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Kearns sausages changed recipe and now suck

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  • 01-11-2021 8:03pm
    #1
    califano
    Registered Users Posts: 5,440 ✭✭✭


    Anyone else notice the difference recently in Kearns sausages?. I'm sure some will actually prefer them but not me so much so that I cant really eat them any longer.

    Is there any other sausages that you would recommend?.



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    #2
    the beer revolu
    Registered Users Posts: 17,039 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058215961/kearns-sausages-changed-recipe-and-now-suck

    How have they changed? What's different about them? Why might some prefer them?

    I really like the Tesco finest sausages.



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    #3
    the beer revolu
    Registered Users Posts: 17,039 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    How the hell do you delete a post in this new fcuking boards?



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    #4
    Ash.J.Williams
    Registered Users Posts: 21,050 ✭✭✭✭Ash.J.Williams


    oldhausen all the way



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    #5
    HeidiHeidi
    Registered Users Posts: 29,372 ✭✭✭✭HeidiHeidi


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118105765#Comment_118105765

    I like the idea of Tesco Finest sausages - but always regret buying them! Too much gristle, and the skins (no matter how long and slow I cook them) are tough.

    Following the previous extensive sausage thread, I've become a huge fan of Clonakilty sausages - the lurid pink colour always put me off, but damn they're tasty!!!



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    #6
    HeidiHeidi
    Registered Users Posts: 29,372 ✭✭✭✭HeidiHeidi


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118105772#Comment_118105772

    You don't! You edit to read "..." or similar.



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    #7
    the beer revolu
    Registered Users Posts: 17,039 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118105780#Comment_118105780

    I know what you mean about the tough skins but I kinda like that. Never noticed the gristle you mention but I do enjoy a more coarse sausage.

    For a standard, Irish style breakfast sausage, I , also, like the Clonakilty sausages and, this will no doubt be somewhat unpopular, but I think Denny Gold Medal are a grand, standard sausage. I'd consider the Tesco ones as more "premium" (more expensive, too, I assume) than the above.



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    #8
    HeidiHeidi
    Registered Users Posts: 29,372 ✭✭✭✭HeidiHeidi


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118105811#Comment_118105811

    Yeah, that's down to a difference in tastes then, I guess!

    I too love a gourmet sausage - I have a freezer drawer full of them from a butcher in Northern Ireland who specialises in them, and does a bewildering array of flavour combinations and has won awards - I stock up every time I visit family up there!

    For your bog-standard banger, though, Clonakilty can't be beat in my book!

    Now I want a sausage sandwich!!! 🤣



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    #9
    the beer revolu
    Registered Users Posts: 17,039 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118105849#Comment_118105849

    Ha, ha, I was going to use the term "bog standard sausage", too but I thought it was a bit harsh ! Get's the idea of what kind of sausage you're talking about, though.

    I suppose, I'd put the Tesco sausages somewhere between the "bog standard" and the butcher/gourmet/fancy sausages that you get. The tough skins on the Tesco ones kinda bothered me the first few times but I got used to them and now I actually enjoy the texture - they don't tend to split, either.

    Cooked some Lidl "hand tied" sausages (what sort of bolloxology is that?? what blind difference could it make to a highly processed meat product whether the links were tied by hand or machine?????). The skins just shriveled and curled leaving no skin on the sausages -very difficult to brown then.



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    #10
    Tree
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 4,710 Mod ✭✭✭✭Tree


    The O'Flynn's breakfast sausage are pretty good. Though Clonakilty are my go to breakfast sausage since forever.



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    #11
    lenscap
    Registered Users Posts: 142 ✭✭lenscap


    The Centra Inspired range of sausages, traditional and Cumberland, are made by Mallon's.

    I highly recommend them.



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    #12
    Gremlinertia
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Regional West Moderators Posts: 60,253 Mod ✭✭✭✭Gremlinertia


    For flavoured sausages the caramelised onion one from Lidl and the garlic and basil from aldi are my go to for bangers and mash type dinners.

    For breakfast or sandwiches I always go back to the superquinn sausages now sold in centra

    Think I'll try the clonakilty ones after reading this thread



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    #13
    El Gato De Negocios
    Registered Users Posts: 7,000 ✭✭✭El Gato De Negocios


    No love for Mallon sausages? Really good breakfast sausage. Aldi or Lidl do a delightful honey mustard gourmet sausage, delicious off a barbecue. Its funny, the sausages with the lowest pork % such as Mallons or Clonakilty (around 54/55%) seem to be the tastiest.



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    #14
    the beer revolu
    Registered Users Posts: 17,039 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118111844#Comment_118111844

    It depends on what you are looking for . For a "bog standard" Irish breakfast sausage, yes, that seems to be the meat content that people are used to and like. I enjoy these kind of sausages but I also enjoy a more meaty, "premium" sausage. The Tesco ones I've mentioned are 85% - I also like them but they are really a different style of sausage. I don't believe higher that around 85% meat content makes for a very tasty sausage.

    On the Mallon's question - don't see them much in the South of the Country, I think. Same for Oldhausen and Kern's. I suspect that they are Dublincentric sausages😉

    Edit: I see Mallon's are from Monaghan, not Dublin. Still, I don't recall seeing them in the south of the country.

    I'm still curious to know what is different about the Kern's sausages. OP?

    Post edited by the beer revolu on


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    #15
    Ash.J.Williams
    Registered Users Posts: 21,050 ✭✭✭✭Ash.J.Williams


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118111844#Comment_118111844

    the taste is from powder and chemicals, the pork is literally fat and skin with little bits of meat attached



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    #16
    the beer revolu
    Registered Users Posts: 17,039 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118117009#Comment_118117009

    I, for one, am happy that as much, as is reasonably possible, of any animal that has been slaughtered ends up in the food chain. There are rules around what can be declared pork. I know that some people find it distasteful to eat anything other than lean meat. In, my opinion, these people should avoid products that they find distasteful and let the rest of us enjoy our sausages.

    Post edited by the beer revolu on


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    #17
    awec
    Administrators Posts: 53,845 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭awec


    I personally cannot abide gourmet sausages. For me a sausage is a basic food, I don't want apple or herbs or whatever else in it.

    Bog standard all the way!



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    #18
    lenscap
    Registered Users Posts: 142 ✭✭lenscap


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118117009#Comment_118117009

    Where did you get this information?

    Can you supply a photo of a packet of sausages that list this as the ingredients, please?



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    #19
    Ash.J.Williams
    Registered Users Posts: 21,050 ✭✭✭✭Ash.J.Williams


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118119185#Comment_118119185

    i spent my youth making them!

    it's common knowledge, sausages are amazing but they are absolute muck , and a killer for your kidneys of which i now only have one!

    obviously no actual part of a pig goes into sausages it's butchers waste after trimming and boning the rest of the pig , nothing of value goes into sausages



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    #20
    califano
    Registered Users Posts: 5,440 ✭✭✭califano


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118105765#Comment_118105765

    Well just the taste didnt seem the same, a bit queasy eating it. I got a comprehensive and helpful answer from the good people at Mallons. Part of it below

    "Please be assured we have not changed the recipe and certainly do not intend on doing so.

    We buy in pre-mixed seasoning from our seasoning supplier. On receipt of each delivery we do what is called a positive release where we mix a small sample with the new batch of seasoning and taste to ensure it is to the agreed specification and taste profile. Only then can it be released to production. We as a team have not detected any issue."

    Then I realised there was one key thing that I didnt mention in my initial email and thats the sausages werent browning in the pan.

    I've noticed recently and simultaneously at the time I figured the taste of the sausage changed that the sausages aren't browning well in the pan, this is over the last approx 4 or so weeks. And two seperate members of my family agree with this that they aren't browning up like they used. Now I like a real brown sausage I don't like seeing white parts on it. So this may have triggered my thoughts negatively almost subconsciously. Now they all couldn't agree with me that the taste has changed but what seems undeniable is that they all agree the sausages aren't browning up well.

    So when on the plate my brain is probably baulking at eating a paler sausage. So now I'm thinking perhaps have the natural casings/skin changed?. And would this be any part of a test like the positive mix only for natural casings?.



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    #21
    MacDanger
    Registered Users Posts: 2,654 ✭✭✭MacDanger


    Tried these Clonakilty Black Pudding sausages last week, they're delish, well worth a go

    https://shop.supervalu.ie/shopping/meat-poultry-sausages-clonakilty-black-pudding-sausage-370-g-/p-1570014000



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    #22
    califano
    Registered Users Posts: 5,440 ✭✭✭califano


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118140289#Comment_118140289

    Cheers I will give them a spin. Although I think its messin a bit 😁



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    #23
    L1011
    Registered Users Posts: 69,006 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    When there was nowhere to go get a fry during Lockdown 1 (take out developed enough for later ones) we basically auditioned breakfast products and settled on Clonakilty for sausages. But they do gluten free versions in extremely similar packaging which are horrible.


    (Kellys of Newport won our black pudding run-off but I think pudding taste is even more personal than sausage taste, and heavily grainy stuff has its specific uses too. Some local-ish bacon medallion is the rasher replacement of choice but I can't remember the brand name - and my rasher tastes are uncommon, not crispy and not fatty)



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    #24
    coylemj
    Registered Users Posts: 25,455 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    Hicks of Dun Laoghaire used to have a big presence in the bacon section of Dunnes Cornelscourt, mainly stocked with their sausages. I reckoned that they had 1m on each of three shelves, one above the other. Which was pretty significant real estate for one supplier, a relatively minor player on the national scene. A few years ago, there was a blip in the supply, I think there was a row within the Hicks family and the shelf space was effectively up for grabs so Dunnes filled those shelves with brands that they had not stocked previously.

    Over the new few weeks, various brands of sausage came and went so it was obvious that they were testing market reaction. You could buy Olhausen, Kearns, Hafners and so on. Eventually, they whittled it down to about three new brands. I roadtested several of them and TBH, I didn't notice a huge difference between them. Possibly because, as I discovered, most of those old 'legacy' brands are now produced by ABP (Larry Goodman) and Arthur Mallon Foods in Co. Monaghan.

    Mallons produce their own (Mallons) brand along with Olhausen, Kearns and Hafners while Superquinn sausages are produced by Larry Goodman in Cahir, Co. Tipperary.



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    #25
    the beer revolu
    Registered Users Posts: 17,039 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    Bacon medallions can feck off! A crime against rashers.

    Streaky ftw but I can accept a decent loin.



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