The plain porks from Padmore & Sons were a bit of a disappointment I'm afraid, however the CUMBERLANDS we bought at the same time turned out to be a lot better.

First impressions were good with them just like the porks in taking on a slight bend as they heated through and coloured up, however quite quickly, sausage eruptions happened again from the ends on a few as the skins tightened.  No splits or ruptures though, so not so bad I suppose. 

Cooked up they browned nicely. The cooked skins were OK, a tad chewy, but the texture of the filling was more than acceptable.  A good bit of spice and flavour though, which we like, and there appeared to be a very slight sweetness.  Not sure about this.  I got it but others here didn't, however these were a tasty sausage.  No minced gristle encountered incidentally this time, just lovely pork. 

Weight loss in cooking was a bit on the high side, and shrinkage, OK, reasonable.  Pricewise very reasonable.

Padmore & Sons (Ongar) - Cumberland    (Sep 2013)

Here's the sample details:
110x30mm before cooking, 90x32mm after.
63g before cooking, 50g after average.
That's a shrinkage of approx 12% & weight loss of approx 20%.
6 sausages £2.12 (£5.59/kg)

Padmore & Sons
103 High Street
Ongar
Essex
CM5 9DX