Banger tasting

Sometimes, the things that seem like a great idea when you first talk about them can be a little more daunting in the cold light of day.

Which is how I came to be holding up an uncooked sausage by its end, trying to gauge the angle of its droop. A well-filled sausage stands proudly, it seems, while a poorly stuffed banger points limply and a bit sadly towards the ground. And, quite frankly, after sizing up 47 different varieties of sausage, I feel much the same myself.

It all started with a discussion about the Foodservice Sausage of the Year Competition held annually with Richard Fagan, foodservice development manager with the British Pig Executive (BPEX). "Sausages are on just about every pub menu," I said, "You should have a best pub sausage category in the competition."

Richard agreed. "Great idea," he said. "You can judge it."

So, some months later a team from The Publican rolled up at the Meat & Livestock Commission's development kitchen in Milton Keynes. As well as yours truly, on the panel were features writer Nick Yates, general manager Ryan Boydall, and assistant advertising manager Adam Kingshott.

Having taken Richard's advice to skip breakfast, we were a little surprised to see him setting out bowls of fruit, wine gums and chocolate. "Believe me, you'll need something to refresh your mouth once you get into it," he said.

With Richard manning the frying pan and his office team seamlessly delivering the sausages to the judging table, we got stuck in. Having mastered the art of assessing a banger's droop factor, the uncooked article was then dissected and its innards carefully assessed.

Then - on a separate chopping board, naturally - the cooked sausage was cut and carefully tasted. Throughout the process, there are clear criteria such as texture, splitting when cooked, aroma and flavour, with marks ruthlessly deducted when sausages fell short.

Every sausage had to have appeared on a pub menu. Apart from that, the main limit was the imagination of the butcher. Among the many ingredients we sampled were fennel, spring onion, ginger and apple. Nick, an exile from Lancashire, became quite tearful over a pork and black pudding variety.

At one stage, a chorizo and chilli variety turned up. "Hmm, perhaps I should have saved that for last," mused Richard, as he watched us reach for the water jug.

He also kept us firmly on the straight-and-narrow. My suggestion that a piece of onion, the size of a 10p coin, found in one sausage was an attempt at a rustic appearance was given short shrift. "That," said Richard firmly, "is a filling error. Points off."

Overall, Richard believes the addition of the Best Pub Sausage category has improved the quality of the competition. "I was very impressed by the range and quality of the sausages as I cooked them," he says.

So how did we do? Quite honestly, we'd lost track of the marking by the end, so all credit to Richard's team for keeping track of the judging sheets and scores.

The winner, as well as the second and third placed sausages, will be announced at the Foodservice Sausage of the year finals, to be held at the Butcher's Hall in London on October 15.

All 15 finalists across the five categories will be judged again by a range of experts to decide the overall champion. And once again, the team from The Publican will be fully involved in the process.

Foodservice Sausage of the Year Categories​

• Traditional pork sausage
• Speciality pork sausage
• Best pub sausage
• Best reduced fat/reduced salt pork sausage
• Best volume produced sausage

Judging your sausage ​- BPEX's guide to a champion banger​

Uncooked​

• External appearance: a fresh sausage should not appear dry, faded or pale
• Evenness of size, shape, colour and consistency in the filling
• Internal appearance: season faults, blood spots and gristle will all lose marks
• The particle size should be balanced and not too wet or dry

Cooked​

• External appearance: sausages are judged on shrinking, splitting, evenness of colour and cooking
• Internal appearance: air cavities and sponginess will lose marks
• The aroma should not be too strong, weak, uncharacteristic, sour or rancid
• Flavour level: should not be too low or weak, too strong or overpowering, lacking the main flavour, rancid or sour