Tesco Finest -
Pork, Red Leicester & Jalapeno
I don't know
about you but I am rather partial to a
hotdog, or two come to that! OK certainly
not the type you get in the cinema and
perhaps not the one you get at a "bier fest"
with the breads that are impaled on a heated
spike and a cheapo "foreign" sausage stuffed
in to the hole with some mustard or chilli
sauce...
We saw these Tesco Finest originally in the
store and as I had need of some chilli
sausages to take fishing - no not as bait -
to cook up for a boys only lunch on the
bankside, in to the basket a couple of packs went!
Well we were (my angling friends) that
impressed with both the taste and texture,
another pack found it's way in to our Tesco
Click & Collect the following week for the
Sausage Review kitchen.
At this point I will be honest, one of the
senior team said that she wasn't sure she
would really like molten Red Leicester
cheese squirting out and burning her mouth
as previously experienced with jets of
molten cheese from some Käserkrainer
sausages we tried once before! Well fingers
crossed I said that won't happen. Just a
"hmm" was her response.
72% British prime cuts Red Tractor certified pork with 7% Red
Leicester cheese, and 3% Jalapeno chilli...and
prominently labelled as "Gluten Free" too...in
natural sausage skins I hasten to add.
Anyway, the other ingredients on the
packaging are interesting too. With
these sausages being gluten free we notice
that rice flour and potato starch are used
in the mix. However, we also notice the
label lists, "Bamboo Fibre". What the heck
is that in there for? Well after a bit of
research it appears that bamboo fibre is
made from bamboo shoots, it’s light in
colour, tasteless and consists of 98%
dietary fibre. When used produces a smoother
dough in baked products and in the sausage
mix it would appear that it binds with water
or fats and is therefore used to enable more
liquid to be added, a way of reducing costs
perhaps? I stand unsure about that but
bamboo fibre is
something that appears we are informed in
many available gluten free products.
So what are they like to eat? Well
think more of your traditional English
sausage with cheese and chilli rather that
what you might expect when something is
described as a "hot dog". The name hot dog
does imply more of a bratwurst or
frankfurter type sausage rather than what we
have here.
The
natural skins worked well and browned nicely
as you might expect for a proper clad
sausage. No splits or bursts even pan
fried as we do for sampling. In fact
very little additional oil found it's way in
to the pan which tends to indicate a
reasonable quality of filling. No jets
of molten cheese thankfully either!
As it happens the cheese seems to be quite
well distributed through the filling and we
found little evidence in this sample to
suggest large pockets of molten cheese which
would pose a threat of high pressure
venting! OK OK it's hot runny cheese, please
be careful if you do try these yourselves.
Texture-wise the meat was on the
smooth-side, but with
reasonable bite. The chew was good but as the sausages do hold quite a
succulence with the cheese, that was soft-ish. Taste-wise though
the cheese and the jalapeno chilli works
really well.
I was genuinely surprised I can say and for
£2.50 for a 4 pack, not bad at all!
So to the chilli. We'll don't worry, it my be
jalapenos that have been used but the chilli
heat is well under control and you'll get a
good buzz, but no real stinging lips.
We ate them as part of a sausage and mash
(yet again, yes we like that),
however in a long roll BBQ style that would
work well too.
Not bad sausage as it happens for a
supermarket style one. Marking these
with a 4 is sticking our neck out at bit
agreed, but these are certainly not a cheap
and cheerful supermarket sausage.
Would we buy some again? Yes for a garden
BBQ, or a boys lunch out whilst fishing, we
most definitely would.
Tesco Finest - Pork, Red Leicester &
Jalapeno
(Sep 2021)
Here's the sample details:
140x30mm before cooking, 120x30mm
after.
100g before cooking, 92g after.
That's a shrinkage of 14% & weight
loss of approx 8%.
4 sausages in a 400g pack £2.50
(£6.25/kg)
www.tesco.com