This week’s batch of reviews is focussing on sausages. The range of choice has improved immeasurably since the commercial price of skimmed milk powder went up. Since this stopped being the cheapest bulking agent known to man, fewer manufacturers are padding out their products with it… and there are more things we can now eat!
In general, the better sausages will have more meat in them. You won’t usually find (and indeed don’t want) 100% meat, as a certain amount of rusk and fat will give you a better cooking sausage.
There are, of course, other considerations with sausages. The chief one is the source of the pork used in the sausages. Sausage manufacturers are not always clear in their labelling. There are free range sausages, outdoor reared sausages and outdoor bred sausages. The difference is significant. “Free range” should be exactly what it says. The pigs lived outdoors with shelters and plenty of space for foraging. “Outdoor reared” sounds the same, but might not include as good an allocation of space per pig. The really sneaky one is “outdoor bred”. This only means that the pigs were born outdoors. It has absolutely nothing to say about the conditions in which they lived. The only reason why anyone would choose this designation over either of the other two has to be that the pigs were not kept outdoors. They may have been barn-reared, which can be quite good if there’s plenty of straw and space per pig, but isn’t the same as real free range rearing. However, you have no guarantees at all about the conditions in which they were kept from birth.
All the varieties listed below are
OK
Free Range
Duchy Selections Free Range
6 Old Fashioned Sausages with honey and rosemary. 79% pork. £7.13 per kg.
6 Old Fashioned Sausages with fresh herbs. 87% pork. £7.13 per kg.
Waitrose
Free Range Hampshire Breed Linconshire. 87% pork. £6.15 per kg.
Free Range Hampshire Breed Cumberland. 87% pork. £6.15 per kg.
Free Range Hampshire Breed Pork. 87% pork. £6.15 per kg.
Organic Free Range Chipolatas. 86% pork. £9.09 per kg.
Organic Free Range Sausages. 86% pork. £9.09 per kg.
Free Range Pork Casserole Sausages. 87% pork £5.34 per kg.
Outdoor reared
Musk’s
Gluten Free Newmarket Sausages. 75% pork. £7.69 per kg.
Newmarket Sausages. 75% pork. £7.69 per kg.
Porkinson Banger
6 Original. 80% pork. £6.26 per kg.
Outdoor Bred
Rankin Selection
Irish Pork Sausages. 85% pork. £6.48 per kg.
Irish Pork and Herb Sausages. 85% pork. £6.48 per kg.
At least this brand is honest about the rearing of the pigs, stating that they are reared in a barn environment.
The Good Little Company
Great Big Sausages. 85% pork. Gluten free. £5.56 per kg.
Good Little Sausages. 85% pork. £5.56 per kg.
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