T&M Butchers of Downham Market - Hickory-Smoked Pork Sausage

I feel quite odd after eating these sausages. I've just done something that was great fun, but I feel slightly unsettled. It's a feeling like going to the theatre on your own, while leaving the other half at home watching Bargain In The Real Attic Hunt....what I did was brilliant, but I turned my back on my first love to do it. These are not Pork Sausages, they are Sausages With Pork In, if you know what I mean. In other words, the pork is the medium by which the flavour is delivered.

This is the one of T&M's speciality bangers - a different variety rolls off the production line every week. I haven't been able to get to Downham Market for a while so I've missed out on a few, but I'm hoping to come to some arrangement to ensure I can conduct a T&M Special Edition sometime in the autumn. Just check out the wide variety on the photo - I HAVE to get me some of those!

Meat Content:
I forgot to ask - AGAIN. But judging by the texture and the look of these sausages, I would take a wild guess at around 65-70%. If that's wrong please don't sue me T&M! So, adequately meaty, giving a satisfying mouthful of pigginess. But it's not really the meat that makes these bangers good, despite it all being produced on T&M’s own farm.

Flavour:
Sweet, sticky, darkly delicious. The smokiness of the hickory rules the roost as you would expect, but the sausage is not just about the burnt wood. The flavour here oozes out of the banger like treacle, and coats your tastebuds like honey, leaving you with the rich aftertaste long after your plate is empty. These sausages are dusky, and they are dark. Devilishly delightful!

Texture:
Spot on. You can tell from the photos that this was a big-chunked beauty, just the way I likes 'em (same with my women). It cuts soft and smooth through the crisp casing, and doesn't take too kindly to demands to split into six and stand to attention. I decided to make a different picture to show the agricultural texture present, hence the lengthways slice. Bonus points here for the great "burst out of the end" bits!

Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 64g
Average weight cooked - 49g

Shrinkage - 24%

Value For Money:
£1.57 for four bangers, weighing 255g - this works out as a price of £6.15 per kg, or 39p per snorker. Not cheap, not dear, all in all a good price for a good, different, banger!