Sausages ! Quality ?

[tiger104]

Never eating them again after watching gillian mcKeith programme, some of you out there work with meat, what goes into sausages ?

How can we tell if we are getting a quality sausage ?

[andyjevs]

Why don't you try making your own,,,they really aren't that hard and you can make your own recipes

[tiger104]

What about the skin, and how do i stuff them

[Robert G]

Seek out your local sausage makers who pride themselves in their sausages. (They may not be that local, of course). Ask them exactly what goes in their sausages. Or consult your local butcher. Be prepared to pay a fair price for high quality sausages. Some of these may seem expensive but generally they are meaty and heavy, and very filling, and so you probably need only half the number of such sausages that you might otherwise buy. Be wary of low-priced, mass-produced packs of sausages on the shelves and in the freezers of supermarkets and corner shops unless you can get satisfactory information from the manufacturers.

[Quickcummer]

I use a 'King Chef' sausage stuffer which was cheap and does the job well. Your local sausage-making butcher will probably give you some skin for free if you purchase the meat from him. I use minced belly draught for the right fat/meat ratio, I tried making almost fat free but the sausages were too dry.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/hand-held-sausage-maker-King-Chef-new_W0QQitemZ4438005152QQcategoryZ20685QQtcZphotoQQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

There are a couple for sale on Ebay.

[lady_p_gold]

I think that the Duchy sausages are fairly ok although I could be living in a false sense of security ......

[dzug]

Bear in mind that sausages were invented as a way of making butcher's rubbish palatable. This can be taken to extremes though.

As to quality, special offers aside, go on price. The more it costs, the better it is.

Don't ask what goes in chicken nuggets either....

[Quiet Man]

Don't eat the cheaper major brands they are made to a low price and usually made with mechanically recovered meat from chicken carcases as part of the recipe. If there is more that 30% fat in the sausage it needs to go on the label as excess fat. Avoid the fast food and catering outlets too as you don't see any label. A pork sausage normally contains a minimum of 42% meat and the rest is made up with Water/ice, Rusk (made from dried bread), Soya, Seasoning (Salt, spices, herbs, Phosphate, Antioxidant, Preservative, Colour). A really good butcher with awards for their sausages is a safe bet or a supermarket's own brand - go for the higher meat content (up to 85%) on the label. If you want to make your own I can post a good recipe - just ask.

[les saisies]

Buy your sausages from your local independent butcher who maks his/her own. Should not have any problems then. More expensive than the major national brands but much better to eat.

[tobeloy]

Sainsburys and tesco sell good quality sausage of 80 & 90% meat ut you will pay around �2 upwards a pound

[Quickcummer]

80% meat can mean 40% flesh and 40% crap, as in ground up ears, facial meat, connective tissue, skin, fat etc.

The only way to be sure is make them yourself.

[kick3m0n]

all good advice above. And as a golden rule, when in a supermarket never buy sausages that do not identify the meat used in their name eg "12 link sausages" instead of "12 pork link sausgaes". These have a meat content so low that it's shocking, and can be made up of the very worst bits of leftover.

[gollob]

Pork Sausages have to contain a minimum of 65% meat(not 42%) A beef sausage or beef and pork sausage only has to contain 50% meat Beware of any other labelling like catering saisage or mechanically recovered meat Most brand name sausages are bland with no flavour much better to go to a private butcher who makes his own.The skins are made of sheep or lamb intestines or can be devro casings which are artifical casings(or skins)

[ahar]

i wouldn't get too upset about anything gillian mckeith says, she likes to scare people.

[kazzareee]

My local butcher is Powters in Newmarket and I think they are the best - you can even get them 95% fat free. They have won loads of awards and are really tasty and reasonably priced. They have a website where you can order from www.powters.co.uk . See what you think.