Lincolnshire Sausage Season #8 of 13 - Redhill Farm Free Range Pork

Have you heard of Fifty Shades Of Grey? Maybe not the kind of thing you’d talk about in front of the vicar or your nan, but it was a global sensation. Well take a look at the photo of the two chaps behind the Redhill Farm Free Range Pork stall. On the right is Terry, co-owner and married to boss Jane. On the left is part-time rock god and expert sausage-maker Steve Shelley.

Steve is an interesting character who juggles the butcher business with aspirations towards Hollywood – and the breaking news is that he will be starring in the 2018 blockbuster “Fifty Shades Of Pork”. Script and plot details are very hard to unearth, but I can confirm that it is certainly not “Babe 3 – When The Cash Runs Out”. Oh no, this movie is going to be high quality as shown by the choice of Steve’s co-star, Kerry Katona.

Enough of the showbiz fluff, I am not Perez Hilton after all. Let’s press on to the real meat of this review, Steve’s lovely porky Lincolnshire sausage. This is not the first time we have reviewed these bangers and usually our revisits are a purely public service to confirm if a truly dreadful product – Iceland sausages, Tesco Everyday Value sausages, etc – is still terrible. On this occasion this was a wholly selfish visit as we’ve never had a poor product from Terry, Jane and the team.

Where To Find Them:

This company has won more awards than Ant & Dec so you will always be assured of great produce, whichever method you choose to find them:

Physically – You can take a road trip to the farm itself which is located near the village of Morton, outside Gainsborough. If using SausNav type in DN21 3DT. There’s a farm shop there which is open from 0900 to 1700 Tuesday to Friday and 0900 to 1500 on Saturdays, Everyone deserves a weekend right? The shop stocks a great range of indulgent, local goodies, including:

·    The Tracklement Co. Mustards & Chutneys

·    Belvoir Cordials & Presses

·    Lincolnshire Poacher Cheeses

·    Kitchen Garden Preserves

·    Free Range Eggs - from their own Maran Free Range Chickens

·    Free Range Chickens

·    Their own Fresh Lamb - Zwartble and Charollais Breeds

·    Their own Home Grown Beef (limited supply) - British Blue

·    Ownsworth's Rapeseed Oil

·    Ivy House Sloe Gin

·    Olives Et Al - Olives, Dressings

·    Moden's Lincolnshire Plum Bread

Redhill Farm Free Range Pork are also ALL OVER the local farmers market scene – we found them in Sleaford – and you can check if they will be in a market place near you soon by clicking this link - Redhill Farm at Farmers Markets

Virtually: They have a nice website that is easy on the eye and easy to navigate: Redhill Farm Free Range Pork

Stanwatch:

As described at the start, Terry and Steve were manning the stall with enthusiasm and knowledge.

Flavour:

FAB! Ingredients are simply the high quality pork, sage, breadcrumbs, rusk, black pepper and salt to preserve and this all adds up to a sweet and smooth taste with no sharp corners. The sage and pepper are well balanced and do not overpower, and the combination is bloomin’ beautiful. Word of warning – these are big sausages and we don’t recommend that you tackle too many in one sitting. But don’t panic, there is as much pork and flavour in one of these sausages as in two of most other butchers’ bangers.

Texture:

Very crumbly at the right moments, which is a good thing. Sometimes the skins fall off which may be viewed as a negative but could also be seen as the sausage showing itself off. The filling falls apart when you push and then clings together like survivors in a Titanic lifeboat. The skins are not snappy, simply functional, to keep the good stuff inside properly contained.

Vital Statistics:

Average Weight Uncooked = 90 grams

Average Weight Cooked = 69 grams

Meat Content = 75-80 %

Value For Money:

£6.09 for 8 sausages, weighing 716 grams. This works out as £8.51 per kg and 76p per banger.

We rate this as Fantastic value for money.

Three Word Verdicts:

Ruth “Much better sensation on the taste buds when cold. When warm skins were non-existent”

The "Aah, Bisto" Factor:

Nice gentle aroma during cooking. We’ve pretty much returned to frying instead of grilling, it’s the Proper Way to do your bangers. These sausages are huge logs of meat and eight of them barely squeezed into the pan. Several ends burst out (which we like), and one split lengthways (which we don’t like so much – makes it look like Jack The Ripper’s been making your breakfast).

And Finally, Esther:

Big, beautiful, bruising bangers that taste terrific! Buy some as soon as you can. And grab some of Steve's collar bacon too!

Table so far:

1= Bycroft's, Boston

1= Southern & Thorpe, Ruskington

3 - Redhill Farm Free Range Pork

4 – Lyell's, Boston

5 – Hambleton Farms, Doddington Hall

6 – Manor Farm, Leasingham

7 – Dunham's, Boston

8 – Sainsburys, Sleaford

Tesco - Woodside Farm - Land Of Make Believe - Pork Sausage

We have reviewed Tesco sausages before. We even liked some of them. But, more often than not the quality of their bangers is woeful (and that's being polite). This time however we are NOT reviewing Tesco sausages. Oh no! No way. These are from Woodside Farms, which sounds to me like an idyllic leafy smallholding, possibly in the Cotswolds? Or maybe the Scottish borders?

Where To Find Them:
I hope the best place to find Woodside Farms sausages would be Woodside Farm or their stall at a farmers' market? But, obviously, it doesn't exist. The true location of Woodside Farm is in the collective, deceptive imagination of the team of marketing charlatans employed by Tesco to fool the British public into thinking their terrible products are more authentic and of better provenance than they truly are.

Now, we were recently invited by boss Jane Tomlinson, in charge of Redhill Farm Free Range Pork to visit their farm and have a lovely guided tour. And we fully intend to take her up on such a kind offer. To give Woodside Farm a bit of a chance to impress I asked Tesco if we could visit Woodside Farm - what a shock, absolutely no response. And that's because it is completely fabricated.

Woodside Farm is one of the mainstays of the Tesco "Fake Farms" marketing campaign. It has pretty much replaced their Everyday Value branding for many product lines. Now I believe there is a place for budget products, but not when they've been disguised as something better than they are.  Bring back Everyday Value and consign the Fake Farms to advertising purgatory.

Flavour:
The flavour is that of mushed-up paper sprinkled with salt. It's not good, and disappointing even at this price point. Think of the worst cafe sausage you have ever eaten and you're in the right area. The ingredients list claims 52% pork - but in my opinion there's very little decent meat included in that figure. Almost tasteless, unless you enjoy chewing salty newspaper. Potentially less meat here than in a vegan's bogies.

Texture:
The notes just say "Mushy. Squishy. Spongey. Unpleasant. Nothing to bite into." And that is an accurate description of the, basically, plop that is inside these artificial tubes of abhorrence. No resistance to the fork, no discernible niblets of meat, gristle, fat, anything at all. You could probably "eat" these with a straw. There was a ridiculous amount of liquid in the pan after cooking, and some of them split their sides.

Vital Statistics:
Average Weight Uncooked = 57 grams
Average Weight Cooked = 47 grams
Meat Content = 52 %


Value For Money:
£0.66 for 8 sausages weighing 459 grams. This works out as £1.44 per kg and 8p per banger. EIGHT PENCE. Even at this ridiculously low price we rate this as no kind of value for money. If you buy these you have wasted 66p. Avoid at all costs.

Junior Sidekick's Three Word Verdict:
Sam was sensibly at school when these were reviewed. Even though it was a Sunday. Hmmmm. Who's a clever boy then?

The "Aah, Bisto" Factor:
Desperately trying to find positives for these items. What was the aroma like during cooking? Well, there wasn't any. A nice sausage-y, spicy whiff would have been a counterbalance to the awful lack of flavour and texture but there was.....nothing. Less smelly than an Obsessive Compulsive Cleaner's toilet bowl.


The Imaginatively Titled Next Day Cold Sausage Test:
Didn't want to re-visit these vile things again. Leftovers went straight in the bin.

And Finally, Esther:
Woodside Farms is a fictitious producer, invented by a multinational uber-shop to fool people into thinking the product is better than it is. On no account should anybody buy this product, ever. Please put your 66p into a charity collection box instead.

Redhill Farm Free Range Pork - Gainsborough - Pork & Leek Sausage

We have reviewed Redhill Farm Free Range Pork sausages before. And we liked them. Read what we said here - Redhill Farm Lincolnshire Sausage. 

That was four years ago. Has anything changed? I stumbled on their stall at Sleaford farmers' market and just had to re-visit their previously lovely sausages. We had a great reaction and cooperation from Jane at Redhill last time, and wondered if standards had been maintained. It was also interesting to tie in a previously well-reviewed maker with our personal fave variety - pork and leek. So.....read on....

Where To Find Them:

There are a variety of ways for you to find these good producers. 

If you want to visit their very own farm shop using SausNav then use the postcode DN21 3EL. If you use your own intelligence to find places then "We are 3 miles north of Gainsborough, between the villages of Morton and Laughton. From Gainsborough follow red highlighted road as shown on our map. At turn off from Morton towards Laughton we are 2 miles along Laughton Lane. Follow 'Redhill Farm' logo signs on this road'."

Or you can order online here Redhill Online for a delivery fee of £9.95 for orders up to 25kg in weight.

Probably the most fun way is to find a Redhill Farm Free Range Pork stall at a farmers' market. And Redhill Farm can be found at many markets. As of "right now" their website lists the following venues, but maybe give them a call to check:

Brigg – 4th Saturday of the month

Doncaster - 1st Saturday of the Month from May 2016

Gainsborough – 2nd Saturday of the month

Grimsby – 3rd Friday of the month

Humber Bridge – 1st Sunday of the Month

Horncastle – 2nd Thursday of the month

Lincoln City Square – 1st Friday of the month

Lincoln Castle Square – 3rd Saturday of the month

Lincoln High Street – 2nd Wednesday of the month

Lincoln North Hykeham – 4th Friday of the month

Louth – 2nd Friday and 4th Wednesday of the month

Newark - 1st Wednesday of the month

Retford – 3rd Saturday of the month

Sleaford – 1st Saturday of the month

Stanwatch:

Felt a bit sorry for the poor stans stood behind the counter, they looked bloody freezing! Soon be summer....

Flavour:

Simply delicious. Pork and leek is, admittedly, the best way to find a place in our heart, and Redhill Farm Free Range Pork do it beautifully. The pork is light and sweet and high, high quality. The farm rear their own Duroc/Landrace pigs, which are allowed to roam free and behave like, well, pigs. This breeding is reflected in the flavour. Simply no contest with the factory pork of the supermarket. From end to end of these sausages you will find a slightly different flavour with each slice, which is how it should be - no robo-mixer employed. These sausages go PERFECTLY with a lightly fried egg or two.

Texture:

Almost perfect. Crumbly, knobbly, lovely sized "bits" of ingredients. Just tumbles through the fork if you push down on a slice. The pork is coarsely chopped, the leek also rustically prepared, and this texture continues into the mouth. Beautiful mouth-feel (thanks Boyle) and the texture continues to impress as you can taste individual elements as you eat. Take a look at our direct comparison with a recently tested Tesco sausage - which one would you choose? Great work from Redhill. When you put these links in the pan they all cook in their own way, leaving you with a lovely variety of shapes and sizes of cooked sausages - a blatant signpost that these are handmade and individual.

 Vital Statistics:

Average Weight Uncooked = 58 grams

Average Weight Cooked = 42 grams

Meat Content = 85 %

Leek Content = 8% fabulous leekage!

Compared to our review of four years ago these sausages are about 60% of the previous size. And again they did lose quite a lot during the cooking process.

Value For Money:

£2.98 for 6 sausages weighing 346 grams. This works out as £8.61 per kg and 50p per banger. The online shop must offer a different batch of bangers as it lists "6 weighing 500g, for £4.89". It also says "good flecks of Leek throughout" which is completely under-selling them. These sausages ARE well worth the money.

We rate this as very good value for money.

The "Aah, Bisto" Factor:

We noted "Mmmmmmm, fresh and green smell!!! Loved these in the pan til they spat in my face." So.....the aroma is lovely but don't get too close for a sniff.

And Finally, Esther:

Really, really nice sausages. I will definitely be buying some more next time we cross paths at a farmers' market. Suggest you give them a try. Lovely. Thanks Redhill Farm Free Range Pork!

Redhill Farm Free Range Pork Competition Winners

The winners of our Redhill Farm Free competition, each winning two packs of their delicious sausages, are the following lucky people:

Lynne H, Hertfordshire

Kavita P, Middlesex

Clair D, West Yorkshire

Congratulations to the winners and thank you to the hundreds of people who entered but weren't fortunate enough to win this time round....look out for another great competition coming up soon!


If you didn't win but would love to try Redhill Farm Free Range Pork's products, just click on this link and browse their website:


Redhill Farm Free Range Pork

@RateMySausage

Win Redhill Farm Sausages!

In honour of British Sausage Week 2012 (November 5 to 11), Rate My Sausage is offering THREE lucky readers the chance to win two packs of fabulous Redhill Farm Free Range Pork sausages (one pack of Lincolnshire sausages and one pack of Pork & Apple sausages each).  It could hardly be easier....

Simply answer this question: “Which variety of Redhill Farm Free Range Pork sausages always sell out first at farmers' markets?”  Is it:

a. Pork & Real Ale Sausages

b. Lincolnshire Sausages

c. Pork & Apple Sausages

Hint: You may find the answer somewhere in the sausages section of Redhill Farm’s website:  

http://www.redhillfarm.com/

1.  Send an email to sausage-blog@live.com

2.  Put "Redhill" in the subject line

3.  Tell us the answer (a,b, or c), your first name, initial of your surname, and the county you live in.

4  That's it!

Conditions:

Only one entry per email address, open to UK residents only.  Entries must be received on or before November 11, emails received after that date will not be entered in the draw.  The winners will be chosen at random from all correct entries at noon on Monday 12 November, and we will contact you by email on that date.  Winners must reply within 96 hours, otherwise the prize will be offered to another randomly chosen correct entrant.

Good luck!

Redhill Farm Free Range Pork - Gainsborough - Lincolnshire Sausage

Redhill Farm Free Range Pork is a brand I’d never heard of before one of my fab sisters provided Rate My Sausage with four of their Lincolnshire sausages, purchased at Sleaford farmers’ market.  Redhill Farm Free Range Pork run a small shop on their farm but they sell most of their produce at farmers’ markets in and around Lincolnshire – you can check the locations for yourself by visiting their website:  REDHILL-FARM-FREE-RANGE-PORK

You’ll see that they describe their own Lincolnshire sausages thus, “Real Lincolnshire Sausages with hand rubbed English sage as the only added ingredient. 80% min. meat content.  The ideal breakfast sausage or sausage sandwich, but also good for casseroles and used by San Pietro Restaurant to make a great bolognaise sauce.”

This is a very worthwhile sausage-maker, and I’ve scoured the Internet looking for something negative to add to their review – with no luck, which is unusual in itself.  There really is nothing bad (I was hoping for a grumble or two to balance out what will otherwise come across as a glowing write-up), so I’ll just have to fill the space with some of the awards that Redhill Farm Free Range Pork have won instead:

1 *Star Gold Great Taste Award 2011

BBC Good Food Magazine - Top 3 Sausages in the UK

Lincolnshire’s Favourite Sausage – Lincoln Sausage Festival 2010

Guardian Newspaper 10 Best Sausages in the UK 2008

There are many more, but I think you get the picture.  Enough chit-chat, let’s rate their sausages!

Meat Content:

My first impression was that despite the quoted figure of 80% pork, they did seem a little on the light side, meat-wise.  That was plain wrong wrong wrong!  The home-reared pork is here in abundance, with the high standards of the farming process contributing to this delicious banger.  Chunky, choice and challenging to eat more than two.  Three Shredded Wheat would be a walk in the park in comparison.  High quality pork is the starting point of a good sausage, and there’s little doubt that Redhill Farm Free Range Pork’s meat is top notch.

Flavour:

Beautifully Lincolnshire!  There’s an instant hit of mild spiciness, then warm sage, cosily wrapped up in the succulent chopped pork.  I was born in Lincoln, and brought up eating proper, local, Lincolnshire bangers made in, well, Lincoln (must visit there soon to buy some bangers) – Redhill Farm Free Range Pork capture the Lincolnshire sausage flavour perfectly.  Slightly warm, plenty of sage, great pork meat – a winner!  Compare and contrast with the frankly bloody awful Tesco version of the Lincolnshire sausage that we tried a few weeks ago, and you’ll see that there is just no comparison: Tesco-Lincolnshire-Sausage-Review

Texture:

Big, bold, bossy bangers.  Huge lumps of pork that maintain a delicateness to allow the filling to tap-dance all over your taste buds and then rumble down the gullet.  Crumbled into chunky morsels, and were wonderfully coarse inside – fabulous.  All the ingredients are on show when you carve through them – we like!

Shrinkage: 

Average weight uncooked - 94g

Average weight cooked - 69g

Shrinkage - 26%

I have an issue with the company over this figure.  Not only is 26% too high, but I believe their website is extremely misleading (to put it politely).  To quote “with a high meat content varying between 80% - 100% meat, that doesn’t shrink at all when cooked”.  This is patently untrue, all sausages shrink in varying amounts.  Sadly the high percentage that these bangers lost really dragged its score downwards.  If you want to add a generous slant on the shrinking thing, maybe Redhill Farm mean that the Actual Meat in the sausages doesn’t shrink – but that’s semantics.

Value For Money:

£2.53 for four sausages, weighing 375g - this works out as a price of £6.75 per kg, or 63p per snorker.  These are the most expensive sausages we’ve tried in 2012, but as they were given to me by my sis they didn’t cost me a penny!  63p is a high price, but these Lincolnshire sausages are very good quality.  Let’s settle on “very good” value for money.

And Finally Esther:

I asked managing director Jane Tomlinson if she would like to add anything to the review, and she generously took time out from her Sunday to say, “I grew up making real Lincolnshire sausages with my mother at the kitchen table for our family meals - adding cups of pork and fat, cups of breadcrumbs, chopping sage, washing out skins and filling them using an old hand mincer that I still have today.  Although now we produce our sausages at Redhill Farm on a slightly larger scale we still cut all the meat by hand, mix the dry ingredients for our own recipe, use natural skins and hand-link them to create the best Lincolnshire sausages.  Naturally the people of Lincolnshire are very particular about their sausages so it is the most sincere endorsement for our Lincolnshire sausages that they were chosen as Lincolnshire's favourite sausage - and we are proud to be known affectionately at farmers' markets as the stall with the queue!” 

Thank you Jane – you don’t get that kind of personal treatment from Barry Tesco do you!