The first rule to follow when buying sausage is to find a reputable local butcher who makes their own sausage. It will cost you more money, because the butcher should only use the best meat and natural flavourings but Wow! it’s well worth the extra!!

The size and weight of a sausage doesn’t affect the taste, so pick the size and shape that suits your culinary needs. You can choose from thin linked, fatter Cumberland or Olde English type sausages, sausage rings or the small chipolatas that go ohhh so well with the Christmas dinner!

Traditional pork is a thin linked sausage, perfect for frying or grilling or even the BBQ. An Olde English would taste just as well in a fresh bread finger with a good dollop of English mustard and boiled onions.

Ring sausages are perfect for fitting on your barm- cake, with a splash of tomato sauce, mustard and fried onions mmm….these are tasty-delicious and quite filling so are not for the feint of heart!!

Natural versus Artificial skins on sausages:

You’re butcher will probably be familiar with the natural sausage casing organisation and will use natural sausage skins (or casings as they’re called). You can tell a natural sausage skin from an artificial one by the size and colour of the sausage. Sausages made in natural skins will be varying sizes and weights and have a shiny appearance. An artificial sausage skin is opaque, and every sausage will be exactly the same shape, size and weight; this is how supermarkets control the amount of sausage to weight ratio in every packet. Natural skins also let the fat drip naturally out from the sausage into your grill pan, whereas the fat in an artificial skin can’t escape the membrane.

The type and flavour of the sausage is entirely down to your personal preference. Stick to butchers who use the best British meat and you won’t go wrong for any meal of the day.