P&S Butchers of Holt – Norfolk Sausage**

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.

Bower’s Traditional Norfolk Pork Sausage

Bowers’ is a small traditional butcher shop, which can be found on Gaywood Road in King’s Lynn, close to the famous Gaywood clock tower. You will always be afforded a warm welcome here, and the smell of the shop will tickle your tastebuds before you’ve even bought your meat. There is often a queue in Bowers’ which will allow you time to peruse the black and white photographs of Victorian King’s Lynn which cover the walls.



I’ve chosen Bowers’ Traditional Norfolk Pork Sausages as the first banger to go under the microscope and into the frying pan for three reasons:

1 - Bower's is the closest butcher my home here in Norfolk,
2 - The “default” sausage we’ll be trying will be of the pork variety, and therefore,
3 - A Norfolk, pork, sausage has to be the starting point.




Meat Content:No “official” figure from the butcher, but this sausage is Very Meaty. You need to bite into it, which marks it out as a solid piece of dead pig!
Flavour:Delicious! There is a major amount of pork in this sausage, and it is backed up with a spicy additions from the maker. It’s the first sausage to be tested at 2-Sox Towers, and it’s an extremely tasty one. Lovely and porky, and flavoured just so, this is a very good sausage.
Texture:Slicing through a banger and seeing what happens helps define its quality. A cross section of this beauty shows a high proportion of meat and very little filler. When you put a slice in your mouth it tastes like almost solid meat - this may be a defining factor in future tests. Stands the test of Six Piece Slicing without crumbling.
Shrinkage:
Average weight uncooked - 77g
Average weight cooked - 59g
Shrinkage - 23%

Value For Money:These sausages cost £6.60 per kg. As these are large bangers, that works out at 51p each. The excellent flavour makes these sausages Well Worth Every Penny.