Friday, 10 May 2019

WH Frost - Manchester - Pork & Wild Garlic Sausage


I say, I say, I say, what do you call a pottymouth Mancunian butcher holding a shotgun? Not a Bernard Manning joke but a genuine description of one of UK butchery’s most controversial figures - real name Lee but universally known as Frosty. I asked for three word descriptions of the man and received these:
“F***ing good butcher” – Damien Boswell
“My deadweight boss” – Anonymous
“Always top quality” – Asked to remain anonymous
“Knobhead on Twitter” – About 40-50 different people

Some slightly unfair comments there maybe. WH Frost supplies many top quality establishments in the Manchester area so they must be doing something right. We’ve ordered beef bacon from them a few times and were impressed at the quality and service, therefore we decided to road test the pork and wild garlic sausages.


Frosty gathers the wild garlic for the sausages during his shooting expeditions. All natural, all organic, and they don’t have to pay a random wholesaler serious money for it, which would then be added onto the retail price. Well played. Not worried about getting his hands dirty on his customers’ behalf, or ending up with smelly fingers.... 


Where To Find Them:
I haven’t visited the premises, but if you want to pop in the address is 12-14 The Square, Wilbram Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. If using SausNav type in M21 9QA. I ordered on the phone, the number you need to call is 0161 881 8172, then select Option 3. Ask for Warren, he’s friendly and efficient and talks through all the prices and costs. Again, well played.

Opening Hours:
Monday – 0700 to 1700
Tuesday – 0700 to 1700
Wednesday – 0700 to 1700
Thursday – 0700 to 1700
Friday – 0700 to 1700
Saturday – 0700 to 1700
Sunday - Closed


Flavour:
As you’d expect the wild garlic dominates the flavour here. If you are a fan of all things garlic then you’ll love these sausages, if you’re not then steer well clear.  It’s a powerful, heady mix of the garlic backed up with great provenance pork. You won’t be kissing many people after you’ve eaten these bad boys. To paraphrase an old TV advert, ”These sausages do exactly what it says on the tin”.

Texture:
The skins stand up very well to the extra time in the pan that these phat boys require. The last few reviews we’ve written show average cooked weights of the sausages as 59, 56, 55 and 55 grams – these monsters average 81. Natural casings provide a stand-out snap when you cut into these sausages, and when you do so you’ll find one of the juiciest fillings we’ve found. Oozey and juicy, the moistness here is very much to my preference, I have no idea how Frosty and the boys do it. The filling is “quite” coarse which for me is the only slight criticism – I have always preferred huge clumpy chucks in my sausages – these are a pretty good attempt though. The squeak when you chew is ace.


Vital Statistics:
Average Weight Uncooked = 91 grams
Average Weight Cooked = 81 grams
Meat Content = 88 %
These bangers are big bolshy bruisers, proper logs of porky perfection.

Value For Money:
£5.15 for 6 sausages weighing 545 grams. This works out as £9.45 per kg and 86p per banger. This is substantially more than the vast majority of sausages that we review, but it’s also substantially better quality.
 We rate this as tremendous value for money. You might not be able to buy these every week, but please try some soon, you can thank me later. You get what you pay for...


The "Aah, Bisto" Factor:
If you leave this pack of bangers in your fridge overnight you will be welcomed with a mouth-watering olfactory assault of alluring garlicky aroma in the morning. You will almost certainly hurry to chuck them into your frying pan, whereupon an even more enticing aroma will spring forth. You’ll be flipping starving well before these sausages are cooked, but don’t be tempted to dive in too early. From start to finish these sausages are a scent-sation.



And Finally, Esther:
Superb quality sausages. You pay a little more but Oh My Goodness, it’s well worth it.


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