Johnsonville Sausages

[rotuts]

I have the feeling they are the RealDeal.

 

why go to so much trouble for something so middle of the road ?

[liuzhou]

13 hours ago, gfweb said:

There is a chance that these are knocked-off sausages that aren't actually Johnsonville.

 

Highly unlikely. The place they are on sale is a concession inside the local supermarket. The Chinese company running the concession import a lot of food items, many of  which I have bought and which I am certain are real. Also, counterfeiters are unlikely to go for reproducing something which is very much a tiny niche market. I have never seen anyone apart from myself buy anything from their stand. I do see many locals look, then shake their heads in disbelief at the prices. For the price of a couple of their Australian steaks, you could take your entire extended family for a slap-up dinner.

 

13 hours ago, Shelby said:

The package looks nothing like the Johnsonville Sausages around here.

 

It is not unusual for export items to be packaged differently from those on the domestic market. Different packaging and labelling regulations often apply in different territories.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

31 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

For the price of a couple of their Australian steaks, you could take your entire extended family for a slap-up dinner.

 

 

You can console yourself with this. I continue to be amazed at how inexpensive it it can be to eat out in China and some other countries. Not here!

 

I'm glad you didn't end up with a freezer full of mediocre meat product you might not enjoy at a ridiculous price.

 

You can always buy ground pork and add your own seasonings. That is an idea I picked up here on eGullet. If you're not picky about it being in a casing, and I'm not, this works wonderfully. And you know what is in it.

[liuzhou]

40 minutes ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

I continue to be amazed at how inexpensive it it can be to eat out in China

 

Remember that salaries/incomes are much lower here. You can't just look at the prices of goods. Eating out can be expensive here. Noodle shacks are cheap, restaurants not so.

 

I didn't have great hopes for the sausages, so I'm not disappointed. THe thing is I don't like the vast majority of Chinese sausages and although I have made my own western style sausages, it is a lot of work for something I only eat very occasionally.

Edited August 29, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

1 minute ago, liuzhou said:

THe thing is I don't like the vast majority of Chinese sausages and although I have made my own, it is a lot of work for something I only eat very occasionally.

 

Are you really attached to the casings? Some folks are, but if you mix up your own seasonings with ground meat of your choosing, it's comparatively easy if you just fry them up in patties or even rolls of meat that can be put into a bun. Also if you bought a container or ground pork, you could mix up some to make your sausage, then freeze the rest in serving portions for a little while (ground meat does not hold well for very long in the freezer IMO) and then use it for dry fried green beans with pork, ants on a log or any number of things.

 

Can you get sage in China? It's an herb I dearly love in sausage. I know you can get ground red pepper, which is something else I choose to put in my homemade uncased sausage, along with black pepper.

[liuzhou]

3 minutes ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

if you mix up your own seasonings with ground meat of your choosing, it's comparatively easy if you just fry them up in patties or even rolls of meat that can be put into a bun.

 

I always grind/mince my own meat so that I know what's in it.

 

If I put it in a bun, it's a hamburger, not a sausage!

 

No sage here, unfortunately.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

29 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

I always grind/mince my own meat so that I know what's in it.

 

If I put it in a bun, it's a hamburger, not a sausage!

 

No sage here, unfortunately.

 

If it's in a patty, it's a hamburger. If it's in a cylinder it's a sausage. 

 

Sorry you can't get sage. We wouldn't be able to make our Thanksgiving dressing/stuffing without it. It grows wild in many places here, but I haven't seen it in NC except cultivated.

 

And yeah, I usually mince my own pork from partially frozen. Ground pork used to be cheaper here, and less fatty. Now, I know fat brings flavor, but the price has tripled and the fat has doubled recently. I like knife work anyway. I lose time doing it, but I have plenty of that these days. Weirdly, knife work relaxes me. It's zen like. 

[helenjp]

Packages available here mostly look like these ones available on Amazon.jp, but there is sure to be wholesale packaging too.

[FeChef]

Johnsonville is just another big name mass produced sausage company. They are one of the better quality big name brands but nothing to rave about, or pay $$$ for. One Product i will say is very good is their Irish O' garlic sausage. I made pepper and onion sausage sandwiches with these and they were the best sausage sandwiches ive ever tasted. Bursting with flavor.

[lindag]

11 hours ago, FeChef said:

 One Product i will say is very good is their Irish O' garlic sausage. 

 

 

I have never seen that particular Johnsonville product anywhere around here.  I'd definitely buy some if I could find them.

[Martin Fisher]

6 minutes ago, lindag said:

 

I have never seen that particular Johnsonville product anywhere around here.  I'd definitely buy some if I could find them.

 

Yeah, I haven't noticed many Johnsonville fresh sausages in this area.

[gfweb]

Pondering the name...Irish O'Garlic.   Odd.  My people are not known for their use of garlic.  Focus group perhaps at work.

[rotuts]

I have neighbors that are of Irish decent.  

 

100% on all sides.

 

the blandest food Ive ever tasted.

 

no garlic clove  has ever entered their house

 

ever.

 

I wonder if Johnsonville ever made real Bangers .

 

I know , Today's oxymoron .

 

Im not hopeful , and won't loose any sleep.

Edited August 31, 2017 by rotuts (log)

[liuzhou]

Did you consider that your neighbours might just not be good cooks?

 

I've had hundreds of delicious meals in Ireland, both in restaurants and in people's homes.

 

But garlic wasn't a part of them.

Edited August 31, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[rotuts]

nope.   allergic to garlic.

 

and yes Ive had many fine meal in Ireland too.

 

just think what  hint of garlic would add to a few of them.

 

only a hint now.

[gfweb]

11 hours ago, rotuts said:

I have neighbors that are of Irish decent.  

 

100% on all sides.

 

the blandest food Ive ever tasted.

 

no garlic clove  has ever entered their house

 

ever.

 

I wonder if Johnsonville ever made real Bangers .

 

I know , Today's oxymoron .

 

Im not hopeful , and won't loose any sleep.

 

No garlic clove entered my parents house either.  Just as well. My mom would've burned it and what is more foul than burned garlic?

 

[FeChef]

Johnsonville only brings that Irish O'Garlic out around St Patrick's day. I may stock up and freeze a bunch of packs next year. Its really good, regardless if garlic isn't really a common used irish ingredient. Its a different flavor profile then the usual country or italian sausage flavors. It pairs really well with onions, peppers.

[rotuts]

@FeChef 

 

thanks for that

 

Ill keep my eye out !

[rotuts]

this weeks marketBasket circular :

 

[FeChef]

On 8/31/2017 at 11:02 AM, rotuts said:

only a hint now.

 Its only a Wee Bit o' Garlic!

[liuzhou]

The sausages I mentioned in my first post have all disappeared overnight. Not, I'm sure, because someone suddenly bought them. Instead, they are trying to shift these. Same sausages but in a bun. No one appears to be buying these either.

 

 

 

I actually feel sorry for the two people who man the stall (well, one of them womans it). I visit almost every day and I have never seen anyone buy anything and their stock doesn't seem to go down. They still have the frozen, overpriced steaks they had last month but I know they sold one bag of foie gras - because I bought it. When I did so, they had to phone someone to find out how their till and card reader worked. If they are still there at the end of the month I will be very surprised.

Edited September 8, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[FeChef]

update: Seems Johnsonville is still selling the Irish o'Garlic at my local Redner's Markets. They didn't look to great though. They were still in date but looked a bit gray so i will check back in a week and see if they get a new batch, or ask if they have any frozen in the back.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

15 hours ago, FeChef said:

update: Seems Johnsonville is still selling the Irish o'Garlic at my local Redner's Markets. They didn't look to great though. They were still in date but looked a bit gray so i will check back in a week and see if they get a new batch, or ask if they have any frozen in the back.

 

Yeah, the Johnsonville, Smithfeild or other similar sausages do not keep well in the freezer either, or at least my freezers. I think sausage like other ground meats needs to be consumed pretty quickly for best quality. I mean you can dump a lot of preservatives into like hot dogs or something, but to me that destroys the quality from the get go. Also sausages can be a dumping ground for meat by products (sorry, but we are all familiar with the phrase "lips and assholes"). I really don't know and don't want to know whether the dumping ground is really that extreme, but I am almost certain the bean counters at large publicly held corporations take liberties on many ground meats with less than desirable cuts.

 

I'm lucky in that I have access to a grocer who still grinds beef, chuck, round, sirloin and usually pork every day fresh. I learned here on eG that I can add sage, black or red pepper, fennel seed, garlic or whatever else I want to freshly ground pork and make my own sausage without worrying about stuffing it into a casing. That, I have found, is the good stuff to me.

[Tropicalsenior]

I like Johnsonville sausage. But living here in Costa Rica with very little imported sausage I don't have much of a comparison base except for the sausage made here, which is over-fat and under-seasoned and all tastes the same. PriceSmart (like Costco) started importing Johnsonville about six years ago and then suddenly stopped carrying it. Their reason, no lie, was that people were buying them too fast and they couldn't keep them in stock so they just stopped buying them. Later, one of our high-end supermarket chains started carrying them and as their popularity grew, so did the price. They are now almost $10 a package for Italian sausage or breakfast sausage. I like them but not that much. I just went back to making my own. Mine don't have the casings on them but I have more money in my pocket.

[Paul Fink]

I unapologetically like   Johnsonville  brats. We like plain brats, no cheese, peppers of what ever.

Johnsonville  makes a Sheboygan style brat. in fact they are from Sheboygan WI the home of brats in the USA..

 

We never parboil them. Cook slowly on the grill so they don't burst. If you need to keep them you can put the cooked

brats in a bath of warm beer. Serve on toasted roll with sauerkraut and a good mustard.