Sausage Review - we review sausages

I had done a run to make a delivery just before last Christmas to the Goat Shed butchery in Honingham, near Norwich. I bought some very nice pork sausages whilst there, and some chipolatas which it seems I had completely forgotten about buying...

So at the bottom of our polar ice station deep freeze I've just found said chipolatas. Yes I know cooking these after keeping such for this amount of time (10 months) perhaps isn't best recommended, but hey I'm not wasting good produce. They certainly looked ok as they thawed. No burns, discolouration, strange odurs or damage, and the packaging was completely intact, so in the pan they went...

Yes we pan fry all our sampling for consistency of reviews, and yes we have heard of air frying, but pan frying is what we do...

Unlike the "porks", these chipolatas contain wheat rusk, so are not gluten free. However 74% Norfolk pork trim in what appears to be natural skins does sound OK. Mind you it's hard to miss all the "E's" listed on the labelling and the flavouring & spices being extracts, doesn't view any better to be honest.

9 chipolatas in a pack is novel though. I suppose it's a pack weight thing perhaps.

We were informed that meat for the larger porks comes from Tim Allen at Morley Farm in South Creake, North Norfolk (near the Suffolk border), who we understand specialises in high-welfare, outdoor-reared top-quality pork with excellent marbling and a sweet flavour. All RSPCA and Red Tractor assured. Well that sounds rather better, well as long as it's the same source for these chipolatas. I need to ask.

Cooked up the skins did brown very well with no splits, bursts or any of that white elmusion stuff we occasionally see. The cooking aroma was very good.

Texture-wise quite smooth which we liked. The general seasoning was very good too. The flavouring was mild but very pleasant albeit from perhaps an off the shelf butchers dry seasoning mix. Need to check this too. The skins appear good quality and did cut nicely, although OK they weren't "chipolata snappy", but with the nicely cooked pork they did provide a good bite and chew.

No noticeable shrinkage in the cooking, and OK a little weight loss, but a very very nice pork chipolata sausage. You'll like these I'm sure.

Good value too we might add.

So, we certainly liked these and we would definitely buy again when up Norwich way.


The Goat Shed (Honingham) - Pork (Oct 2026)

Here's the sample details:
130x20mm before cooking, 130x20mm after.
49g before cooking, 45g after.
That's 0% shrinkage & weight loss of approx 8%.
9 chipolata sausages (approx 440g pack) £5.50 (approx £12.50/kg)

   
 
Goat Shed,
Colton Road,
Honingham
NR9 5DJ
01603 880685

Monday to Saturday
Shop: 8:00am – 6:00pm
Kitchen: 8:00am – 5:00pm (hot food served until 4:00pm, coffee and cake served until 5:00pm)

Sunday
Shop: 9:30am – 4:00pm
Kitchen: 9:30am – 4:00pm (hot food served until 3:00pm, coffee and cake served until 4:00pm)

www.goat-shed.co.uk