Sausages

schlep

I used to buy Saints & Scholars sausages in Tesco Merrion...the thing I liked about them was the fact that they contain 85% meat and the tasted good too which was an added bonus

Unfortunately Tesco Merrion don't seem to stock them any more...I wonder were they competing with the Tesco Finest range which starting at 70% would not seem to be to be the finest :rolleyes:

Any idea if any of the other Tesco shops are stocking this brand?

Or alternatively do any users know a relatively well priced (Saints & Scholars were 2 packs for €5) brand of sausage with a high meat content (over 80% preferably but the higher the better)?

I would be interested in all comments.

huskerdu

I have bought Saints and Scholars sausages in Tesco Dundrum, but haven't looked for them recently.

I, like many others love Suoerquinn sausages, but I dont know the exact meat content. I do know that there is very little fat comes from them when grilling compared to other brands. I am always amazed now clean the grill is.

Alun

I've seen those in Dunnes Stores in Cornelscourt, although they don't always have them.

Todd Gack

Jane Russell Bratwurst sausages say they're 99% pork. http://www.straightsausages.com and Hick's sausages all state they're 97.5% pork. The bratwurst are decent and cost €3.20 I think for 7/8 sausages.

The Hick's ones are huge, about a quarter pound each. There's a good few varieties. I wouldn't be a big fan of any of them, a bit rubbery.

I've gotten both of these in Listons on Camden St and Mortons in Ranelagh.

podgeandrodge

I have been going off sausages for the last few years as I began to notice more and more grizzle in them - was thinking the quality was getting worse everywhere.

Even in cafe's all you seem to get these days is those "catering sausages" - the big ones with that generic flavour that doesn't resemble a breakfast sausage at all.

So I went searching for higher pork content and found there are a couple with more than 80% pork when you look at the ingredients:

In Tesco I found "Hodgins Sausages" - 80% pork - tried these and they were truly amazing - like the way you have convinced yourself that sausages used to be! A real old fashioned sausage with NO GRIZZLE bits!

In Supervalu I saw "Truly Irish" sausages with 82% pork - but have not yet tried them.

One thing you always hear people saying is that "Superquinn sausages" are the best. I looked at the ingredients and was disappointed to see E621 - otherwise known as Monosodium Glutamate or MSG or "flavour enhancer" - doesn't say much for them if they have to add this.

Anyone else got experience of great "more than 80% pork" sausages? (In the sense of ordinary traditional sausages)

olaola

Superquinn (defo HSQ) sells them, they sell a good range of saussies along with their own epic sausage! God I love Superquinn sausages.

smiles302

If you are in Dublin the market

http://www.supernatural.ie/

has amazing meaty sausages every Saturday.

I don't really like any other sausages. These actually taste like meat :eek: haha

podgeandrodge

olaola wrote: »

God I love Superquinn sausages.

Yeah, but do you not agree it's a shame they have to put MSG into them? (not from a health point of view, but needing flavour enhancer suggests they aren't really great sausages in their own right)

S.R.F.C.

podgeandrodge wrote: »

Yeah, but do you not agree it's a shame they have to put MSG into them? (not from a health point of view, but needing flavour enhancer suggests they aren't really great sausages in their own right)

It certainly explains why they're so massively popular anyway.

Myself, only really buy from the butchers, most will tell you the pork content, love trying different flavoured sausies too, along with delicious sausage stuffing! Mmm sausies!

olaola

podgeandrodge wrote: »

Yeah, but do you not agree it's a shame they have to put MSG into them? (not from a health point of view, but needing flavour enhancer suggests they aren't really great sausages in their own right)

Shame they have to put in MSG into tomatoes and Pamesean too eh?

podgeandrodge

olaola wrote: »

Shame they have to put in MSG into tomatoes and Pamesean too eh?

Olaola, I'm not sure if you are agreeing with me or being sarcastic as I don't eat tomatoes and I haven't a clue what pamesean is.

But nothing would surprise me as it gets put into so much stuff. Do tomatoes not have natural msg? I'm talking about adding it in any event. I purchased a "traditional bacon and cabbage" meal in SuperValue made with "only the best of ingredients" etc etc and that also had msg. Seems it is unpopular to trust the actual taste of the food itself to sell a product.

Sergeant

MSG is widely used in many Asian countries as an alternative to salt. In other regions fish sauce is used, with seaweed extract being used in Japanese cooking. Both fish sauce and seaweed extract contain glutamic acid of which MSG is a sodium salt. More research has been done into MSG than any other flavour enhancer and there has been no proof that it has any effect on health (apart from being high in Sodium). So this No MSG selling point can be false advertising if they are putting in another flavour enhancer, one that hasn't been used for over 100 years.

sakani

'Simply better' sausages from Dunnes are beautiful. They are 85% pork and are lovely. I think its about €3 for 12 sausages but i'd rather pay a bit extra than get really fatty ones. And they're usually on special every few weeks as well!

I recently tried the 'flavored' tesco finest (2 x 6packs for €5) and they range from 75 - 87% meat depending on the flavour. They were also really nice. We've taken to a weekly dinner of Bangers and Mash and these are perfect for the job :cool:

mike65

schlep wrote: »

I used to buy Saints & Scholars sausages in Tesco Merrion...the thing I liked about them was the fact that they contain 85% meat and the tasted good too which was an added bonus

Unfortunately Tesco Merrion don't seem to stock them any more...I wonder were they competing with the Tesco Finest range which starting at 70% would not seem to be to be the finest :rolleyes:

Any idea if any of the other Tesco shops are stocking this brand?

Or alternatively do any users know a relatively well priced (Saints & Scholars were 2 packs for €5) brand of sausage with a high meat content (over 80% preferably but the higher the better)?

I would be interested in all comments.

Just a bump for these which are being stocked in Lidl this week. Bought some today will be back with a taste report in a day or two.

Alun

mike65 wrote: »

Just a bump for these which are being stocked in Lidl this week. Bought some today will be back with a taste report in a day or two.

Yeah, I got those too, but I don't think it'll be a regular stock item, more like they bought up a surplus from somewhere cheaply. I'm particularly interested in how the Pork and Bacon ones will taste.

europhile

Lid's pork & spring onion sausages are made by Doherty & Gray of Ballymena who also make Saints & Scholors sausages. Problem solved! The are delicious.

mike65

mike65 wrote: »

Just a bump for these which are being stocked in Lidl this week. Bought some today will be back with a taste report in a day or two.

Several months later! They tasted nice but it feels like a product for which the packaging is as important as the contents, if you get me. Lidl have some "bod standard" Glensallagh branded sausages in stock which are rather good.

rubadub

podgeandrodge wrote: »

Yeah, but do you not agree it's a shame they have to put MSG into them? (not from a health point of view, but needing flavour enhancer suggests they aren't really great sausages in their own right)

I think it would be extremely difficult to come across any sausages without added flavour enhancers. The most commonly added flavour enhancer being sodium chloride (which also has health concerns, if it was an issue with you)

If you did they would probably taste manky and you would probably end up adding your own.

pwurple

rubadub wrote: »

I think it would be extremely difficult to come across any sausages without added flavour enhancers. The most commonly added flavour enhancer being sodium chloride (which also has health concerns, if it was an issue with you)

If you did they would probably taste manky and you would probably end up adding your own.

Proper butchers who make their own sausages don't add anything except salt and herbs/spices (your sodium chloride above). You could request some made without though, if you have a good relationship with your local butcher. If they are making batches of cumberland, boerwurst, etc, they can put a batch of whatever you request through the grinder and stuffer. You will just have a big batch of sausages for your freezer.

I've made my own, and the usual irish breakfast sausage to me seems to be a spice mix of ground fennel with white pepper and salt.

rubadub

pwurple wrote: »

Proper butchers who make their own sausages don't add anything except salt and herbs/spices (your sodium chloride above).

Most will have cereal/rusk added too, I know the Hicks ones do. I remember other threads where people were moaning about extra high meat sausages being on sale, saying that it was no longer a "sausage" as they are supposed to have cereals added.

seems here the salt is even more important!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sausage

The word sausage is derived from Old French saussiche, from the Latin word salsus meaning "salted"

hardCopy

mike65 wrote: »

Several months later! They tasted nice but it feels like a product for which the packaging is as important as the contents, if you get me. Lidl have some "bod standard" Glensallagh branded sausages in stock which are rather good.

Only the finest produce meets the BOD standard: