1 Co-Op 6 Irresistible Outdoor-Bred Cumberland Sausages, £2.99
9/10
Nice, coarse, juicy texture, and a well-balanced pepperiness: excellent all-rounders.
2 Marks & Spencer 6 British Outdoor-Bred Pork Sausages, £3.20
8/10
Very porky (unsurprisingly, because they’re 97% pork), with a salty, almost bacon-ish flavour, these are a bit like giant pigs in blankets – no bad thing.
3 Waitrose 6 Free-Range Pork Sausages, £3.29
8/10
Despite the high meat content, these are pleasingly juicy, and taste “exactly like roast pork and crackling”, said one tester. I think they’d be good with some strong mustard.
4 Asda 6 Extra Special Classic Pork Sausages, £2.25
7/10
Juicy to the point of pleasurable greasiness, with a powerful porky flavour: “these would be great in a sausage sandwich”.
5 Tesco Finest 6 Pork Sausages, £2.50
7/10
Robust, with a pretty strong herby flavour that puts some testers in mind of a different kind of herb entirely, although, as a result, the pork itself gets a bit lost.
6 Waitrose Essential 8 British Pork Sausages, £1.70
7/10
These have a solid meatiness that’s “satisfyingly middle of the road”. Won’t set your world on fire, but they do the job.
7 Morrisons 6 The Best Thick British Old English Pork Sausages, £2.50
6/10
As plump and shiny as “toy sausages”, these are meaty, but a bit dry, with a very mild flavour. One tester asks if they’re made of turkey.
8 Co-Op Butcher’s Choice 8 Pork Sausages, £1.70
6/10
The firm skin and fine mince sends some of us down memory lane to childhood teatimes: for “maximum nostalgia points”, serve with chips and beans.
9 Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference 6 Outdoor-Bred British Pork Sausages, £2.50
5/10
This sausage, billed as “the meaty one”, is also incredibly dry – “It’s sucking all the moisture from my mouth,” objects one tester. Shame, because the flavour’s nice.
10 Asda Butcher’s Selection 8 British Pork Sausages, £1.75
5/10
Weirdly tough skin enclosing a pappy interior, but a decent flavour.
11 Tesco 8 Pork Sausages, £1.70
4/10
Unnervingly spongy in texture, these don’t win many points for flavour, either: “Not the kind of sausage I want to eat.”
12 Morrisons 8 Butcher’s Style Cumberland Sausages, £1.65
4/10
Dry and a bit bland, widely described as “hard work”: not a quality I prize in meat.
13 Sainsbury’s 8 Fresh British Pork Sausages, £1.50
4/10
Dried sage and salt are the main flavour notes here. Lean but boring: nothing to write home about.
14 Marks & Spencer 8 Pork Sausages, £1
3/10
No one was surprised to discover these were the cheapest sausages we tested: “leathery skin, mushy middle”. Disappointing.
