Blind testing Tesco, Asda, Aldi, Co-Op and M&S sausages

If you ever find yourself at a loss for what to cook for tea, clocking a blighty banger in the back of a fridge will almost certainly send spirits through the roof.

It can be accompanied by almost anything as well: mashed potato, beans, Yorkshire puddings, the list is really endless, which makes it the perfect culinary partner.

Sausages are not only a reliable backup, they can be the centrepiece of a barbecue or hearty dish - casseroles spring to mind.

The six set of sausages (Image: NQ)

Not only that, but we are spoilt for choice. Brits have an obsession with the sausage like no other country, other than perhaps Germany, which is proved by almost any supermarket aisle and the offerings on display.

Cumberland, Lincolnshire, Newmarket, saveloy, again, the list goes on.

The ultimate question, however, is which supermarket offers the best sausage?

With that in mind, I once again stuck two fingers up to my cholesterol and went out and bought six packs of sausages from six different supermarkets.

They were all in packets of eight, that's 48 bangers.

Fun fact (that you probably knew): The term 'banger' dates back to World War I, when food shortages necessitated the use of fillers (mostly water) in meat. The high water content and tight casings often caused the sausages to explode during cooking.

Unlike the last food test of supermarket steaks, I decided to choose a friend as a blind taste tester alongside my own score, in order to get a fair and transparent result.

I chose Sam, 29, from Tranmere, or as he shall be known henceforth, Sammy the sausage.

To be even fairer, I cooked all the sausages for the same recommended amount of time in the oven - 200C for 20 minutes - with a little bit of oil and salt.

Each sausage was a typical own-brand pork sausage from each store and was tested without sauces, these were the results:

CO-OP

Price: £2.65

"The skin is really tough and not an even crisp at all. Quite bland to tell you the truth. 

"I'm not getting any seasoning or spices coming through, there's no bite to it either. Not a great feel in the mouth".

Sammy the sausage: 4/10

Myself: 6/10

Sammy the sausage was unimpressed with Asda's offering (Image: NQ)

Asda

Price: £2.30

"Well, I know which one you've given me here ******* hell (he had seen an Asda sausage beforehand). Zero browning, this just looks sad looking, a sad sausage.

"Even worse than the last, it tastes plant-based if anything. You can taste the grainy pieces of it individually, I wouldn't feed this to Elmo (his dog)."

Sammy the sausage: 1/10

Myself: 1/10

Tesco

Price: £2.25

"Ok, now we're in the business end. Much better browning on this sausage, looks plumper. For the first time today, I can say I've smelt a real sausage.

"Cuts nicely, firm, meatier, good texture. It's a decent sausage and you can tell the quality is a lot better".

Sammy the sausage: 7/10

Myself: 7/10

Aldi

Price: £1.89 (cheapest)

"The browning is quite good and it holds its shape when you cut into it. However, it doesn't smell 'sausagey'.

"A mid-sausage, not amazing, but it holds and has a bite to it. I tell you what it is, it's a good sarnie sausage, needs a sauce to perhaps elevate it but it's not the worst by a longshot."

Sammy the sausage: 5/10

Myself: 6/10

The six cooked sausages in all their glory (Image: NQ)

M&S

Price: £2.75 (most expensive)

"Wow, straight away I can see it has a really good browning. The shape hasn't shrunk so that tells me the quality must be good. You can even see the seasoning speckled throughout it, this is a good one.

"It smells of pork and, well, sausage. It's a lot softer than the others and has a lot more flavour. To me, this is the perfect sausage for a full English."

Sammy the sausage: 8/10

Myself: 7/10

Morrisons

Price: £2.25

"Good heavens. Well, we've really gone off a cliff here. This to me is reminiscent of school cantine sausages, absolute dog (expletive). 

"Something you could expect out of the worst greasy spoon. Rock hard and tough to cut, it just tastes strange. No flavour or seasoning, again it tastes artificial like the second one."

Sammy the sausage: 1/10

Myself: 3/10

So, there are the results. For me, Tesco was the winner, the joint second cheapest and also the joint best tasting.