Burton & Baz Prime Pork Breakfast Sausage product reviews

In these times of increasingly expensive foodstuffs, it is difficult to include meat on a daily basis. Sausages are a useful way to add protein to the diet - less costly, and versatile so they can be included in many different combinations. There is one caveat, however. There are good sausages and bad sausages, and in my lifetime I have eaten more than my share of the bad ones! By definition, a bad sausage is one that is stuffed with additives (including preservatives and fillers like bread or cereal) and has little nutritional value. And a bad sausage tastes, well... bad! These are the sausages often used for fundraisers in the good old Kiwi sausage sizzle - just edible when smothered in tomato sauce and burnt onions, and hey, it is for a good cause (usually).

Burton & Baz' Prime Pork Sausages, on the other hand, are at the opposite end of the good/bad spectrum. At 80% meat they are nutritionally sound and taste like real meat. It is not for nothing that they are labelled Gourmet Sausages. The flavour is quite subtle, suitable for younger members of the family as they are not heavily spiced, and the shelf life of six days means that freshness is assured. The other plus in buying good quality meats is that you get much better value for your money as they are more filling than the cheap version. I found that a small packet of six breakfast sausages was enough for a meal for two people when combined with other items.

We chose to have them for dinner rather than breakfast as it suited our routine better. I cooked them in a very small quantity of olive oil - the sausages were not fatty so needed a little help to prevent their sticking. They were fully cooked in under ten minutes, and once they were ready we could really smell the garlic (a bonus as this is something we both enjoy). My partner said it was really refreshing to have a sausage that did not need to be drowned in tomato sauce; the flavour was sufficient on its own. We served the sausages with a side of home-made vegetable sweet bowl (stir fried vegetables, sweet chilli sauce, oyster sauce and black bean noodles) and apple sauce. I would have liked to add some fried field mushrooms as they would also have gone well with the sausages, but we did not have any - maybe next time!

When I buy this product again, I would like to try the cooked sausages sliced and served as part of a cheeseboard in place of salami. They are dense enough to be served cold without the risk of becoming greasy, so would go nicely with French bread and relish or a sharp pickle. If I were feeling especially adventurous, I might top them with some grated blue cheese and a few chopped walnuts. There again I might just combine a couple with bacon and eggs and enjoy a farmhouse breakfast!