WITH the summer holidays fast approaching and the weather warming up, it’s time to bring out the barbecue.
But is it possible to buy food and drink for a family BBQ without breaking the bank?
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One way to cut costs is to swap branded products for supermarket own-brand versions.
We’ve tested summer favourites from all the major supermarkets for you to find out which ones are the closest in quality to the branded version and the best value for money.
Today, we’ve tested supermarket own-brand sausages and compared them with Richmond thick pork sausages to see how they measure up.
We’ve scored them out of ten for taste, taking into account how much meat they contain and how healthy they are.
And we’ve also scored them out of ten for value, based on the price you pay per 100g of sausage.
Here’s how the sausages scored out of 20 overall:
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WINNER: Lidl Birchwood Pork Sausages
- £1.49 for 8
The Lidl sausages were delicious. They tasted meaty and had a touch of herb seasoning.
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The skins browned up nicely and the middle was soft without being mushy. They were also just 19p per sausage – the joint-lowest price.
The only negative point was they had the highest saturated fat content of all the sausages we tried, at 8.5 per cent – compared to just 5.5 per cent in Richmond sausages.
Taste: 9/10
Value: 9/10
Total: 18/20
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Asda Flavourful Pork Sausages
- £1.50 for 8
Asda’s sausages did not brown well when cooked so looked unappealing – but they tasted great.
They were meaty and delicious, with a 72 per cent meat content.
They were also among the cheapest at 19p per sausage, so great value for money.
Taste: 8/10
Value: 8/10
Total: 16/20
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Sainsbury’s Pork Sausages
- £1.49 for 8
The Sainsbury’s sausages tasted meaty and browned well when cooked, but they left a greasy residue in your mouth after eating.
At just 19p per sausage, they were good value for money.
Taste: 7/10
Value: 7/10
Total: 14/20
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Aldi Ashfield Farm Butcher’s Select Pork Sausages
- £1.49 for 8
Aldi’s sausages had a nice crispy skin but the filling was quite tasteless.
The flavour didn’t stand up well to being BBQed and meant all we could taste was charcoal.
At just 19p per sausage they were the joint-cheapest we tried.
Taste: 6/10
Value: 7/10
Total: 13/20
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Tesco Pork Sausages
- £1.85 for 8
The Tesco sausages had a firmer texture and a higher meat content than the Richmond sausages, at 72 per cent, but had a plasticky taste and were very greasy when cooked.
At 23p per sausage, they were middle of the range on price.
Taste: 4/10
Value: 5/10
Total: 10/20
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Morrisons Pork Sausages
These were the most expensive own-brand sausages, at 25p per sausage, but the taste didn’t reflect the price.
The Morrisons’ sausages were dry in texture and tasted a bit like cardboard.
But they did have the lowest salt content of all the sausages we tried, at 1.1 per cent.
Taste: 4/10
Value: 4/10
Total: 8/20
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Richmond Thick Pork Sausages
- £2.25 for 8
The branded sausages browned nicely but the skin was quite tough and the middle was mushy in texture and very salty.
Considering these were by far the most expensive sausages we tried – at 28p per sausage – they were disappointing.
They also had the lowest meat content at just 42 per cent pork, and the highest salt content at 2.3 per cent, making them the least healthy.
Taste: 5/10
Value: 2/10
Total: 7/20
