Sausage Review - we review sausages

Deersbrook Farm (Shalford Green, Essex) - Pork

Out and about recently I found a farm butchery near Braintree in Essex that we were not aware of...Deersbrook Farm in Shalford Green...

It is a bit "in the sticks" though and did require a bit of country lane driving to find it but it is really a nice shop and very popluar by all accounts.

From a bit of research before setting out I noted that they keep their own rare breed pigs and as it happens their beef cows are top notch too.

I was served by Amber who told me a bit about the farm and that her parents, Anna and Phil currently own and run the farm.

The farm butchery/shop opened in 2018 and along with the full butchery counter provides a wide range of local produce. Local vegetables, plus spice mixes, sauces, wine and ales...

Good looking sausages in the raw I must say which do appear well filled in their NATURAL SKINS. You will know by now our views on those collagen un-natural tubes...natural is best in our opinion.

The labelling says 85% rare breed pork which the shop staff said was Gloucester Old Spot.

We also note that rice flour is in the makings so these may well be suitable for those with an intolerance to wheat. (Gluten free)

Now, so on to the cooking. Well, a bit of a surprise to be honest as the pan of 6 sausages steadily made additional oil to the point the sausages appeared to be swimming in it. Not exactly bad, but when we measured the additional oil after cooking, there was close to 40ml.

Look we pan fry all our samples for consistency with previous reviews, but I suspect if we had of oven baked, air fried or grilled, the amount of oil liberated would have been similar.

Now given the fact the sample sausage lost close to 28% of it's pre-cook weight, and shrinkage was close to 16%, this is a little concerning. Weight loss and shrinkage to this scale isn't great.

However the skins were very good, with no splits or bursts and the overall sausage did retain a good succulence. Texture-wise too, a good medium. The taste and chew too was very very good with the overall seasoning spot on for us.  Eaten cold, a really good enjoyable sausage.

So let's get to the bottom line. Excellent taste, but when youre paying £9.20/kg the weight loss and shrinkage in cooking is hard to ignore.


Would we buy again? Good question.

We had a long discussion about this and we agreed, yes, we'll give these another go as it possibly might have been a mix issue this time.


Deersbrook Farm (Shalford Green, Essex) - Pork    (Jun 2026)

Here's the sample details:
150x25mm before cooking, 125x25mm after.
91g before cooking, 65g after.
That's a shrinkage of approx 16% & weight loss of approx 28%.
6 loose sausages (512g)  £4.71 (approx £9.20/kg)

 

    

Deersbrook Farm
Shalford Green,
Essex,
CM7 5AZ

01371 851271

www.deersbrookfarm.com

Opening Times
Monday CLOSED
Tuesday 9am - 4pm
Wednesday 9am- 4pm
Thursday 9am- 4pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 4pm
Sunday CLOSED