'I tried sausages from Tesco, Aldi, Richmond, Heck and Birds to find a winner'
Us Brits love a sausage, and with more than 400 different varieties available, it's hard to know which ones to pick up in the supermarket. From pork and caramelised red onion, pork and apple, chicken, chorizo, cheese and pepper, the list is endless.
As a versatile mealtime staple, a humble sausage can be the perfect addition to a breakfast roll, a toad in the hole or casserole, and Nottinghamshire Live reporter Lynette Pinchess, who usually opts for butcher's sausages, ditched the posh sausages and put well-known branded ones to the test to see which one came out as the best.
She tried and tested some well-known branded sausages (Nottinghamshire Live)Roping in her sausage-loving husband, the pair taste-tested a range of brands that can be found nationwide, trying out Tesco, Aldi, Heck, Richmond and Birds Bakery sausages to decide on the winner. They were pleasantly surprised at the price, the amount of meat and the size of the porky sausages - and some they would happily pick up again.
Aldi - eight sausages £1.89
A pork sausage should contain at least 42 per cent meat. These discount supermarket bangers have 72 per cent. They're thicker and chunkier than some of the other brands. To say they're the cheapest of the bunch, they're not bad with a decent porky punch and well seasoned although the skin was slightly tough and wrinkly. I wouldn't hesitate to buy them again, especially at that price.
Richmond - eight sausages £2.60
Dubbed the nation's favourite, these chunky pink sausages remind me of the fingers of a physio who once treated me for back pain. He did the job though. With 42 per cent pork content, they just qualify as a banger. They've been in production for more than 100 years so there are obviously generations of families who have devoured them. There's the unmistakable taste and soft texture of cheap sausage (although they're not that cheap). There's no hint of meatiness, just rusk and saltiness, yet there's a certain appeal to them, strangely. Perhaps it is the memories of childhood they evoke.
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Heck - six sausages for £3.25
We've never eaten Heck sausages before but we expected them to be impressive given the price and 97 per cent meat content. The sausages are gluten-free and dairy-free making them good for coeliacs and anyone with a dairy intolerance. Made in small batches on a farm in Yorkshire, they proclaim "We're big on premium quality and flavour." However, they just don't do it for us. The skin doesn't have the usual caramelised colour but an unappetising shade of brown. Call me a heathen but I really don't like the taste nor texture. I wouldn't buy these again.
She admitted some were better than others (Nottinghamshire Live)Birds Bakery - six sausages for £5.50
The Derbyshire bakery chain, which has shops across Nottinghamshire, is well known for cream cakes, bread and sausage rolls but they also sell packs of sausages, which seems to come as a surprise to some people. I almost choked at the price when I picked up a packet though. I wasn't expecting them to be that expensive. Once I get over the shock and tuck in, I have to admit it tastes great, with a peppery and herby tang. The skin has a pleasant crisp finish. It seems really meaty so I'm surprised to discover the pork content is only 58 per cent, lower than most of the other sausages.
The sausage splits during cooking so I'm not sure how well it would bear up in a stew but, I'd happily tuck into it with bacon and egg, and since it's longer and thinner than the supermarket brands, it would work well as a hot dog.
Tesco - six sausages for £2.30
These meaty morsels look and taste very similar to Aldi's although you can detect the specks of parsley in them. They have the same pork content at 72 per cent. There's not much between the texture and herby, peppery flavour too although I'd say they're juicier than the discount supermarket's. A decent-tasting porky sausage, it would work just as well on a breakfast plate as it would in a casserole.
The verdict: Supermarket sausages
Well, this is a tough one. If money was no object, then Birds' is a prime banger and overall winner for taste but at £5.50 it's not affordable for the average family of four battling the cost of living crisis. For value for money and taste it has to be Tesco that snatches the crown as the best all-rounder.
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