Keevil & Keevil - Smithfield Market - Pork, Honey & Mustard Sausage

If you’re new to Rate My Sausage, Keevil and Keevil is a butchery business based in Smithfield meat market in that there London (by butchery business I mean like Jonesey out of Dad’s Army, as opposed to the Kray twins).  Their  CUMBERLAND sausages caused an absolute sensation here when they were reviewed way back in June this year, as they leapt salmon-like to the top of our secret scoring charts.

Incidentally, a word about the way we score the bangers that we review.  As you “may” expect it’s an eccentric system, tailored exactly to my own, very personal likes and dislikes, and is therefore incredibly subjective.  I make no apology for that – these reviews reflect “my” opinions, so I think it’s fair that our points system should do the same.  If you saw it you’d almost certainly be able to pick holes in it or criticise, hence the secrecy.  And it adds a rather tantalising layer of mystique to the whole Rate My Sausage process.  Overall, the good products hover around the top of the league, while the dross sinks to the bottom, so it pretty much does its job.  Anyway....

Keevil and Keevil is an uber-friendly firm who go out of their way to make customers feel welcome and special, and that’s lovely.  Did they just get lucky with the Cumberlands?  How did the Pork, Honey and Mustard sausages match up?  Dunk a chipolata in your cuppa and read on....

Meat Content:

The label says 70% pork, which feels about right.  These are firmly meaty bangers which squelch nicely in your mouth.  The change between the uncooked stage and being to ready to eat is quite remarkable, they bulk up and fill out like the local meathead bodybuilder has overdosed on steroids.  Or like Cartman when he takes Weight Gain 4000 – “Beefcaaaake!”  Except that these are made of pork.  Obviously.  Squeaky pork is invariably good pork, and these squeak like a navvie’s wheelbarrow.

Flavour:

The first impression was “It’s all honey, where’s the hot stuff?”  Then, tasting the second sausage, ah, there it is!  This time it was mainly mustard with just a sniff of sweetness.  I like this a lot, the sausages seem to be hand-made with varying amounts of the component parts ending up in each link, instead of being industrially mashed together in some giant Kenwood mixer somewhere in Thailand.  The third sausage was a perfect mixture of the mustard and the honey, with the final mouthful largely mustardy, giving my tastebuds a final farewell scalding on the way down the hatch.  The flavour varies between sausages, but I’m counting that as a really good feature, and proof of man, not robot, as the maker.

Texture:

OK, initially it looks a bit fine for RMS’ personal ideals.  Super snappy skins though balance that out, and hint at a super sausage.  It IS finely chopped, so points are lost there, but the end result is firm and satisfyingly muscular.  One point to note – look at the clearly defined stripes in the frying pan picture – a dead giveaway that there’s added sugars to give a false browning.  Sure enough you’ll find dextrose listed in the ingredients.  Leave it out guys, your bangers are superb without resorting to cheating like this!  Yellow card.

Shrinkage: 

Average weight uncooked - 77g

Average weight cooked - 67g

Shrinkage - 13%

The third lowest figure of the year, MORE than acceptable.  These sausages start off big before you cook them, and are still big when it’s time to eat.  That has to be a good thing.

Value For Money:

These were supplied as a review product so I didn’t actually have to pay for them, meaning a cost to me of zero – that’s my favourite price!  The K and K website lists the price as £18.50 for 30 sausages, weighing 2500g - this works out as a price of £7.40 per kg, or 62p per snorker.  The quality and flavour is good, and I felt absolutely full when I ate some - but balance that with the fine filling and added dextrose.  I’ll say that Keevil and Keevil’s pork, honey and mustard sausages are pretty good value for money.

The Bisto Factor:

Just like it says on the packet, you can sniff sweet honey and tangy mustard at the same time, wafting out of the kitchen.  I couldn’t wait to get started on these sausages.

Opening Hours:

As I said last time we reviewed them, you can place an order with Keevil and Keevil anytime you want to.  Just click and pick here:

KEEVILandKEEVIL

Keevil & Keevil - Smithfield Market - Cumberland Sausage

Our first ever cockney banger!  Keevil & Keevil are based at the historic Smithfield Market, London’s famous meat market since the dawn of time.  Please, please visit their website’s history page, it’s the best “About Us” section that I’ve ever seen, a right fascinating read:  Keevil-History

K&K are also one of the friendliest bunches of meat-mongers that I’ve dealt with, and we’ve shared a delightful on-going correspondence for the past week or three.  If you place an order with them I can guarantee a warm and helpful relationship, which the vast majority online retailers would struggle to match (let’s face it, most of them don’t even bother).  A special “Thanks” to the irrepressible Jo Wendes who has valiantly dealt with Rate My Sausage’s outrageous diva demands!  If this gives you the impression that I’m impressed, you’d be right.  So...website is good, customer service is exceptional.....what about the most important part, the sausages themselves?

Well.  Anticipation was high, and we weren’t disappointed....

Meat Content:

I couldn’t read the label but there must be at least 80% pork included as directed by the Protected Geographical Indication for Cumberland sausages.  Not over the top porkiness, the meat and seasonings combine sublimely.  The pork is here aplenty and is delicious, but doesn’t dominate the flavour.  Firm and chewy (in the right way), and a lovely size – each one is roughly 12cm long and full of those small crumbly fragments that Rate My Sausage craves and loves so much.   Well balanced and well proportioned (could do with the odd bit of gristle, but that’s just our speciality taste).

Flavour:

The first mouthful prompted a mental “Cor”, which is a high accolade.  Sweet base flavour, with the pork showing its splendid quality, these sausages taste utterly delicious.  There’s a mild warm afterglow in the throat which prolongs the yumminess.  It won’t blow your head off with heat, but it’s definitely there in the shadows, just how a Cumberland sausage should be.  A subtle flavour for adults, seemingly irresistible for children (see below), these are sausages that will please the whole family.

Texture:

Delectably juicy, lovely skins on the bangers, giving a perfect snappy crack when Junior Sidekick cut into it.  Much to my delight they fall apart enticingly when you push them apart with your knife, and the same crumbling effect occurs when you chew them, releasing the gorgeous flavour for you to savour.

Shrinkage: 

Average weight uncooked - 84g

Average weight cooked – 70g

Shrinkage - 17%

Good performance by the cockney challengers, under 20% loss seems to be unusual yet frugal these days.  Each sausage weighs more after frying than most of the other bangers that we’ve tried do before they even see the pan – make no mistake, these are big, rough and ready sausages designed to take on and defeat the hungriest of appetites.

Value For Money:

£9.00 for eighteen sausages, weighing 1500g - this works out as a price of £6.00 per kg, or 50p per snorker.  Delivery is way below the average for courier-delivered meat products, at a decent £3.50 – this obviously bumps up your price, but if you were to add in some of Keevil & Keevil’s other produce or just bulk-buy the sausages,  it wouldn’t be too bad.  Including the delivery charge, here is how the price varies according to the amount you buy:

One pack - £9.00 + £3.50 delivery = £12.50 – this works out as £8.33 per kg

Two packs - £18.00 + £3.50 delivery = £21.50 - £7.17 per kg

Four packs (this would last you a Very long time!) - £36.00 + £3.50 delivery = £39.50 - £6.58 per kg

Thanks to the fabulous quality I’m rating Keevil & Keevil’s Cumberland sausages as “very good value for money”.

The Bisto Factor:

Driven to distraction.  Working eleven hour nightshifts at a care home at the moment and I could hardly wait for these sausages to be ready.  They swamped our home with an utterly delicious, savoury aroma.  Yum yum yum!  Are they done yet?

Through A Child’s Eyes:

We lobbed a couple of these sausages onto our first barbie of the year, and the Junior Sidekick was impressed.  So much so that he sliced up most of his banger and used it to top the burger that he had lovingly hand-made for himself just minutes earlier.  Trust me, he doesn’t add any old rubbish to the 100% beef burgers that we create together, so this is a huge endorsement for these Cumberland sausages.  OK, he had to use a skewer to maintain the structural integrity of the end product, but judging by the speed that it disappeared down the hatch I can confirm that Keevil & Keevil’s Cumberland sausages are a definite hit with the nippers.

Opening Hours:

Open all day every day, via the internet.  You’ll need to check the website for delivery timings, but you can order whenever the heck you want to.

Keevil&Keevil

Buy some of Keevil & Keevil’s great meat today!