper and a lot less herbs. The ingredients list for Riverway does list pepper, but also more herbs.

Cumberland sausages contain pork that is chopped, not minced. A quick look at the sliced pictures of Riverway’s attempt will tell you all you need to know.

So how do Riverway get away with such blatant disregard for EU law? Well, any product labelled as “Traditional Cumberland Sausage” must be made in Cumbria, contain at least 80% meat, and sold in a coil. Riverway sidestep the law by calling their – frankly awful – version “Cumberland Sausage, Traditionally Made”. It’s absolutely disgraceful that big conglomerates can continue taking the mickey out of proper, artisan sausage makers with a simple re-arrangement of words on the label.

Meat Content:
68% they say, so you kind of have to believe them. These bangers don’t taste meaty, they taste filler-y. I’ve now tried quite a lot of hand-made sausages with a meat content around 68%, and these are not similar.

Flavour:
Theses sausages are as Cumberland as Barbara Windsor. These are an average tasting, mass-produced tube of vaguely pork-flavoured....stuff. Very disappointing. Maybe Tesco over-ordered without their tasters even trying them, hence the cheap price?

Texture:
Nothing to write home about, this sausage is finely minced and did not impress. The casings are acceptable, the filling less so. Just my opinion of course. Not unpleasant, but not enjoyable either, in the slightest.

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 57g
Average weight cooked - 45g

Shrinkage - 21%

Uniquely in RMS’ experience, the packaging tells the consumer how much they can expect their sausages to shrink. This is a very good thing, well done! They state “2 sausages weigh 114g raw and 97g grilled”. We agree with the raw figure, but they’re – we’ll say “ambitious” – on the cooked stat. Maybe they retain more weight if grilled?

Value For Money:
£2.00 for twelve sausages, weighing 685g - this works out as a price of £2.92 per kg, or 17p per snorker. The pre-discount cost is shown as £4.39 (£6.41 per kg, 37p each), amazing! Frankly, £2.00 is too much for these low quality sausages, so how on earth they got away with charging full price I don’t know. Avoid, at any cost.

King Of The Bangers 2011 - It's Coming Home!

2011-06-10T07:10:00.004+01:00

King Of The Bangers 2011 must be close - it's reached the lower levels of the Woolpack A-boards!

Wednesday 6 July is the date, starting at six o'clock. There'll be sausages....

Whittakers - Blackburn Market - Pork Sausage

2011-06-07T05:02:00.004+01:00

I was in the north-west recently so took the opportunity to bring home some sausages. Would they be any different to those that can be found in my usual catchment area? As Harry Hill would say, there’s only one way to find out….fryyyyyyyyy! A little research had highlighted Blackburn market as the place to go, with a dozen butchers under one roof – but what a sad tale I found instead….

Blackburn market was due to close for good on 31st May, to be replaced with a bigger, shinier version elsewhere in the town. And in the run-down to the closure, I found that the great majority of stalls had already shut. Whether they will all be moving to the new place I don’t know, but it meant that the market had an oppressive, gloomy air of sadness throughout. It was easy to feel a little melancholy on the old place’s behalf, with the presence of all the people who have passed through its doors almost tangible. I took some photos of course, and the empty pitches and abandoned trolleys strike a gloomy note.

Whittakers have decided that they will be moving to the new market. And after trying their sausages, I’m glad that they are!

Meat Content:
67%? The label said “43% pork, 24% pork fat, 20% water, 10% rusk”. Which is absolutely the most honest labeling we’ve ever seen. Bravo Whittakers, you have put the entire English butchery community (well, those that we’ve visited) to shame. So, what was the meat like? Rather good actually, and I’m now looking forward to trying the other sausages collected in Blackburn.

Flavour:
Skillfully and thoughtfully seasoned. Splendidly tasty and somehow a little different from my usual East Anglian fare. I didn’t enjoy the very first mouthful, but they certainly gained favour with every extra forkful. Don’t eat too many as there’s a lot of saltiness going on which you don’t really notice for a while, but they are quite yummy. I’d certainly buy them again, but the 380 mile round trip is rather prohibitive.

Texture:
These are very small sausages....actually they’re more chipolata than sausage. Small, but the coarseness is here, just on a smaller scale, that’s all. The texture is perfectly acceptable, it’s very much like shrinking a full size, coarse banger down. And that’s a good trick that Whittakers have pulled off. I can imagine these appealing to the children in your family, and what they’d be getting is a proper, but miniaturized, Banger.

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 40g
Average weight cooked - 28g

Shrinkage - 29% - too high.

Value For Money:
£1.04 for six sausages, weighing 237g - this works out as a price of £4.38 per kg, or 17p per snorker. Well, how can you possibly argue with a price like that? Sure, they’re small-ish sausages, but they’re good ones too, and seventeen new pence is a complete bargain. If you think they’re too small, buy twice as many! Highly recommended, and superb value for money.

The Bisto Factor:
Wonderful. Extremely appetising! Good work Whittakers, you had me clock-watching until these sausages were ready….

The Rate My Sausage Butcher's Sausage Of The Year 2010

2011-06-03T08:21:00.000+01:00

The Gold Medal Winner in our Butchers category goes to the aptly named Champion Pork Sausage made by Papworth's in Swaffham.

"What an absolute result of a sausage! They were bloody delicious. Slicing into a Papworth’s Champion Pork Sausage released a delightfully “classic” aroma which really put the tastebuds onto Red Alert, and the flavour was……Well, the flavour was pretty close to perfection."

"When you consider the mid-range price of these sausages, add in the superb lack of shrinkage, then combine those factors with the wonderful flavours, these sausages are the Brawn GP of the banger world. More banger for your buck."

The Silver Medal is awarded to M&M Rutland's Traditional Pork Sausage: "The seasoning is spot-on, bringing the best out in the minced pork, boosting its flavour but not over-powering it. I was truly impressed with Rutlands’ “standard” pork sausage, one of the best that Rate My Sausage has tried so far."

The Bronze Medal goes to Edis of Ely's Premium Pork Sausage: "A first big hit of pepper quickly which fades then the palate is engulfed in a complex blend of other spices. These are big unfussy lumps of prime tastebud tantalising awesomeness."

Fourth place, and Mentioned In Despatches is claimed by C R Lake's Best Pork Sausage: "In a word – delicious. And more-ish. That’s two words, but never mind."

Powters's Newmarket Sausage

2011-05-31T04:58:00.003+01:00

Powter’s have a very good reputation in the world of sausages, and The Sausage King rates them very highly, check out his views here: SAUSAGE-KING

While you’re browsing, have a look at their own website, which is pretty informative: POWTERS

So these sausages come highly recommended – but would they stand the test of being boxed for the supermarket? Let’s find out:

Meat Content:
Meat here, for sure. Where it came from or which parts of the pig, no idea. There’s obviously more meat than Walls, and equally obviously less than Fruitpig. But, Powter’s Newmarkets are definitely porky. A good show for a pre-packed banger, claiming 70% on the box, and I think that’s about right.

Flavour:
The first taste confirmed it – “it’s a supermarket sausage”. As off the shelf sausages go they were quite good. The avoidance of a specific flavour as a selling point is good – what filling there is here doesn’t hide behind or become masked by “Guatamalan Mango Sap & Channel Island Cream Cheese”. Do you think supermarkets over-egg their sausage flavours to disguise the fact that they are not, actually, very good? These are somewhat over-seasoned, and don’t distance themselves from the greasy spoon varieties enough in my opinion.

Texture:
The skins were good, with a certain snappiness about them. I was wary of pulling one apart, fearing a mush-fest. But cutting one in half, then half again lengthways proved a triumph. There was no porridgey slop, just firm, albeit small-ish pieces of pork. Quite fine when chewed, which isn’t ideal for my own taste buds, but probably bang on message with their market research.

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 66g
Average weight cooked - 51g

Shrinkage - 23%

Value For Money:
£2.99 for six sausages, weighing 398g - this works out as a price of £7.51 per kg, or 50p per snorker.

One of the most expensive sausages we’ve found. In my opinion, definitely not worth the money. If you see them on special offer try them, otherwise give them a miss.

The Rate My Sausage Retail Sausage Of The Year 2010

2011-05-27T04:35:00.000+01:00

The Gold Medal for 2010 is awarded to The Fruitpig Company's Rare Breed Toulouse Sausage.

The only sausage that inspired us to poetry in 2010:

La saucisse Toulouse ici, c’est formidable!
Je l’aime, elle est incroyable!
Elle didn’t restez tres long sur ma table!
Magnifique.

We said of them: ". If this sausage was a Cluedo character they’d be Major Meatiness."

Well done Fruitpig Company!

The Silver Medal goes to The Fruitpig Company's Rare Breed Sausage, making it a one-two for Matt Cockin and his team. Of these bangers we said: "The rare breed pork meat shines through, and would produce fantastic bangers on its own, with nothing added. However, after you savour the sugar-sweet meat there is an after burn of spiciness, as mustard and pepper join hands and romp in spicy-coloured Doc Martin boots all over your taste buds."

The Bronze Medal for 2010 goes to Debbie & Andrew's Harrogate 97% Pork Sausages. "You’ll need a firm grip on your cutlery when you attack these, and make sure you’ve topped up your Dentigrip to keep your false teeth in place as you chew into these delightfully firm sausages."

And the fourth place "Mentioned In Despatches" goes to The Black Farmer Premium Pork Sausages: "If you prefer a chunky banger which brings a large amount of pork to the table, you’re in here. The initial meaty hit continues as you eat the sausage, the herbs and spices are subtle but work very, very well."

J H Betts - March - Pork Sausage

2011-05-24T05:35:00.007+01:00

J H Betts is the second sausage seller from the Cambridgeshire town of March that we’ve raided. The first was March Quality Meats, which left us feeling rather underwhelmed with the quality of its bangers. So it was up to Kevin and Denise Swann, the current proprietors, to fly the porcine flag for this small, quaint market town.

The recipe used for the sausages I bought – the plain Pork Sausages – has been unaltered since 1945 and currently only two people on Earth know it! An interesting fact for you – in that year there were more than thirty butchers in March, and now there are but three. Indeed, between Betts’ and the town centre – a distance of roughly half a mile – there were five more butchers. Different times we are living in eh? If you do visit Betts, try some of their dry cure bacon too, it’s fabulous.

Meat Content:
68%. A slightly low claim, to keep “The Man” happy I reckon. They don’t seem overly meaty when you tackle them, but when you’ve chewed through there are plenty of little pieces of pork in the mouth to confirm that Mister Pig is here. The meat is reared on Lincolnshire farms, slaughtered in Boston, and both pig and sow are used.

Flavour:Oooh you spicy little monkey! Peppery, savoury, delicious. I was hoping that the smaller sausages would give a different flavour (giving me a chance to criticise), but there was consistency of flavour throughout. Dammit, they dodged that bullet. These sausages are rather reminiscent of a Lincolnshire sausage, plenty of spice going on, backed up with premier league pork, no wonder there was an almost constant queue through the shop when I visited….

Such is the local reputation of J H Betts that a local pub uses their name to advertise its own food! The Coachmakers Arms is just around the corner, and very close to the centre of the town, and their A-board and other boards proudly shout out that they use Betts produce. How's about that for a recommendation?

Texture:
Good variation in shape and size. Splashed apart, these bangers defiantly offered up juicy, itsy bitsy morsels of sausagey splendidness. Superb! The natural casings are very evident. March really can offer a good sausage after all – why anybody of sound mind would eat the Quality Meats bangers when these are a ten minute walk away I can’t comprehend. These are thinnish, average length sausages, with a very good filling. Juicy, yielding, uplifting, utterly wonderful. Top marks!

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 54g
Average weight cooked - 46g

Shrinkage - 16%

Good stuff from Betts, a low figure in the shrink test pushes these bangers to the top of the league.

Value For Money:
£2.52 for eight sausages, weighing 434g - this works out as a price of £5.81 per kg, or 31p per snorker. Thirty one pee! These are quality sausages, and I’d gladly pay a lot more than 31p each, so I’m declaring that J H Betts’ pork sausages are FABULOUS value for money. Buy some today!

The Bisto Factor:
I walked into the kitchen and said, out loud, “Mmmmmmmm-mmmmmmmmmmm!”. The delicious aroma followed me back into the living room, and made the rest of the frying time an absolute agony. I noted down “If these buggers taste as good as they smell, they’re world beaters”.

USA Review 4 - Al Fresco - Apple Maple Chicken Sausage

2011-05-20T05:20:00.002+01:00

I discovered this sausage due to recent economic cutbacks at home after the $47 it took to fill the gas tank last week. Unless there is inclement weather, I'm not taking the car if the distance is two miles or less one way. After fastening my darling little sidekick in her jogging stroller, we took off through the neighborhood to walk/jog to the nearest grocery store, which happens to be Foodtown.

I wish I could send each and every one of you a sample of this sausage. The Bisto Factor/Sniff Test alone is worth every single penny. What a marvelous aroma, the scent of sausage and sweet maple coming from the pan. It just screams "Come hither and eat me up!"

These sausages are precooked, so just heat them up in the pan. They are also gluten-free and skinless.

Flavor:

Combo of sweet apples, rich sweet earthy maple syrup, and chicken. The meaty taste is almost non-existent compared to the sweetness. This is an extremely sweet sausage, it could almost pass for candy. If I was eating this blindfolded, I would think it was actually pancakes with syrup, aside from the texture factor. I ate each piece really slowly savoring all the deliciousness. Oddly enough, my daughter did not like these at all, even though she likes all the components that are in it.

Texture:

Soft, no crispness due to no skin.

Sniff Test:

On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 to the nth power, knockout aroma. I wish my kitchen always smelled like that.

Price:

$5.99 for a package of 7 skinny sausages weighing a total of 8 ounces. Pretty pricey. I think they are worth it for the quality for the occasional splurge. In this time of smaller grocery budgets, I wish the price was a little better so I could get these more often. If they go on sale, I will definitely grab a few packages.

Fatty Stats:

Each 32g link has 60 calories, 2.5g fat, 1g sat. fat, and 6g protein. Very healthy for the waistline.

Ingredients:

Skinless chicken meat, pure maple syrup, evaporated cane juice, dried apples (unsulfured), salt, lemon juice, spices. I really like it when all the ingredients are pronounceable and easily identifiable. Huge plus.

The company that makes this sausage has a nice website if you are interested http://www.alfrescoallnatural.com/FlavorsIntroNew.aspx

The other varieties look very interesting, but I certainly haven't seen such variety at the grocery store.

Prior's - West Lynn - Farmhouse Sausage

2011-05-17T04:46:00.002+01:00

When I came up with the idea of Rate My Sausage at the end of 2009 the plan was to compare King’s Lynn’s six proper butchers’ sausages with supermarket varieties. Pretty soon I found out that I’d already made my first mistake – Lynn actually has a seventh butcher – Prior’s of West Lynn. I’d assumed that the West Lynn outfit was part of the same group as the Prior’s on Lynn’s Saturday Market Place but I was wrong! There is a connection, but the West Lynn shop is very definitely individual, and the boss, Chris Prior, joked that maybe he should change the name to Chris’ Quality Meats to avoid confusion. Judging by the groans and raised eyebrows of the boys chopping up the meat, this won’t be happening anytime soon.

One thing I was “privy” to (the word is not chosen at random) was the smokehouse. Chris led me through the maze of rooms and prep areas and out into a small yard, which contained what looked like a tiny garden shed, or an outside loo. “The smokehouse must be round the side of that” I thought. I was wrong. It WAS the smokehouse (see pic near the bottom of the review). So I’ll call it quaint. The smell drifting out was absolutely mouth-watering though, and it’s no surprise that the bacon sides that are hung on that metal rail are gifted with such a rich flavour and aroma.

There’s a website for your perusal, just click here: http://www.priorsofwestlynn.co.uk/

What a hidden gem of a place! As well as meat you can find exceptional quality deli produce, a cheese-a-holic’s delight, pie-muncher’s perfection. Please click on the picture at the end of this refiew of their fabulous range of packs of meats, which are simply wonderful value for money, considering the quality of the produce. You can drive here if you want to, but I’d recommend using the Lynn Ferry service for an added element of fun when you visit – the shop is just around the corner from where the ferry docks.

Meat Content:
80%. I’ll say right here at the very start of this review, these sausages are good ‘uns, and one reason for that is that the meat is not “perfect”. You can really tell that these are made of chopped up Little Pig Robinson; whether by design or accident, there are plenty of imperfections in the minced pork. We Like That a lot. We rate the meat content as “great”, some sausage fans may not have such robust taste buds....

Flavour:
There’s a lightness to the flavour of these sausages, but that doesn’t equate to bland. Far from it. These are NOT March Quality Meats-style bangers. The pork is allowed to shine through in these rustic bangers, and there’s just a hint of something else there when the meat’s been swallowed. I can’t quite work out what it is, but suffice to say that it’s tasty!

Texture:
Densely packed, feisty, bolshy, no messing with these chaps. When pulled apart you can see the very roughly chopped pork with some fattier pieces – regular readers know we like it like this. There were a few quite large chunks of gristle, probably not to everyone’s liking. Rather exceptionally, these sausages bond together very closely considering the coarseness.

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 58g
Average weight cooked - 50g

Shrinkage - 13%

Praise the Lord Of The Sausage! A figure not between 23-25% at last. Lower shrinkage means more meat for your money, so well done Prior’s, good work!

Value For Money:
£1.38, for four sausages, weighing 231g - this works out as a price of £5.95 per kg, or 34p per snorker. I rate this as very good value for money, I liked these sausages a lot, and I really like the price.

The Bisto Factor:
Cooked on a miserable, grey morning, the tempting aroma of these sausages found its way out of the kitchen and really perked me up. It may do the same for you, try it!

Too Much Of A Coincidence?

2011-05-12T19:45:00.000+01:00

An amazing coincidence has happened.

This week I reviewed March Quality Meat's Cambridgeshire Gold sausage. Very unimpressed.

As the tabloids say, "an insider" told me that March Quality Meats are part of the same outfit that runs the Royal Blue Meat Company in Wisbech. Makes sense, as the two towns are so close.

I was equally unimpressed with Royal Blue's bangers. And amazingly, their review was published on 11 May last year, exactly one year before my tip-off., To The Day.

So, it seems that there's a link (geddit?) between the two poor sausage providers in the area.

Low quality sausages? I couldn't possibly comment. Are they the same sausage? Can't say. But they weigh exactly the same before you cook them. And I'll leave it to your judgement if you'd like to compare the photos.

Next week we're going to give the bloody awful Tesco a good kicking. Do keep reading....

March Quality Meats - March - Cambridgeshire Gold Sausage

2011-05-10T05:25:00.004+01:00

March Quality Meats seems to me to be a butcher version of Walmart. It’s located in the middle of the town, and the other two (more traditional) butchers are further out. You can buy meat here. Why bother going to the other, more traditional, butchers when you can buy here? “We do the same as they do”!

But they don’t.

My first impression of this shop was that it looks more like a sex shop than a place to buy quality meat. Just my opinion, of course. And I’ve been in a few, of both. The black and dark exterior does this shop no favours. I guess that the town centre location gives this place a high turnover of business.

Meat Content:
65%. I’ll have to take their word for it, but I reckon that figure is the absolute maximum – whereas a lot of butchers under-claim on their meat content to keep on the right side of the Food Inspectors, I guess these are spot on the mark. Funny casings that shrink and wrinkle as the sausages cool, nodding towards a hefty portion of dextrose, or sucrose, or some such. The photos seem to confirm my suspicions.

Flavour:
Not easy to describe. Quite salty, and not a lot else going on, according to my uneducated palate. Trying to think of something complimentary....”not the worst sausage I’ve ever eaten”. More likely to find its natural habitat in a seventies motorway services than a modern, eaterie. And won’t be found in my kitchen again.

Texture:
Fine, even consistency. When I tried to break it apart to see what is was made of there was no way to do so – as you press the flat of the knife down the filling just separates, like pushing a knife into mashed potato. This improved slightly with cooling. The casings are quite chewy, but not in a good way.

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 57g
Average weight cooked - 53g

Shrinkage - 7%

SEVEN percent shrinkage is a marvellous statistic for an otherwise disappointing banger.

Value For Money:
£1.27 for four sausages, weighing 228g - this works out as a price of £5.57 per kg, or 32p per snorker. The displayed price is £5.50. A cheap price, but not brilliant value for money – compare with the price of the Sargeant’s of the Prior’s, and re-read the reviews. Not my favourite sausage this year, and I’m still not convinced that the butchers shop isn’t a front for something rather more seedy.

The Butchers Shop - Swanton Morley - Pork Sausage

2011-05-03T05:11:00.002+01:00

The last time I visited the village of Swanton Morley in the middle of Norfolk was when I was a spritely and swift cross-country runner. The RAF Swanton Morley leg of the Norfolk league was never a favourite of mine, involving a long slog out around the perry track, a too-brief dash around some fields, then the same long slog around the airfield, in the opposite direction. So it was very interesting to re-visit the place some 20+ years later. The village itself, and the immediate surrounding area, are an absolute picture postcard, with waterfalls (yes, really), narrow, right-angled hump-back bridges and beautiful countryside, none of which I cared about all those years ago.

The picture of the shop will give you a flavour of the rest of the village, very scenic. And the reception in the shop matches too, friendly with a definite Norfolk accent. I’d really like to visit one of the Bangers & Mash Nights in the adjoining delicatessen restaurant some time too. They have a website where you can check them out for yourselves, just click here http://www.the-butchers-shop.co.uk/

These sausages were road tested in front of the Malaysian and Grand Prix, so please forgive any awful motor-racing puns....anyway, it’s “Go! Go! Go!” for the Swanton Morley sausages....

Meat Content:
The man in the white coat says 90% free range local pork is included here. I say “At least”. These bangers are either big (the smaller ones) or very big, which means there’s an awful lot of pork for your pounds. I reckon these are well above the average, meat-wise. Slightly vaguely, the pork is “free range local pork”, sorry I can’t give you more information than that.

Flavour:
Warm and homely, these should have the words “comfort food” running through them like a stick of rock. Beautifully seasoned and full of flavour, these sausages will really remind your taste buds of the good old days. The pepper is “maybe” the dominant flavour here, but not unpleasantly so. A podium place for Swanton Morley, among this year’s reviews so far.

Texture:
Taste more crumbly and bitty than they look, which is a plus point, and they pull apart quite easily to let you look under the bonnet. This set of four sausages are the most widely varying I’ve ever seen! From, maybe, 10 centimetres, up to nearly double that, this lot were great fun and look very quirky.

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 89g
Average weight cooked - 69g

Shrinkage - 23%

These are the biggest bangers of the year so far by some margin. And only one sausage from 2010 came anywhere close. The sight of these sausages in the pan will really rev up your appetite. Use big plates.

Value For Money:
£2.99/lb. Doesn’t mean much to me I’m afraid, so I’ll have to convert into modern. £2.33 for four sausages, weighing 354g - this works out as a price of £6.59 per kg, or 58p per snorker. Good VFM for a good sausage!

Perfick Pork - Great Ryburgh - Venison & Orange Sausage

2011-04-29T05:05:00.001+01:00

Venison. Nowadays this word applies only to deer meat used for culinary purposes. Back in the middle ages (think post-Norman Conquest) the word was used for most types of hunted meat, including swine, hares, and some goats (!) as well as deer. Did you know, when deer organs are used for meat they are known as “nombles”, which is believed to be the origin of the phrase “to eat humble pie”.

Enter stage left the Venison & Orange Sausages from Perfick Pork. These are, by simple elimination, not subject to Rate My Sausage’s search for the ultimate pork banger. But David Smith seriously rates them, and who am I to mistrust the maker of one of the best bangers of the year so far? Here I offer a pared down review of Perfick Pork’s Venison & Orange Sausages:

Meat Content:
Is there really anything in here but venison? Is the orange forgotten? These sausages are absolute anvils of meat. You could carve one of these with a chainsaw and make a decent bookcase. Big bad bruisers in a sausage skin, don’t take them on unless you’re prepared for a taste bud battering.

Flavour:
I’d never tried venison before, now I’m a fan. These venison and orange sausages taste imposing and bursting with hearty, hugely delicious flavour. Sure, they taste like they are probably rather bad news for the arteries, but so more-ish that you keep scoffing anyway. After the over-powering bombardment of meat, i.e. about fifteen minutes after you start to chew each slice, comes the sweet counter-balance of the orange. Good lord. These sausages are.....are....ruddy amazing. They’d probably score higher than anything else we’ve tried so far.

Texture:
Simply put, these could well be branches straight off the deer tree – dense, fabulous consistency. The juicy meat is cut large, just check the pictures. And lots of big “bits” provide a simply lovely mouthful of meaty near-perfection.

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 78g
Average weight cooked - 60g

Shrinkage - 23%

Value For Money:
£1.94, for four sausages weighing 312g - this works out as a price of £6.20 per kg, or 48p per snorker. I want more of these as soon as possible, and you must try them too....

P J Kew - East Rudham - Pork Sausage

2011-04-26T03:16:00.014+01:00

Sometimes we find a little sparkly jewel in our grey, drizzle-filled lives here in Old England. One such diamond is P J Kew’s butcher shop in the West Norfolk village of East Rudham, which you must visit if you’re a fan of all things traditional. There’s sawdust on the floor and meat hooks dangling from rails on the ceiling, it’s fabulous. Another absolute delight is the sixty-year-old, hand-cranked meat slicer, immaculately clean and demonstrated just for me. What a machine. Please bear with me, this may end up being the longest ever Rate My Sausage review, as there’s so much fascinating….stuff….which I feel is my duty to tell you….

When you do visit, which you will, seek out Richard Cross, the jolly, garrulous butcher in residence. Richard’s ever so friendly and is willing to talk about all aspects of his business, meat, sausages, you name it. He even allowed me to inspect a back freezer room, where he showed me the most bizarre looking hunks of pork I’ve ever clapped eyes on. The story goes that a local chap and his wife adore very fatty pork, so they rear their own pigs. Instead of slaughtering them at the standard “industry” age they let them grow, and grow….and grow, becoming fatter and fatter all the time. Richard then butchers the pigs for them, and some kind of quid pro quo arrangement occurs. The pork I was shown is unsellable according to Richard, due to the astounding amount of fat. Try to imagine a cross-section of one of the large gammon joints we like to prepare at Christmas time. The fatty layer around the edge is, maybe, one centimetre thick, maximum? On the joints Richard showed me, the fat layer counted for more than half of the diameter! Useless for bacon, useless for ham – unless you’re an eccentric fatty pork-loving couple in mid –Norfolk that is.

I was also filled in on the economics of the humble sausage skin. Kew’s used to use English skins way back in the day, but switched to Danish ones when the quality declined and cost started to rise. Unfortunately the majority of Danish sausage skins are now exported to China (does sausage consumption correlate with economic success?) so Richard has returned to English skins, which have fortunately improved considerably. Mind you, as the quality has gone up, so, further, has the price, and they are now costing £19 per bundle, as opposed to £9 previously. Quirkily, chipolata skins have remained at the same price through all this palaver - £12 a bundle. Who knew? The skins are supplied by HG Blakes of Costessey.

While I was sight-seeing in the shop a rather smart and well-spoken lady came in, and was asked “The usual?” Nothing remarkable about that of course, it must happen in every butcher’s in the country, all the time. What was unusual is that in this case “the usual” was 900 chipolata sausages, contained in several boxes! It turned out that the lady in question owns two nursery schools in the Earl’s Court/Chelsea area in London, and will only feed the little darlings sausages produced by Kew’s. They must be some kind of posh places if the owner fetches her bangers by hand from Norfolk each month, but it must be a tremendous recommendation for the sausages as well....

Surprisingly this tale of long-distance sausage transportation was immediately topped. Don’t tell ANYONE the following OK, promise? And don’t put it on the Internet. One of the diplomatic staff in the British Embassy in Colombia, a one-time inhabitant of Norfolk, adores Kew’s Pork & Apple bangers so much that he exports them by the bucket-load, in blatant contravention of International Rules. Not in his suitcase of course, nor sewn into the lining of his white linen suit, but inside his diplomatic bag – therefore immune to Customs examination. Makes you proud to be English! And if you’re ever wandering along Carrera 9 in beautiful downtown Bogota, just along from the Gimnasio Moderno, and you notice the aroma of frying sausages, you know exactly where they came from!

Meat Content:

Dammit, I didn’t ask. But, when I cooked these sausages, and ate them.....meatiness abounds. They look meaty and by gum they are meaty. A chainsaw would be as appropriate as a knife for tackling these porky doorstops, and they will satisfy any meat-eater out there.

Flavour:

Cor. Yes, “Cor”. You read it right. A sixties, Famous Five word for a sausage that you could well imagine Julian, Ann, Dick, George and Timmy the dog tucking into….”Hoorah!” These are properly tasty bangers reminiscent of the good old days, and suit the shop they’re made in perfectly. Light and sweet-tasting, I really enjoyed the authentic flavour of these sausages, which are not over-burdened with fancy ingredients.

Texture:

Lumpy. Bumpy. Fantastic! Firm in places, mostly crumbly in others, but utterly superb. These sausages are manly in uncooked form (average length 18cm, that’s about normal, right?), and stiffen up when fried – some of the biggest bangers we’ve encountered. Big on size and big scorers for texture too, they feel coarser in the mouth than the sliced photo suggests – the six slices picture offers a better impression. Bloomin’ lovely.

Shrinkage:

Average weight uncooked - 82g
Average weight cooked - 53g

Shrinkage - 35%

Really disappointing. That’s all I have to say about that.

Value For Money:

£3.79 for six sausages, weighing 492g - this works out as a price of £7.70 per kg, or 63p per snorker.

These are very tasty, well-built sausages, but they do shrink too much. But, just for the sheer joy of visiting this superb little shop in East Rudham, I suggest you go there and buy some post haste!

Pork Is Still Worth It!

2011-04-23T08:14:00.003+01:00

We'd like to ask you to add your weight to the campaign to persuade the big supermarket chains to pay a reasonable price to our nation's pig farmers.

Our farmers are losing £20 for every pig they produce, yet at the same time the supermarkets are posting record annual profits - £5 Billion profit for Tesco last year!

So please add your voice to the Pigs Are Still Worth It campaign:

http://www.pigsarestillworthit.co.uk/register.asp

Perfick Pork - Great Ryburgh - Perfick Classic Pork Sausage

2011-04-19T04:55:00.014+01:00

What a lovely warm welcome you get when you visit Perfick Pork! Just over the bridge on the right hand side, on the way into the long Norfolk village of Great Ryburgh you’ll find Bridge Stables. Remember, it’s immediately after the bridge!

David Smith is in charge, and was behind the counter when I visited. Wow, how enthusiastic can a man be about his work?! This enthusiasm seems to have been distilled into the business – the premises are very smart and exceptionally clean-looking. The displays of meat tempt you to say “I’ll have one of everything” (what a feast THAT would be). Even the staff uniform is smart, understated, and implies professionalism and high standards. Would their product live up to the surroundings?

We’ll see – after a little more information about Perfick. In a relatively short time this company has won impressive orders at some of Norfolk’s most prestigious destinations, including The HOSTE Arms at Burnham Market (Nelson’s birthplace), BLAKENEY Hotel at, well, Blakeney and BYFORDS at Holt. Impressive stuff, as this calibre of establishment doesn’t give house-space to mediocre food. And the public have been giving Perfick a vote of confidence too, buying over ONE TONNE of sausages every week! If you’re not close enough to visit in person, order from their website - PERFICK_PORK You will also be able to find the Perfick Pork stand at all the major agricultural and craft shows in the east of England.

And so to the sausages:

Meat Content:

These bangers taste Very Piggy. Perfick tell us that there’s 85% pork in every sausage – Duroc pork reared on their very own farm at nearby Binham. Sweet-flavoured, mild, proudly-British (despite the name) pork, there’s nothing to criticise in the choice of meat, it’s a knockout taste.

Flavour:

The strong peppery aroma from frying doesn’t dominate the taste. Far from it. These sausages offer a very, VERY well balanced breakfast banger. Some pepper is here though, as part of a great seasoning, and a full herby flavour fills the mouth and cuddles your taste buds. I never read any online description of bangers before I try them, in case my own observations are skewed by them – after enjoying the abundant herby-ness present here I find that there are eight different herbs within, rosemary, thyme, sage and ginger included. Altogether delectable.

Texture:

These felt solid when they were uncooked. They assumed extra solidity during frying. And they taste deliciously juicy and slightly fruity? The casings crackle dramatically when cut and when chewed, and do a great job of keeping the just right amount of moist juiciness inside. Middle of the range coarseness in the filling helps these sausages to an above average texture. Bloody marvellous bangers.

Shrinkage:

Average weight uncooked - 64g

Average weight cooked - 50g

Shrinkage - 22%

That’s the lowest figure of 2011 so far. However, that’s not a particularly praiseworthy statistic, as shrinkage has been, on average, much higher than through 2010. Not too bad though, I guess, “the best this year ” still sounds pretty good.

Value For Money:

£2.36 for six sausages, weighing 381g - this works out as a price of £6.20 per kg, or 39p per snorker. Although I have to admit that RMS paid....a little.....less than the going rate. But look. Seriously. Thirty nine New English pennies for each of these lovely sausages? That, dear reader, is an absolute bargain by any standards.

The Bisto Factor:

Ahhhh, Pepper! You can smell a delicious peppery aroma from these chaps while they’re frying. I was surprised by this, but “Wow”, they smell lovely while they’re in the pan, and you can hardly wait to see how they taste.

Through A Child’s Eyes:

My seven-year-old sidekick wasn’t around when I tried these, but we went looking for the Perfick Pork stand at the Sandringham Spring Craft Fair the week after, and he LOVED them. So much so that, after trying two slices of sausage on the first visit to the stand, he pestered me to go back so he could have another. Indulgently, Julie and David played along and cheerfully offered their wares. Now that, from 7-y-o Sidekick, is pretty much a royal endorsement. I expect Perfick Pork will place an appropriate plaque over their door immediately.

King's of King's Lynn - Pork & Spring Onion Sausage

2011-04-12T05:00:00.009+01:00

As a starter for ten, King’s of Wisbech Road, make the best pork pies in King’s Lynn (in the opinion of me and Old Bob), and probably for miles around. Absolutely flipping delicious. Buy one tomorrow. But how are they at making sausages?

Last week we reviewed a retail pork and spring onion sausage. This week we review the same variety, but made by a proper butcher. Coincidence? No! We don’t just throw this stuff together you know. I should tell you a little about King’s before we rate their sausage.

King’s are located on Wisbech Road in South Lynn. If you know where the post office is, you’re in the right place. This shop doesn’t just sell meat though, oh no, at King’s you can also buy all your fruit and veg, all sourced from Very local farms. The vegetables are lovely and “real”, not all the same size and shape, but varied, just how they should be. This is a great local shop that I wish was a mile closer to where I live. The staff are really pleasant too and always ready for a chat over the chops.

And so to the sausages:

Meat Content:

These are firm and chunky. They morph from floppy uncooked tubes of meat to solid, stocky, pit-bulls of pork. Although there seems to be little fat or gristle or other undesirable stuff here, the proper pork dominates. Mind you, I am not averse to a few rogue bits and pieces in my bangers, I think it all adds to the whole “proper” sausage experience.

Flavour:

A warm initial flavour. Sage, salt, pepper, all as you’d imagine and expect. The background heat endures as you chew through each mouthful. I was hoping for the spring onion to come through quite strongly, but it didn’t really happen – there was a hint, but that’s all. Having said that they taste like a Good quality, hand-made pork sausage, miles better than your supermarket stuff.

Texture:
King’s sausages are very firm, and actually quite tough to push apart with the fork – this is a good thing. They are solid to cut but they fall apart in the mouth in a luscious chunky avalanche of chopped pork morsels. A very high score for a very well put together banger.

Shrinkage:

Average weight uncooked - 70g

Average weight cooked - 53g

Shrinkage - 24%

Par for the course in 2011.

Value For Money:

Errm…..right. I have mislaid the pricing information for King’s. Sorry.

The Sausage King Goes Undercover....

2011-04-08T05:28:00.000+01:00

We have to tell you some shocking news....Stephen Plume, aka "The Sausage King", has used the word "shrinkage"!

The man's a sausage maverick, roaming the country in search of sausagey perfection. A bit like us. But where The Sausage King is better than us is that he isn't an anorak. He's not a nerd. His "thang" is exciting, and dynamic. He is Brazil, to our Sweden.

Enough of that old squit, Stephen's been undercover in one of our upcoming target towns, the cheeky sod. He beat us to Bungay, and you can find his most excellent findings here: http://sausagefans.co.uk/undercover-in-bungay/

Saints & Scholars - Pork & Spring Onion Sausage

2011-04-05T05:30:00.013+01:00

Saints & Scholars. That’s a brand name I’ve never heard of....but I spotted these sausages in the supermarket and felt obliged to try them out on behalf of mankind. Retail sausages, from Ireland, have a very bad reputation here at Rate My Sausage. Think Richmond’s. Bloody awful. ThinkPorkinson’s. Almost as bad as Richmond’s, but pretending to be something so much better. Therefore, even worse. So Saints & Scholars have a heck of a task to redress the balance. Can Ireland actually produce a good quality, mass-produced banger?

They’re made by Doherty and Grey. Never heard of this Irish company. Would they be another Kerry Foods? See what you think, visit their website: http://www.dohertygray.com/dohertygray.htm

Sadly the part of the site dedicated to the sausages offers no information about the different varieties apart from a photo of the pack. Is there something to hide? I don’t know. Forgive them their abundant grammatical mistakes. At the bottom of the pages is the legend “Designed by Frank” – Spencer by the look of it. All this aside, how did their sausages rate? Let’s find out:

Meat Content:

80% on the pack. There’s meat here, for sure. But they don’t taste “meaty”. Maybe it’s down to the size and shape? Chipolata-ish, these sausages offer some resistance, but not too much. Is there really 80% pork, as claimed? I guess there must be this amount of pig, to keep the lawyers onside, but what part of the pig? If Saints & Scholars follow the Kerry Foods path, not the best bits. 80%? *raised eyebrows*

Flavour:

Not unpleasant. A decent-ish tasting banger, but it’s difficult to spot the spring onion. There’s a tang. There’s a smack. But there isn’t an obvious spring onion-ness. These long bangers are, in our opinion, more to a child’s liking than an adult’s. But that’s not a bad claim.

Texture:

Not too bad. These are definitely not on the disgusting level of, say, Richmond’s or Wall’s. There’s more substance than your average cheap supermarket sausage. But not much. Have a look at the slices. There’s not a great deal of difference in any of them, which is a shame. .

Shrinkage: . Average weight uncooked - 67g . Average weight cooked - 46g . Shrinkage - 31% . These are hefty at the weigh in, and are very long, somewhat thin sausages. Think halfway between chipolata and banger and you’re there. Losing 31% of what you pay for is, however you try to dress it up, unacceptable. Value For Money: £2.29 for six sausages, weighing 402g - this works out as a price of £5.70 per kg, or 38p per snorker. This was a special offer, the regular price is £2.49 for the pack of six. These are too expensive, even at the reduced price. Nowhere near worth the money. Go to your local butcher and buy six proper sausages for roughly the same money

Terry's of East Dereham - Pork Sausage

2011-03-29T05:02:00.011+01:00

Terry’s Butchers can be found in a small shopping precinct in East Dereham. You can find them if you locate yourself in the market place, put the cinema to your right, and then head out along High Street. On the left is Nelson Place, and the red and white striped awning marks Terry’s. I found Terry’s full of customers, with more outside (see photo). Surely a good sign. Either they have the absolutely perfect location for passing trade, or they’re doing something right with their produce.

Coincidentally, a few days after I visited Dereham, Sophie from Eat Out Norfolk (http://www.eatoutnorfolk.co.uk/) got in touch, with a recommendation for Terry’s; “the butchers in Dereham town centre (opposite Superdrug in the little precinct) does a pack of sausages (about 10) for £5.99 - everyone comments on the quality of the sausages when we have a BBQ or bangers and mash - and everyone is surprised where we got them from too...” Just to qualify this, Sophie wasn’t writing a free advert, but furnishing me with a few tips for sausages that we should try out.

Meat Content:
Not displayed. Is East Dereham a bastion of porcine non-conformism? Both the butchers we visited did not display the meat content, which they really should. There’s sweet meat in these bangers, undoubtedly, but how much? I can’t tell you.

Flavour:
Salty. Very well seasoned. These bangers remind me of a B&B breakfast banger, but supercharged. Obviously plenty of pork here, it certainly doesn’t seem to be scrimped on. These sausages were tasty, to me, in an “I shouldn’t find this tasty” way. Not unpleasant, not brilliant. An average sausage, to my tastebuds, but don’t take my word for it, give them a go for yourself.

Texture:
Rather too fine for my taste. The skins crisped up exceptionally well though, to give that satisfying “breaking through” feeling when you cut into them. I prefer a chewier sausage, sorry.

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 57g
Average weight cooked - 43g

Shrinkage - 25%

25% again. Surprising. Has there been a government ruling recently, stating that all sausages must shrink by exactly 25%? It can’t have been a European parliament directive, because these Dereham butchers would not take any notice.

Value For Money:
£1.35 for four sausages, weighing 227g - this works out as a price of £5.95 per kg, or 34p per snorker. And that’s good VFM.

The Bisto Factor:
These were fried after a long, arduous, depressing Monday at work. When I arrived home I was utterly un-enthused, but the inviting, delicious aroma from the kitchen really lifted my mood up. Sausages as homeopathic anti-depressants? I’m in favour, these bangers smell good!

And Finally:
East Dereham is a hotbed of support for Norwich City. The veg in the “cooked” picture is an homage to the Canaries. But I doubt Delia would approve of Aunt Bessie’s croquettes.

A Classic

2011-03-25T12:24:00.003Z

A volcanic island of mash, baked bean lava, sausagey standing stones, in an ocean of onion gravy. That's not just bangers and mash, that's Rate My Sausage bangers and mash....

Sycamore Farm - Pork & Leek Sausage

2011-03-22T04:02:00.005Z

Did you know, we spent the whole of 2010 trying sausages, and didn’t eat a single pork & leek variety! That’s odd, as a lot of butchers offer this as one of their staples, and it’s a regular tray-mate to the traditional pork bangers in the cold counter displays. So, straight off, Sycamore Farm has produced the best pork and apple sausage we’ve ever tried. But that’s a hollow title, let’s try them properly.

I found the Sycamore Farm stall at the East Dereham Farmers’ Market, the weekend before last. They are there every second Saturday of every month, so please make a point of going along, introducing yourself, tell them that Rate My Sausage sent you, and you’ll get 50p off your first sausage purchase!

They’re developing a website here: http://www.sycamorefarmshop.co.uk/

So, would my happy, accidental arrival in the Dereham farmers’ market yield a good banger? There’s only one way to find out:

Meat Content:

65%. Minimum, the label says. These bangers felt very firm and butch as I was cooking them, which may suggest there’s more than the stated percentage of pig here. They taste meaty too. Good stuff.

Flavour:

Being the first pork and leek, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The flavour is actually rather more-ish, but I can’t decide why. The pork flavour is....nice. It’s nice. It’s balanced by a veggie roundness, which must be the leek. Not what I was expecting, but it works well, and the flavour is....good. It’s nice, I like it. Pork & leek works, obviously, which is probably why it’s such a common sausage variety. Flavour rating for Sycamore Farm – good! Sweet and addictive.

Texture:

Very solid. These sausages are packed full of the ingredients. The casing doesn’t crisp a lot, which may disappoint some people. Juicy and yielding, perfectly squidgy, no hint of dryness. When spread apart, the insides stick together affectionately, and don’t scatter like shrapnel. My personal preference is for a rougher chop, but these are – pretty good.

Shrinkage:

Average weight uncooked - 59g
Average weight cooked - 44g

Shrinkage - 25%

Fairly high. There’s a pattern emerging in 2011.

Value For Money:

£2.83 for eight sausages, weighing 469g - this works out as a price of £6.03 per kg, or 35p per snorker. For a mere thirty five pence apiece you’re on a winner here, I heartily recommend you try some as soon as possible!

The Bisto Factor:

Ahhhh....when I opened this pack, there was a delicious, appetite-whetting whiff. When they were cooking, flipping heck, I wanted them to be ready to eat RIGHT NOW. They smell good. Very good. In fact, if you’re trying to sell your house and have viewers due round, don’t bother brewing coffee or making bread to woo their olfactory subconscious selves, just fry some Sycamore Farm bangers!

Through A Child’s Eyes:

Junior sidekick was not present. But we did talk on the phone while the sausages were cooking, and when I told him that I was frying some delicious smelling and looking sausages he asked if he could have some too. So take that as a plus vote, by proxy. Rather like the old-fashioned way of voting on Eurovision. “Did you say ‘Douze points pour la norweige?’ ‘No, I said my lederhosen are ablaze and it’s scorching my sudetenland.’

USA Review 3 - World Class International - Chicken Luganega

2011-03-19T05:01:00.002Z

Yes, last time I promised a new report with sausage for Jambalaya. I had a setback buying the sausage that I wanted to use. My optimal choice was organic free-range Turkey Andouille, no casing. They were available at my local health food store a month ago, but as of last week, they had been replaced by yet more Italian sausage. This is most likely due to the Holidays. The owner was not there, so I wasn't able to ascertain when the Andouille would be back in stock. The research continues on the Andouille subject.

Meanwhile, the following sausage was bought from the regular mega-market grocery store chain.

Chicken Luganega

It took me a few tries to pronounce this sausage, because on the package it is spelled Lauganega. After consulting some recipes, it's my opinion that the proper spelling is Luganega. This kind of sausage hails from Northern Italy, however, it is normally made from pork. It is a rope of 1/2 inch diameter. One definitely needs tongs to turn this over in the pan or else it gets away from you. I had to improvise and use two spatulas because my tongs were in the dishwasher. Note to the wise, get a second pair of tongs instead of trying to wrangle it with two spatulas.

Ingredients: Chicken Breast Trimmings, Chicken Thighs, Sea Salt, Raw Sugar, Spices, Spice Extractives, Sheep casing.

What is a spice extractive as opposed to a spice? Is it a more concentrated form of spice or just a spice substitute?

Source: Distributed by World Class International Kitchens, Linden, NJ. I would like to know where the meat came from though.

Fatty Stats: 35mg cholesterol per link but it says link sizes vary, 310mg sodium, 11g fat, 3.5g saturated fat. No oil for the pan, no cooking spray, and not that much fat came out of it.

Price: $3.99 per pound, I had 12oz. so $2.99 for me. This lasted 3 meals so that would be about $1 per meal. Much tastier and healthier than anything on the dollar menu at your local fast food drive-thru. This is an important factor when trying to break the take-out/fast food habit. Although on the downside, the 2nd and 3rd meal were a bit drier and slightly less tasty.

Sniff Test (aka Bisto factor): My whole house smelled absolutely wonderful with this in the cast iron grill pan. Rich, succulent, comforting. I wish I could send the scent through your screens! I wish I knew for sure what spices were in there, the aroma was marvellous. I imagine the aroma would be even better on a charcoal grill.

Taste: Tastes excellent. Just exactly the right balance of spice, juiciness, aroma, and texture for a chicken sausage. The taste buds detected fennel, rosemary, garlic, black pepper, parsley. I would say this is more of a lunch sausage because it's a thin sausage and seems like it would be nice with a salad. It's got a lightness to it, satisfying, but not hearty in the sense of usual fatter sausages.

I would definitely eat this again if I really wanted sausage and organic alternatives were not available.

S Barnetson's of East Dereham - Pork Sausage

2011-03-15T04:36:00.007Z

And so we travel to East Dereham - so far untouched by the Rate My Sausage frying pan. I visited on a Saturday, and found a farmers’ market underway. But the first Dereham banger to be taste-tested is the Pork Sausage from a nice little butchery called S Barnetson, which you can find on Norwich Street.

Meat Content:

This is not shown on price labels, tut tut. The sausages taste “quite” meat-filled and the pork here is sweetly flavoursome, but I can’t give you the correct figure as it just wasn’t shown (that’s not strictly legal, chaps). There’s no sense of being clubbed with a log of pig, as you experience with some other sausages, but equally and importantly, these chaps definitely deserve the label of “pork sausages”.

Flavour:

Homely. Warm. Cosy. Unchallenging, nice, pleasant enough, this is a Tim Henman of a banger. I doubt you’ll be disappointed but I’m not sure you’ll be raving about them either.

Texture:

Just dry enough to crumble quite well when sliced. The pork is minced quite roughly, just the way I like it! There are pieces of fat clearly visible in the sausage – this is not a bad thing, and made frying good fun – two squirts of escaping goodness nearly cleared the rim of the pan. Quite irregular in shape before cooking, and ended up in a variety of sizes and forms afterwards – as we’ve said before, we wish we had included this as an extra points-winner. Nice work.

Shrinkage:

Average weight uncooked - 52g
Average weight cooked - 40g

Shrinkage - 23%

It’s quite high. But it added fun to the frying.

Value For Money:

Barnetson’s sausage price labels were solely in a foreign language to me – Imperial measures. How old fashioned! Not to say illegal (second count, please be careful chaps). Maybe £2.99 per lb means something to you? But for me it was not a helpful way to display the cost, and I’d have to spend some mental energy converting that into an approximate figure in metric that actually means something to me. With time, and a calculator:

£1.37 for four sausages weighing 207g - this works out as a price of £6.58 per kg, or 34p per snorker.

Fair value for money.

J W Sargeant's of Stowbridge - Regular Pork Sausage

2011-02-01T06:23:00.012Z

During the last twelve months I’ve spoke to many people on the subject of sausages. Quite often they will tell me where they purchase their own favourites from, and always with the qualification “They’re the best you can get.” Well, as we know, it’s such a subjective decision, and seems to me to usually be based on geography (i.e. the nearest butcher to where people live) than any comparison process. One name came up three or four times though – Sargeant’s of Stowbridge, so 2011 is starting with a test of their Regular Pork sausage.

My visit to Stowbridge last Saturday morning was in fact third time lucky. I’ve called by twice previously, but always when I’ve been in a rush to meet a deadline somewhere else, and been deterred by the lengthy queue each time. This butcher is evidently a very popular one, which is surely a promising sign. This time I arrived early – and the place was still busy, even at half past eight!

So how would the oft-recommended Sargeant’s sausages rate?

Meat Content:
“Approximately 90%” was the figure quoted. I’d believe that. The Sargeant’s stand proudly and firmly upright when sliced into six, which did surprise me a little as the slices were thin due to the shorter-than-average size of the sausage. The pork is reared on two village farms and Sargeant’s carry out the slaughter in the shop, so if you’re looking to reduce your food miles and support the local farmers this is your place!

Flavour:
The pork meat is delicate, light, sweet, one of the sweetest tasting sausages reviewed. There’s perfect seasoning here, nothing too strong or over-powering going on, which means that the lovely pork is allowed to provide the lion’s part of the taste. Delicious.

Texture:
Coarse and crumbly, and therefore (in my opinion) the mutt’s! Good sizzlers, decent amounts of fat expanded under the skin and squirted through during cooking. Sargeant’s Regular Pork sausages are very “break-up-able” when you put some pressure on the knife but otherwise stick together beautifully. Coarsely minced, well bound, just the way I like ‘em.

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 68g
Average weight cooked - 51g

Shrinkage - 25%

Not a great figure, but it’s the only slightly negative aspect of these sausages. That fat that produces the pleasing sizzle is to blame.

Value For Money:
£2.67 for 8 sausages weighing 542g - this works out as a price of £4.92 per kg, or 33p per snorker. This is a terrific, cheap price for some high quality bangers. BUY SOME IMMEDIATELY!

Old Bob’s Pack-Up:
A new, and probably irregular category for Rate My Sausage, wherein we give two sausages to Old Bob for his sandwiches the next day, and report his reaction. Which was “Cor yeah, bloody lovely.”

The Great Rate My Sausage Giveaway!

2010-12-09T05:59:00.000Z

Greetings Sausage Fans, and welcome to the first ever Rate My Sausage prize competition! Thanks to the chaps at CSN Stores we’ve got £30-worth of FREE STUFF to give away. CSN Stores have great online household goods websites where you can find everything from bedroom furniture to kitchenware to lighting (no sausages though), check them out! Links to their sites can be found at the end of this post.

Here at RMS we are planning to publish a series of interviews with the great and the good, obviously with a strong sausage-y theme. But what should we ask?

To be in with a chance of winning the £30 voucher (which can be spent at any of the CSN Stores websites) all you have to do is come up with one excellent question to be included in our interviews. Funny, personal, saucy, it’s completely up to you....

Email your entry to sausage-blog@live.com

The closing date for this competition is noon on Friday, the 17th of December 2010. The winner will be picked at random. Only one entry from any one email address!

Good luck!

http://www.csnstores.co.uk/
http://www.allmodern.co.uk/
http://www.cookwarebycsn.co.uk/
http://www.furniturebycsn.co.uk/
http://www.lightingbycsn.co.uk/
http://www.tvstands.co.uk/

M&M Rutland of Melton Constable - Pea & Pesto Sausage

2010-11-30T04:50:00.010Z

“Pea and pesto sausages? Nah. That won’t work.” Thus spake Old Bob in The Woolpack two weekends ago. He likes his food does Old Bob, and he’s very well travelled, eating the local grub wherever he’s been. And he knows a lot about food, Old Bob. He never misses Ready Steady Cook neither. The man’s a walking (well, more…..shuffling) culinary encyclopedia. I wondered whether his prediction about M&M Rutland’s Pea & Pesto creations would hold water.

Thinking about it rationally, there does seem – to me – to be a particular risk in this combination of ingredients. Adding herbs to pork is standard practice for producing a good sausage. The word pesto is derived from the Italian verb “pestare”, meaning to crush or grind (and is thus the source of the English word pestle, used to pound herbs in the mortar). Combine ground-up herbs, a little olive oil, maybe a tomato or a bit of a pepper? How could that spoil a sausage? Surely it could not. But peas? They’re traditionally a companion in the cooking pot with lamb, not pork. “Lamb and PEAS” Vic Reeves used to bellow. So how would this banger “pan out” (geddit?).

Meat Content:
92%. Like many flavoured sausages the meat really acts as the supporting act to the other ingredients, nice in itself but not the main focus. As mentioned in their previous review, Rutland’s pork is very tasty indeed. Thus, the minor partner in this ensemble is a star performer in its own right. These bangers are meaty enough to satisfy any self-respecting carnivore’s needs.

Flavour:
This sausage “looks pea, tastes porky pesto”. I don’t know how that’s done but it’s a neat trick. Sweet is the word here – the locally-reared pork is sweet and the pesto flavour adds to that sweetness, this really is one sweet banger. There’s a mild tomato-ey-ness going on too, thanks to the pesto I suppose. I really must ask the Rutlands what’s in their pesto. The Pea & Pesto bangers start off fairly small, and go on to shrink to little imperfectly-formed bombs of flavour.

Texture:
In a word, lovely! If you crush a slice under the knife it doesn’t spread like marge (no offence Homer) in the way that some mass produced abominations we’ve tested would, but breaks apart, reluctantly. The six slice test was not easy due to the diminutive dimensions (supplementary information alert – diminutive and dimension are not borne of the same root, after all, a dimension may be large as well as small. Diminutive shares ancestry with “diminish”, their predecessor being the Latin verb “deminuere”. Sausages AND etymology, you lucky people). This is a solid, firm and pleasingly resisting sausage.

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 52g
Average weight cooked - 41g

Shrinkage - 21%

As mentioned in “Flavour”, these do shrink, but that seems to gather the tastes and tones tighter together.

Value For Money:

£2.53 for 4 sausages weighing 207g. Mind you, as I am such a highly-respected sausage commentator (no sniggering at the back!) I kind of got “mates rates”. The retail price of these sausages is £10.83 per kg = 63p per snorker.

And Finally Esther:
Enjoyable, different, well put together. Tasty! I can’t really pretend that the Pea & Pesto is a contender for Best Banger In The World, but it’s an unusual and surprising and thoroughly enjoyable type of sausage. Was Old Bob right or wrong? I have my opinion, but I’m keeping it to myself. Get yourself to Melton Constable, buy some, and decide for yourself!

USA Review 2 - Shady Brook Farms Hot Lean Italian Turkey Sausage

2010-11-27T12:34:00.011Z

Tonight's sausage dinner was made with my daughter clinging to my leg and screaming "I want more Dora! I want more Dora!" at the top of her lungs. There is no evening t.v. for the toddler in the house, so she decided to try to play chicken with touching the stove/oven in protest.

Arrrgghhh!!!!

But anyway, tonight's dinner was Shady Brook Farms Hot Italian Turkey Sausage. Shady Brook Farms sounds like a very traditional family farm name. In my opinion, it sounds more like the name of a retirement village. However, if you look closely at the package, in very small print by the UPC label, it says Cargill. Cargill is one of the giant meat monopolies (in fact, THE biggest meat monopoly), errr, conglomerate. Normally, I try to not eat mass-produced meat due to personal preference, but in the realm of sausage in the regular grocery store, it's hard to avoid. Due to this problem, I am thinking of asking Santa for an electric meat grinder with sausage making attachment this year. It sounds like a great cooking adventure, but 1) do I have space in the kitchen? (no), and 2) would it collect dust? (maybe), and 3) the microwave broke and needs replacing.

Shady Brook Farms' sausage comes in a package of 6 for $3.99. Ingredients: Turkey, Water, Salt, Spices, Sugar, Paprika, Potato Extract, Calcium Lactate, Calcium Alginate Casing. Today, I cooked it in a skillet with olive oil, onions, green peppers, and various whatnot of spices in the cupboard. I did notice for the first time that the instructions on the back do say to use non-stick cooking spray, I have always used olive oil though.

There is a large water content to this sausage, so it takes a while to brown properly. The links splatter like mad fireworks despite the splatter shield over the pan. If I'm not in a hurry, I usually brown this over high heat on the stove then throw them in the oven to cook through. In order to avoid a medical calamity with my child, today was skillet-only on my smaller back burner, and they took forever to cook through.

I believe the lack of the usual browning method led to this sausage tasting rather blah, not entirely bland, but blah, compared to usual. Mostly, it tastes like fennel, lots of fennel, everywhere. Oh look, there's even more fennel in that slice. I think it will taste better tomorrow after it has sat in the fridge with the peppers and onions overnight. As for the "hot" factor, weeellll, it's a miss. There must be some red pepper in there because it's not what I would call totally mild or flavorless, but not spicy or "hot" at all. As for texture, it's moist and spongy. Think wet-ish Spam type consistency.

I have served this sausage at my annual Holiday party before with much success, but it tasted infinitely better than how it came out tonight. I would not serve tonight's rendering to guests.

While I'm thinking about it, what exactly is Calcium Alginate? According to Wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_alginate. Goo begotten from seaweed. Well if I ever get on a quiz show, I now know the answer to that one. Wouldn't it just be easier to wrap the sausage in a nori wrap like sushi hand rolls and skip the chemistry? Now that would be different.

I'm heading away from the Italian sausages for the next sausage report. It's New Jersey, where foods tend to be either Italian, Polish, or from the Indian sub-continent. Seeing as how I was raised in the South, I'm having a major hankering for Jambalaya. Does anyone else hear Hank Williams right now, or is it just me? "Jambalaya, a-crawfish pie, a file gumbo..."

Jamie Oliver “Keep It Simple” Beautiful Coarse-Textured Italian Style Sausage

2010-11-23T04:30:00.001Z

Cards on the table here, I am not a fan of Jamie Oliver. In fact, just the opposite. So when, a few weeks ago regular Rate My Sausage reader Affer left a comment berating the celebrity chef’s pre-packed Cumberland sausages I took it upon myself to obtain some of said sausages, review them, and cheerfully “put the boot in”. As it turned out I couldn’t find the Cumberlands, so the Italian Style sausages were tested in their stead.

Goodness me, I really wanted to despise these sausages. I wanted them to taste foul, look disgusting, and shrink to nothingness. Not that I ever carry pre-conceptions into my reviews you understand, oh no, no, no. Ahem. Moving quickly on….

I cooked the bangers in the regulation manner but decided to pimp the presentation to something more befitting of a TV Chef. Therefore the Italian Style sausages were served as the Roman Numerals XV, with a half-baked pea puree, a one hundred Kenyan Shillings banknote, and a laughing smurf.

Sophistication on a plate!

What the heck is THAT stuff coming out of the sausages in the pan (above)?

I will state that I have a problem with the name of these sausages. Jamie, why not let your customers be the judge of whether I find your sausages “beautiful” or not?

If you would like to check out the Jamie Oliver website click here: JAMIE_OLIVER_WEBSITE

And for those of you with a penchant for a good back story, read Jamie’s views on sausages, circa January 2009 here: PUCKAH_ARTICLE

Meat Content:
The packaging says these sausages are 86% meat, and they do taste it. They are solid and chunky, and it’s easy to believe the claim that good quality cuts of pork are used. A very nice amount of meatiness, well done.

Flavour:
Very flavoursome - herby, earthy, muddy? None of those words meant in a bad way. They are very salty though. Quite spicy, which is good if you like your food with some heat in it. The flavours are many and varied, with sharp aniseed notes here and there combining intriguingly with a Toulouse-like feeling of garlic. Tasty!

Texture:
Jamie’s bangers are very solid, for a supermarket sausage. They fall apart nicely when pulled betwixt knife and fork but stick together resolutely if sliced. Would they live up to the “Beautiful Coarse-Texture” of the name? Well, yes they do. I thoroughly enjoyed the agricultural consistency of these fellows.

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 61g
Average weight cooked - 40g

Shrinkage - 35%

Not good enough, frankly. 35% is the highest figure we’ve found, ever. The only rivals that come close were from Richmonds and Sainsbury’s – say no more. Oh, and a rogue batch of Pork & Apple from Downham Market.

Value For Money:
£2.49 for six sausages, weighing 364g - this works out as a price of £6.84 per kg, or 42p per snorker. This was a special offer price, with a pack usually costing £2.99, so this pricing info is only temporary, and still isn’t cheap when you consider the amount that they will shrink. Price per kilogram after cooking works out at a mind-boggling £10.46!

The Bisto Factor:
Hard to tell when the reviewer has a stinking cold, sorry.

And Finally, Esther:
I really wanted these sausages to be rubbish, but they’re really not. I quite like ‘em, even if I do say so through gritted teeth. You win this time, Mister Oliver….

P&S Butchers of Holt – Norfolk Sausage**

2010-11-16T05:10:00.013Z

Dear Sausage Fan, please note the asterisks in the title of this review. And see the end of the review to find out what it means....moving on....

P&S Butchers were the first that I visited when I was exploring the sausage producers of Holt. Theirs is a small shop at the top end of Bull Street – not far from the car park (see CR Lake review for further info). The guys inside were incredibly friendly when I visited, and introduced themselves as Paul & Simon. Bit of a giveaway as to the origins of the name of the shop, I guess. When I mentioned my mission, and that I was intending to visit the other butchers in town, I am almost certain that I detected a subtly raised “he int frerm round ere” eyebrow….

They were really interested in the whole Rate My Sausage idea, so hopefully they’ll be reading this review of their bangers sometime soon. I often wonder how butchers would react if or when I make a return visit. I will return to places whose sausages I’ve not raved about, no doubt, and may receive a frosty welcome. But I don’t think I’ll need to worry about Paul & Simon’s reaction, because I really liked their Norfolk Pork Sausages.

Meat Content:
80%. These are big, and I mean BIG bangers, weighing in at an average of 88 grams. And they look long and substantial when they’re filling your frying pan during cooking. The meat is locally sourced, and has the “feel” of decent quality pig. And the casing is good too. As you can see from the “cooked” photo, splits had started to appear, and I now wish I’d given them a few more minutes to see how they developed.

Flavour:
A good, tasty sausage, but if I have to make a criticism it is that there is not quite enough seasoning. P&S’ Norfolk bangers are promising, and tempting, and pleasant to eat, but there’s just not quite enough going on. Just a slight addition would really send these sausages soaring towards the higher end of the league standings.

Texture:
These sausages are an absolute log of porkiness. The four that I sampled took up more room in the trusty RMS pan than any other that I can remember. They initially seem to be very well packed inside the casing but break apart satisfyingly when you tuck in, allowing you to explore the contents – little bits of pepper, little blobs of fat, and a whole lot of meat. These are roughly-cut enough to get my tick in the box for Good Texture.

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 88g
Average weight cooked - 76g

Shrinkage - 14%

This is a pretty good figure for P&S....and these whoppers weigh more after a damn good frying than the vast majority of bangers do before they hit the pan. Good work boys!

Value For Money:
£1.87 for four sausages weighing 353g = £5.29 per kg = 47p per snorker. Now, these are good sausages in my opinion, and would be considered as good VFM even if they were closer to the average size. The fact that you’re paying only 47p.....FORTY SEVEN PEE!....for a daschund-sized chunk of porcine goodness makes them an absolutely Excellent banger for your buck. Try some Right Now!

** Sausage Has Alternative Uses:
P&S have the accolade of inspiring a whole new category for Rate My Sausage. If you – for some reason – don’t enjoy these sausages when you taste them, you can use one as a draught excluder at the bottom of the back door. But you’ll have to cut a bit off the end first.

C R Lake of Holt - Best Pork Sausage

2010-11-09T05:52:00.010Z

CR Lake was the second of Holt’s butchers that I found – they’re on the solidly named Bull Street. Now, if you’re going to visit any of these Holt butchers, be forewarned that parking in this nice little town is almost impossible, so go early to find a space in ”the” car park. But once you’re in, it’s simply a matter of turning left out the car park entrance, and walking down the gentle hill to find Lake’s.

The shop is small and neat and tidy. There isn’t an enormous range of products on view, but not a small amount either, and what’s there all looks to be very nice quality. I think that’s not a bad way of doing things. Service is friendly, the prices are on the suspiciously low side (but don’t worry, the standard of goods is high), and I was quite impressed by this no-frills family concern. And there’s a cool little wet fish shop next door.

So to the bangers:

Meat Content:
The lady behind the counter said that the sausages were 75% pork. I’m not doubting that in the slightest. These bangers are solid. These bangers are dense. I think you can see for yourself that there’s plenty of meat here, and it’s delightfully tasty. As an added bonus, there’s plenty of fat that spills out in pan – real fat! It gives a great sizzle. These sausages are on the small size, dimensions-wise, but big on flavour.

Flavour:
Spicy, meatish, manly. They’re quite fiery on the tongue, after the initial overtone of pleasantly sweet pork, but definitely a palate-pleasing taste sensation. You’ll need to chew these chunky chaps to get the whole flavour, and that marks them out as a darned good sausage in my book. In a word – delicious. And more-ish. That’s two words, but never mind.

Texture:
Superbly and utterly Crumbly (with a capital C), the casing is great, and they crisped up very nicely in contact with the heat. Very firm and solidly packed with meaty loveliness, and a real surprise package for a small sausage.

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 57g
Average weight cooked - 44g

Shrinkage - 22%

This is quite a high figure, which is a shame. But for once I will completely overlook the statistics and recommend you try them as soon as you can.

Value For Money:
£1.08 for four sausages, weighing 226g - this works out as a price of £4.79 per kg, or 27p per snorker.

Whoever says that butchers’ sausages are too expensive should take a reality check – Lake’s Best Pork bangers are on a par price-wise with rubbish like Walls or Richmond’s, but way, waaay ahead in quality. And you can buy exactly as many as you want or need, because you’re not committed to buying a pack of eight. Great VFM, well done Lakes!

The Bisto Factor:
Note to self. Do not carry out sausage reviews at the same time as boiling last week’s chicken leftovers to make next week’s chicken stock. No matter how fabulous the bangers smell, the stock will smell better.

H V Graves of Holt - Traditional Pork Sausage

2010-11-02T04:28:00.009Z

And so to the quirky town of Holt in Norfolk as the search for the perfect sausage continues. H V Graves used to have their own premises in the town but have now moved in to become a tenant of the Bakers & Larners posh mini-department store. They are extremely well-renowned for their provision of hog roasts, so I was hoping for a good knowledge of all things pig, and therefore a great Traditional Pork banger. The Graves counter can be found towards the back of the shop, just before you enter the unbelievably tempting deli area where you’ll encounter oh so many absolutely delicious-looking tempting treats. And go on, treat yourself to something, because the food here is knockout!

But what about Graves themselves? Well, I visited on a Saturday morning, and there was a steady trade over the counter, with one member of staff on duty. He was extremely knowledgeable about his meat, and butchery, which is always a reassurance. Sadly I left feeling somewhat ignored. After buying the bangers I realised that I hadn’t checked the meat content or price – neither sausages I bought displayed the meat percentage, and only one showed the price – so I loitered (obviously) at the end of the counter to ask for the information. Customers came and went, all served politely and efficiently, but it became clear that I wouldn’t be acknowledged. And that is a very sad state of affairs.

On this occasion I was simply waiting to ask a couple of questions as a nosey parker who writes about sausages – but what if I had been given the incorrect change? Or had only been handed three of maybe four items that I’d asked for? I certainly have no problem waiting my turn for a second time, but to be ignored (and almost pointedly so, it felt) seems to be very poor customer service. I waited for fifteen minutes and then departed, feeling rather un-valued as a customer. It felt as if they already had my money, and now I was not important.

HV Graves’ hog roast website can be found here: Graves_Hog_Roasts

However, this is a blog to try out sausages, not customer service, so on to the bangers:

Meat Content:
I don’t know what the meat content of these sausages is, I didn’t get the chance to ask! Judging by my, literally, months of experience, I’d say about 65-70% would be close to the mark. Disappointing, and maybe on a par with the Royal_Blue_Meat_Company of Wisbech. Have a look at the sliced photos and see what you reckon.

Flavour:
I felt that there wasn’t enough seasoning here. The mild, inoffensive flavour seemed more reminiscent of a Walls_sausage than a proper butcher’s banger, and that is a pity (they look quite similar too).

Texture:

The consistency of these puppies was “very fine” – there’s not too much to chew on. The casing crisped surprisingly well but too evenly, which leads me to suspect that there are almost certainly additives in here? The meat was rather pink with little variation in colour throughout – not a lot of discernable bits and pieces for the reviewer to investigate.

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 50g
Average weight cooked - 44g

Shrinkage - 13%

Slightly better than average on the shrink-o-meter.

Value For Money:
I wasn’t able to establish the price, but I did try. I did get the price of their Pork & Apple bangers though, and I know the total price I paid, so, when I review the P&A’s I will be able to extrapolate the price of the Traditional Porks too. Do I take this too seriously?

The Bisto Factor:
Mmmmmmmm! These bangers did smell lovely while frying. It’s tempting to tuck in before they’re cooked properly....yes, they smell THAT good.

In Summary:
Are Graves’ resting on their laurels and assuming that all the customers who frequent their host’s premises will buy their sausages, just because they’re there? These aren’t the worst sausages that we’ve tried, but in my opinion there is room for this firm to up their game.

Black Farmer Panel Review

2010-10-30T04:01:00.019+01:00

Wilfred, boss of The Black Farmer products, sent us some bangers to try. I decided to ask the reviewers to compare them against roughtly comparable flavoured sausages from the retail market. Wilfred's bangers are gluten-free, the comparison bangers were not.

Sorry to say, and sorry W, not all my reviewers completed their assignment. I've now recruited different testers. So, the reviews, and comparisons:

================================================================

Luke B reviews:
Sausage A - Morrisons The Best Chipolata
Sausage B - The Black Farmer Premium Pork Chipolata

The Theory
I don’t consider myself to be a sausage ‘expert’, but I know what I like. I have never once when faced with a selection of sausages at the butchers or supermarket thought about buying Chipolatas. I don’t know why exactly, whether it is their smaller diameter which can make them fiddly to cook (especially on a BBQ) or being a foodie I always opt for its bigger brother to satisfy my hunger. So when I was given Chipolatas for review I embraced it willingly, like a new sausage journey!

The Recipe
I decided to simply grill the sausages so not to introduce any flavours which may affect my overall opinion. There are two sausage types. One being the regular chipolata, type A, the other a gluten free variation of the same type B.

I served them with steamed summer vegetables, new potatoes and garlic mushrooms in a crème fraiche and cheese sauce.

The Verdict
Both cooked well although the type B sausages seemed to brown quicker, both provided a minimal amount of fat. The type B sausage seemed to have a tougher skin which was very noticeable when eating. Type B certainly had a less ‘chewy’ stuffing than type A and cut cleanly with a delicate texture. The real difference was the taste. Sausage A while having the same flavour as type B had a more noticeable lingering herb flavour. The type B sausages by comparison had a clean finish on the palette and had a healthy feel about them. I can only compare type A to a brand of crisp and “once you’ve popped you can’t stop” but type B while retaining the same initial flavour did not leave me craving for more.

================================================================

Jo S reviews:

Sausage A - Tesco Finest Pork & Leek Sausage

Sausage B - The Black Farmer Pork & Leek Sausage

Sample A & sample B… very scientific. Much of this review was spent concentrating very hard on control measures to keep the test unbiased (bringing out the engineer in me).

I had the pork and leek variety to try. Sample A clearly showed pieces of leek through the skins in a raw state, sample B less so. Other than that they were identical in size & shape uncooked.

I grilled two of each type as we’d been asked to serve equal amounts. Sample B cooked noticeably quicker and browned more. I served them with baked beans and new potatoes, making sure to transfer them from grill to plate as A (left of photo) and B (right of photo).

Tasting: Sample A had wrinkly and chewy skins – not great. The visibly higher leek content may explain why these were quite watery. The aftertaste was nice though, “fresh”
Sample B had a much firmer texture, which I prefer. They were much more seasoned, which actually meant the leek flavour couldn’t come through at all! The skins were much less troublesome than with A.

Having realised I couldn’t possibly manage four sausages; I had to pick one more to eat. I could have had another half of each but was drawn back to sample B – overall a much more satisfying sausage (even if lacking the leek feature) If these were the gluten free variety then I’d quite happily have them again, but there are better sausages out there in my humble opinion.

================================================================

Carolyn S reviews:

Sausage A - Aldi's Ashfield Park British Pork Sausage
Sausage B - The Black Farmer Premium Pork Sausage

I received 7 sausages – 4 Sample A (conventional) and 3 Sample B (gluten-free). Keeping them separate and remembering which was which was quite challenging after a tiring day – but never let it be said that banger critics crack under pressure.

Both samples were grilled under a medium heat and served with roast Mediterranean vegetables, peas and new potatoes.

Sample A had a good texture and cooked more evenly. The flavour was a little bland for my liking but they were pleasant enough for a conventional pork sausage.

Sample B looked very different – different size (longer), more speckled appearance – and appeared to cook faster. The flavour was more interesting (more seasoning?) but the texture of the skins was disappointing – overall I found them far too chewy. In fact, I failed to finish those on my plate.

I only ate some of those cooked and left the rest to eat cold. However cold they looked quite unappetising so I did not finish them. If I was looking for gluten-free sausages I do not think I would be tempted to buy these.

================================================================

Melissa M reviews Black Farmer Premium Pork Sausage (no comparison test):

I must say I wasn’t too keen on a pork sausage that was so proud to say it was Gluten Free and GM Free. It all sounded too natural to me, and was wary of how this sausage was going to taste. Taking them out of the packaging they looked like real meaty sausages, under the grill they cooked and smelt like real meaty sausages, I was still waiting to spot the difference in these sausages.

I decided to have a sausage sandwich with brown sauce, something plain and simple and something that would really let me know if there was a difference in taste. The sausages didn’t shrink, and for sausages that claims to be Gluten free and just plain pork sausage they certainly had a lot of taste and had a hint of spice in them, the herbs and spices can clearly be seen when slicing them in half halfway through grilling, but it wasn’t overpowering. Overall a delicious taste and I highly recommend them.

Meridian Meats of Louth - Best Lincolnshire Sausage

2010-10-27T08:36:00.000+01:00

Meridian Meats present their Best Lincolnshire sausage. It’s the first version of the much-loved Lincolnshire banger that Rate My Sausage has tried, but won’t be the last. But before the review, a little background information. I recently visited the market town of Louth, which nestles in the heart of the Lincolnshire Wolds, and was pleasantly surprised by the place, which is one I thoroughly recommend to visit should you have the opportunity. The local council, or the populace, must have taken it upon themselves to try to keep Louth as a traditional small town, and the lack of big chains in the shopping area is wonderful. Instead you find a Pandora’s box of individual, often quirky, shops that are a delight to mooch round. No mass corporate gentrification here, well done Louth!

And one of those small independent shops is Meridian Meats. The name holds a curious coincidence in itself – Meridian Meats was founded as small-order firm and upgraded to a farm shop at nearby Tetbury in 2005. Later they moved into the current premises in Louth, and the building straddles the “Zero Degrees” line of longitude upon which Greenwich lies – how superbly apt for a company called Meridian! Check out their awards for yourself at: http://www.meridianmeatsshop.co.uk/

(Incidentally, if you notice on the photo, the shop next door is called The Cheese Shop – no explanation needed – and what a bloody great shop that is too. I bought some lovely stuff there. And you may also notice the pic of the Hairy Bikers – they’ve obtained cheese from there for their shows, so the quality must be – and is – exceptional).

So, the “Lincolnshire Sausage”. It’s being put forward as a protected brand within the European Union guidelines – nobody outside Lincolnshire should be able to claim their bangers are Lincolnshire ones unless they’re made in Lincolnshire to traditional methods – hopefully this will be a major kick in the teeth for some of the major producers of utterly disgusting “sausages” like Walls, Tesco, etc, who peddle their own low-quality versions of the “Lincs”. With no previous “rating” of a Lincolnshire, Meridian’s offering will blaze the trail.

Meat Content:
85% according to Meridian, and these do taste VERY meaty – I think 85% may be another deliberately low figure to ensure that the bangers pass any Ministry examinations with flying colours. With any good quality sausage it’s fantastic to chew down on some obviously high quality pork – Meridian use rare breed meat in their sausages and it is extremely flavoursome.

Flavour:
This is an unassuming sausage that delivers an eating experience more complex than you may expect. Subtle, and juicy, and herby, with no “sharp corners”, simply a rounded fulfilling home cooking flavour that ticks all the boxes of a classic comfort food. These bangers look so inviting before you cook them, with the livid red hues of the pork contrasting with darker herbs and light fatty bits (hey, we’ve all got them).

Texture:
A most solid sausage and delightfully firm, offering an enjoyable amount of resistance to both knife and teeth. The casings are natural and therefore rather unpredictable - two of these chaps split slightly, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as the sausages cook differently to each other and provide a range of crispness. Meridian’s Best Lincolnshires are bound together very well, and took quite some pulling apart. They were quite a coarse cut as a Lincolnshire sausage should traditionally be (correct me if I’m wrong, please!).

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 76g
Average weight cooked - 60g

Shrinkage - 21% - higher than I had expected. But maybe Lincolnshire sausages shrink s bit more? We shall see.

Value For Money:
£2.06 for four sausages weighing 305g - this works out as a price of £6.75 per kg, or 51p per snorker. The advertised price is £6.65 so a little something is lost in translation here. On the pricey side, but these are a very good sausage, and I class them as good VFM.

USA Review - Applegate Organics - Sweet Italian Chicken & Turkey Sausage

2010-10-23T11:02:00.000+01:00

Readers, please welcome Farah C, our brand new USA Correspondent! It seems that they do things differently over there....

Ok, first sausage report from this side of the pond. Sarah and I went to our local health food store to buy these nice nitrite-free organic sausages made right here in New Jersey. The chickens and turkeys aren't given any antibiotics, and they aren't kept in filthy windowless barns like all the other diseased meat sold in the grocery store.

Flavor - These have a very sweet mild flavor, milder than I was expecting for Italian sausages. I prefer a spicier taste. Sarah gobbled a link in no time so it was a definite hit with her. Next time I will make it as an Italian Hot Dog with all the fixings rather than just eat it plain for more oomph.

Texture - No breadcrumbs at all here, just meat. Juicy but dense. We were quite full after just 1 link each. I usually eat 2 sausages for a typical sausage meal, but with these, I was just too full after 1.

Cooking time - Very toddler-friendly cooking time. They are pre-cooked so a few minutes in the pan to heat them through. No oil needed, good news for those of us with cholesterol issues.

Price - $5.99. A bit pricey compared to regular run of the mill sausages, but excellent quality.

M&M Rutland of Melton Constable - Traditional Pork Sausage

2010-10-19T06:56:00.000+01:00

Wending my way home after another hunt for new and interesting bangers I chose to pop into a butcher that I’d spotted on the internet. I didn’t hold high hopes really, as the village of Melton Constable is a still-declining remnant of the glory days of the railways, cut adrift by Beeching….I assumed any business there would be clinging on by its fingertips. How completely and utterly wrong can you be?

The first hints that this was no ordinary butcher were the A-boards outside, advertising loudly that you could find chocolate-filled sausages inside. And wild boar ones. And a real ale variety. Next tip was the door screen – plain black mesh and apparently unremarkable….except that they’ve installed a false bundle of plaster “sausages” on the end of a length of twine, which acts as an endearing automatic door-closer. Fab.

M&M Rutland is an absolute bloody belter of a butcher’s. Inside I found a beaming James Rutland behind the busy counter, reinforced by his three sisters, Kit, Carol and Tracy. Plus a couple of young Saturday helpers. They need a lot of staff I guess, because even in the time I was there the stream of customers was impressive – and everybody was welcomed and bade farewell by name, or by “title” if the name was not known – I was the only newbie.

Rutland’s carry around 35 varieties of sausage at any time. The trays of bangers in the cold counter looked so enticing that I would have liked to buy the lot. Impractical of course – for the time being anyway. We held a lovely conversation about sausages, meats, customer service, Holt, and “Miss Wong” (shame on you looking up naughty pictures on the Net – you know who you are!).

So, in summary, GO TO RUTLAND’S! How were their bangers? Read on….

Meat Content:
85% they say….so have some of the other butchers whose sausages we’ve sampled. This is without doubt a hearty 85%, whereas some others have possibly used a little poetic license? Rutland’s only use Gloucester Old Spot pork, locally reared around the Melton Constable area, and the meat in their Traditional Pork bangers is obvious to see, to cut, and to eat.

Flavour:
The pork is quite a light flavour here, and Rutland’s just let the meat do the talking. The seasoning is spot-on, bringing the best out in the minced pork, boosting its flavour but not over-powering it. I was truly impressed with Rutlands’ “standard” pork sausage, one of the best that Rate My Sausage has tried so far.

Texture:
For a start, the casing is excellent, I think you can cook these however you wish, to make the wrapping just how you like it. I deliberately crisped up some parts and left other parts to do their own thing, to see how the casing would behave. Lovely. The filling of these sausages is firm yet crumbly, both on the knife and in the mouth, with just enough resistance when you chew into them.

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 60g
Average weight cooked - 53g

Shrinkage - 13%

Not a bad figure for these solid little sausages.

Value For Money:
£2.30 for 4 sausages weighing 240g = £9.58 per kg = 58p per sausage.

A very good price for a very good sausage.

The Bisto Factor:
I don’t often feel that our sausages merit anything under this title, but Rutland’s Traditional Pork sausages filled the whole flat with a mouth-watering aroma which made me impatient to get stuck in to them for breakfast. Yum, and indeed, yum.

John's of Downham Market - Pork Sausage

2010-10-12T05:07:00.007+01:00

We’ve reviewed sausages from John’s Quality Butchers of Downham Market before, and enjoyed them (check the review of their Old English banger in the sidebar on the right). They are a much-loved and very busy part of the market area in Downham Market. If you’re in the area, please pop in for a visit, I dare you to walk away having bought nothing….

Last time we looked at John’s Old English sausages, and I am still unsure of the true definition, or recipe for, an “Old English”. Would any passing butchers care to inform us? Please do….

Meat Content:
No stated figure as these were bought yonks ago. It seems that there is a fair proportion of pig inside though. Like their Old English there were a couple of pieces of gristly stuff, but I’m not against that in a rough-hewn pork product - in fact I actually quite like it as a mark of a rough cut banger. These sausages are more on the Phil Mitchell side as opposed to a Kenneth Williams. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Flavour:
Warm, hearty, a cosy taste that will remind you of your mum’s cooking. Considering the sheer size of these sausages the initial flavour is quite delicate, with porkiness to the fore. As you chew through there is a sage influence and something just a little bit hot/warm….what is it? You can chase bits of these sausages around and the nice flavour keeps on coming – but I wanted more here!

Texture:
These bangers cooked up big and the casings crisped up very well indeed. The filling is roughly chopped which I prefer. They were big bangers too – well. For the most part. I wonder if it’s the way that the butcher wraps his sausages together, but these six specimens gave me four that were about 10cm long, and two at about 7cm. For those of you still reading in old measurements, one centimeter is equal to 0.71 groatlings, or 33 fieldfarts. Do all butchers wrap up their links in the same pattern? I must find out....

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 77g
Average weight cooked - 62g

Shrinkage - 20%

Slightly higher than average. I gained a decent amount of liquid to help feed the birds.

Value For Money:
Confession time – I haven’t kept the pricing info for these specimens, sorry. But there are only three sausages so far reviewed which weight in heavier than John’s Porks….why not give them a try?

Fruitpig Company - Rare Breed Sausage

2010-10-07T12:16:00.000+01:00

The Fruitpig Company has been reviewed on Rate My Sausage before. We tried their Toulouse, and man alive, were they good! Our cod-French poem of praise was a hit at the company and may even be used by them in future….guys, you can have that one for free. After all, they did give us the bangers for nothing.

If you’ve never heard of the Fruitpig Company then you need to put that right straight away. Suppliers of impressive meat products to some of the top chefs working in the east of England, but only a couple of years old. Check out their website here: FRUITPIG_COMPANY

Fruitpig are very grounded in their local area, which is very endearing. The Boss, mister Matt Cockin, personally popped into The Woolpack (venue for King’s Lynn King Of The Bangers 2010!) to hand over some of their new Chiang Mai sausages, which will be appearing here in due course. But that’s in the future, what were their Rare Breed Sausages like? Read on….

Meat Content:
Extremely piggy, and claimed at 85%. That’s a jolly fine figure in itself, but all the more impressive when you consider the provenance of the pork. Fruitpig pork is special – and it shows in these sausages. Build a cathedral with top-notch Lincolnshire limestone and yet get Lincoln Cathedral….try the same thing with breeze blocks and you end up with Homebase, Grantham. These sausages are very meaty, and it’s bloody good meat to boot.

Flavour:
Sweet sweet sweet! And so juicy too. These sausages are simply delicious. The rare breed pork meat shines through, and would produce fantastic bangers on its own, with nothing added. However, after you savour the sugar-sweet meat there is an after burn of spiciness, as mustard and pepper join hands and romp in spicy-coloured Doc Martin boots all over your taste buds.

Texture:

An excellent texture to these beauties. The way you likes your banger is subjective of course, and I like mine coarse. These are chunky, very chunky. Think Spinal Tap. Picture the scene:

Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...

Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?

Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.

Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?

Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?

Marty DiBergi: I don't know.

Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?

Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.

Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.

Marty DiBergi: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?

Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven.

Fruitpig’s mincing machine must be turned to eleven, a la Tufnel, St Hubbins and Smalls (and the many drummers, who all seem to die in mysterious circumstances). Is there a higher compliment I can pay? The skin crisps up quite well but I like mine a little firmer, however these are natural casings and we’ll let them off.

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 60g
Average weight cooked - 47g

Shrinkage - 21%

Value For Money:
I’m sorry, but I don’t have pricing information for these sausages. You will definitely pay top dollar though, and that’s fair when you consider the outstanding quality. Give Matt Cocckin a call to find out!

Through A Child’s Eyes:
“Very nice, and I would eat more.” High praise indeed from the Seven-Year-Old Sidekick!