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Butchers sausages - meat content

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  • 03-09-2014 1:39am
    #1
    stmol32
    Registered Users Posts: 718 ✭✭✭


    I aplogise because I know there was a thread almost like this but it's 6 months old and I wasn't sure about resurrecting an old thread.

    My question is, are sausages from the butchers, or supermarket butcher counter 100% meat?

    I always look at the meat content of sausages in the supermarket and even the best (Olhausens etc.) have about 65% at best.

    The butchers sausages are generally more expensive but unlabelled so does that mean they have more meat content?


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    #2
    Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo
    Registered Users Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo


    Ask the butcher, he probably made them himself so he should know.

    I think sausages, kinda like burgers, need a certain amount of fat in order to be juicy and delicious.

    Think about 20-25% fat content is the ideal.

    If they had no fat your piece of meat would dry out too much during the cooking process.


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    #3
    Faith
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,655 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    Yeah, a 100% meat sausage would actually not be very nice. A good sausage would usually have maybe 60-80% pork with plenty of fat, seasonings, spices and filler (some kind of carb) for moisture and flavour.


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    #4
    rubadub
    Registered Users Posts: 32,373 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »
    I think sausages, kinda like burgers, need a certain amount of fat in order to be juicy and delicious.

    Think about 20-25% fat content is the ideal.
    True, but the OP is talking about meat content, not % lean meat content, fat would be included in the 65% meat content listed the likes of the Olhausens. I think he is more concerned about the use of cheap fillers to bulk out cheapo ones.

    Here are denny gold medal

    http://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=280966269
    Ingredients

    Pork (60%),Water ,Rusk (Wheat Flour, Salt) ,Starch (Wheat) ,Pork Fat ,Pork Rind ,Salt ,Yeast Extract ,Stabiliser (Sodium Triphosphate) ,Dextrose ,Flavour Enhancer (Monosodium Glutamate) ,Spices ,Preservative (Sodium Metabisulphite) ,Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid) ,Colour (Carmine) ,Maltodextrin ,Beef Casings ,May contains traces of Mustard and Soya

    So the pork is 60%, this would have fat included. Later on they also list that they add additional pork fat. This might lead people to think the original 60% was lean meat.

    It would depend on what butcher you go so, I have seen some advertise meat content. Many of the more expensive ones in supermarkets are quite high meat content, I actually prefer the meat content of ~65%, Olhausen would be my favourites.


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    #5
    Dickerty
    Registered Users Posts: 7,872 ✭✭✭Dickerty


    Superquinns are 80% pork, and 29g of fat per 100g, which explains why they taste so good!
    But they also contain MSG I believe?

    So basically - 80% is good if the other 20% is spices, a small amount of salt, and some stabilisers (yeast, starch)...


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    #6
    rubadub
    Registered Users Posts: 32,373 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    Dickerty wrote: »
    But they also contain MSG I believe?
    They do, also it can go under many other names.

    http://www.fxbuckleybutchers.ie/pork-sausages.html?___SID=U
    FX Buckley are renounced for their famous pork sausages which we have been making since 1930 and are extremely popular with customers. We have won numerous National rewards our authentic sausages. What makes FX Buckley sausages different?
    • All our sausages are made fresh every morning
    • Only fresh cuts of Irish pork go into our traditional sausage recipe.
    • Only natural sausage casing used
    • 83% meat content with natural seasonings
    • Hand linked by our master butchers to ensure the highest quality.


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    #7
    Boskowski
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,361 ✭✭✭Boskowski


    One thing I'm quite sure of. If you ever got to see with your own eyes what they're made of you wouldn't ever eat a sausage again.


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    #8
    CJhaughey
    Registered Users Posts: 14,906 ✭✭✭✭CJhaughey


    Yep make your own, you will quickly find that belly pork is essential to a nice sausage, otherwise they are as dry as a bone.


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    #9
    Tefral
    Registered Users Posts: 4,318 ✭✭✭Tefral


    Boskowski wrote: »
    One thing I'm quite sure of. If you ever got to see with your own eyes what they're made of you wouldn't ever eat a sausage again.

    Sweepings of the butchers floor is what was described to me once.

    I told them stop talking as I want to live in blissful ignorance.

    Sure if you ever put them in the george foreman or when BBQ'ing them, that should tell you all you need to know about how healthy they are


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    #10
    Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo
    Registered Users Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo


    rubadub wrote: »
    True, but the OP is talking about meat content, not % lean meat content, fat would be included in the 65% meat content listed the likes of the Olhausens. I think he is more concerned about the use of cheap fillers to bulk out cheapo ones.

    Here are denny gold medal

    http://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=280966269



    So the pork is 60%, this would have fat included. Later on they also list that they add additional pork fat. This might lead people to think the original 60% was lean meat.

    It would depend on what butcher you go so, I have seen some advertise meat content. Many of the more expensive ones in supermarkets are quite high meat content, I actually prefer the meat content of ~65%, Olhausen would be my favourites.

    One thing I know is whoever gave Denny a 'gold' medal for their sausages must have been smoking crack, and hadn't eaten anything for a month before reaching their decision to give them that award. :pac:


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    #11
    Dont be at yourself
    Registered Users Posts: 10,571 ✭✭✭✭Dont be at yourself


    Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »
    One thing I know is whoever gave Denny a 'gold' medal for their sausages must have been smoking crack, and hadn't eaten anything for a month before reaching their decision to give them that award. :pac:

    I think the test conditions consisted of going for a skin full of pints and arriving home to a fridge empty save for a pack of Denny's.


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    #12
    Lucena
    Registered Users Posts: 1,304 ✭✭✭Lucena


    Boskowski wrote: »
    One thing I'm quite sure of. If you ever got to see with your own eyes what they're made of you wouldn't ever eat a sausage again.

    Do you have some insider information? From mass-produced sausages or butcher sausages?


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    #13
    the_syco
    Registered Users Posts: 37,295 ✭✭✭✭the_syco


    Like the Lidl or Aldi 80% pork sausages myself. Just had the steak and black pepper sausage at lunch. I blame this thread for that lovely idea :P


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    #14
    ElleEm
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,981 ✭✭✭ElleEm


    Kearns' are 70% as far as I know, and are a good second place to Superquinn!


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    #15
    bmm
    Registered Users Posts: 912 ✭✭✭bmm


    Clonakilty ! Yum!


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    #16
    Alun
    Registered Users Posts: 21,427 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    the_syco wrote: »
    Like the Lidl or Aldi 80% pork sausages myself. Just had the steak and black pepper sausage at lunch. I blame this thread for that lovely idea :P
    The Lidl 'flavoured' ones are great, but I wish they'd try and revert their plain pork sausages back to the way they were before the previous supplier went bust. The new ones are OK flavour wise, but they're a bit too skinny for my liking and have a weird skin on them.


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    #17
    rubadub
    Registered Users Posts: 32,373 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    Alun wrote: »
    weird skin on them.
    The skin is very important for me. I don't like any tesco skins I tired, including several of the "finest" range ones, large, medium cocktail size. They are just tough or something, I think at one time they were good.

    This is why I like olhausen, the skins are amazing, like I remember old superquinn ones, you could press down on a sausage with the tip of a finger and almost be able to pick it up since they are so sticky.


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    #18
    Lissavane
    Registered Users Posts: 542 ✭✭✭Lissavane


    rubadub wrote: »
    They do, also it can go under many other names.

    http://www.fxbuckleybutchers.ie/pork-sausages.html?___SID=U

    "Quote:
    FX Buckley are renounced for their famous pork sausages which we have been making since 1930 and are extremely popular with customers. We have won numerous National rewards our authentic sausages. What makes FX Buckley sausages different?
    • All our sausages are made fresh every morning
    • Only fresh cuts of Irish pork go into our traditional sausage recipe.
    • Only natural sausage casing used
    • 83% meat content with natural seasonings
    • Hand linked by our master butchers to ensure the highest quality."

    I love it - probably one of the best malapropisms ever recorded. Maybe drafted by a disgruntled member of staff!


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    #19
    Alun
    Registered Users Posts: 21,427 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    Lissavane wrote: »
    I love it - probably one of the best malapropisms ever recorded. Maybe drafted by a disgruntled member of staff!
    Probably just sloppy (or non-existent) proofreading. 'Rewards' should be 'awards' too.


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    #20
    CJhaughey
    Registered Users Posts: 14,906 ✭✭✭✭CJhaughey


    rubadub wrote: »
    The skin is very important for me. I don't like any tesco skins I tired, including several of the "finest" range ones, large, medium cocktail size. They are just tough or something, I think at one time they were good.

    This is why I like olhausen, the skins are amazing, like I remember old superquinn ones, you could press down on a sausage with the tip of a finger and almost be able to pick it up since they are so sticky.
    Natural casings vs Collagen casings, natural are so much nicer than collagen.
    I won't eat collagen casings since I made my own as they change the way the sausage cooks and tastes.


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    #21
    suicide_circus
    Registered Users Posts: 19,802 ✭✭✭✭suicide_circus


    Who makes the sausages, rashers, pudding you get in an average spar/centra/londis type breakfast roll? Bloody shiite quality. Dennys and Galtee are absolute muck as well.


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    #22
    Oregano_State
    Registered Users Posts: 2,290 ✭✭✭Oregano_State


    Dickerty wrote: »
    Superquinns are 80% pork, and 29g of fat per 100g, which explains why they taste so good!
    But they also contain MSG I believe?

    So basically - 80% is good if the other 20% is spices, a small amount of salt, and some stabilisers (yeast, starch)...

    There's a lot of fear-mongering out there about MSG,. It's just as healthy as table salt, i.e, perfectly fine as long as you're not going overboard on your sodium intake.


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    #23
    Lucena
    Registered Users Posts: 1,304 ✭✭✭Lucena


    suicide_circus wrote: »
    Who makes the sausages, rashers, pudding you get in an average spar/centra/londis type breakfast roll? Bloody shiite quality. Dennys and Galtee are absolute muck as well.

    Of course they're sh1te quality, people aren't too fussed about what's in them, so there's no point in putting in top-quality leek and sage butcher sausages when Paddy Mucksavage just wants his salt and calorie fix.


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    #24
    pwurple
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,449 ✭✭✭✭pwurple


    Boskowski wrote: »
    One thing I'm quite sure of. If you ever got to see with your own eyes what they're made of you wouldn't ever eat a sausage again.

    Some of them, but there are butchers around who let you watch them being made. I have a meat grinder and stuffer, have made my own. Been to the local butchers to watch it being done too. Sausages are awesome!


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    #25
    stmol32
    Registered Users Posts: 718 ✭✭✭stmol32


    the_syco wrote: »
    Like the Lidl or Aldi 80% pork sausages myself. Just had the steak and black pepper sausage at lunch. I blame this thread for that lovely idea :P

    You're very welcome!

    Cheers for the replies folks... I learnded lots.


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    #26
    amklo
    Registered Users Posts: 98 ✭✭amklo


    Boskowski wrote: »
    One thing I'm quite sure of. If you ever got to see with your own eyes what they're made of you wouldn't ever eat a sausage again.

    Actually from talking to a guy I know who worked in a pig\pork processing plant, he said seeing what sausages are made of is actually ok....but the processed ham is another story!


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