More like a smoked sausage than the traditional seasoned breakfast sausage, been hooked on these recently..

https://eckrich.sfdbrands.com/...kfast-sausage-links/

We eat a fair amount of breakfast sausage because my kids like it and the one thing I’ve noticed over this past several years is just how LEAN it’s seemed to have gotten. Not sure if they are using other fillers or the amount of fat being used in the grind is no longer the same but it just seems like they are not juicy and do not produce a lot of grease when you cook them like they used to.

The texture is just not the same.

Due to food allergies, my wife makes our sausage from scratch. Buys pork loins on sale, has them ground and then seasons at home. She's got it down to the point where it's as good or better than anything we can buy in the store.

I love breakfast sausages, I buy Johnsonville which is decent, and the occasional house made patties at my local Central Market when the butcher makes them. But the one brand I loved was Farmer John, it had more fat than others and tasted great. Since moving, I can't find it anymore, really too bad.

Farmer John. Now there's a name I haven't heard in a long, long time.

I think this brand was a west coast/California thing, along with Producers Dairy, back in the day. Dating myself here, but Producers had a cute little jingle and was also "Hoppy's Favorite", Hoppy being William Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy.

My all time favorite is Jimmy Dean Sage. I prefer to make my own, so I have avoided buying any for a number of years. I've been through every Jimmy Dean clone recipe on Google and Youtube (all of which are not even close and mostly just one notch above being nasty), I finally came up with my own recipe that I like. I'll sometimes mix in some maple syrup too. Tender. fatty, and full of flavor, are my requirements. Most of the online recipes you find contain about 1/4 of the spices that I require. Mine is still not as good as Jimmy Dean Sage, but I like it.

quote:

Farmer John. Now there's a name I haven't heard in a long, long time.

I think this brand was a west coast/California thing

Good stuff. Grew up on it.

Thanks 2Adefender:

We have been looking for some that we like for a while with no real luck. Will try the Breakfast Best Original...

I appreciate all the responses. A few brands to consider, and the option of making it. Thanks.

Costco has a nice box of frozen patties very good stuff, a few minutes in the air fryer or a skillet and your good to go. Jimmy Dean also sells them at a bit more $ at Publix.

and Purnell's Old Folk sausage is "goooooooooood"

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

Costco has a nice box of frozen patties very good stuff

Kirkland? Or other brand?

quote:

Purnell's Old Folk sausage

Where do you buy that around here?

For national brands, Johnsonville links aren't bad, I cannot recommend their roll sausage however.

I Alexandria, VA there is a local sausage maker named "Logan's" whose products are uniformly excellent. They are available at various grocers throughout the DC area and they have a retail store at their plant. I have only seen their breakfast sausage at the plant, the retailers don't seem to carry it, perhaps because it is sold in bulk rather than plas-wrap packages. If you are in DC. it is well worth a trip.

Freshness makes a huge difference in sausage flavor, unlike cheese, not many benefit from being aged.

The brand I get at Costco is called Goolsby‘s. Everyone likes them in my family. They’re quite good.

quote:

Originally posted by Unishot:
The brand I get at Costco is called Goolsby‘s. Everyone likes them in my family. They’re quite good.

I get Jones Farm Sausage at Costco in the feezer - its very good...

LINK

quote:

Originally posted by Unishot:
The brand I get at Costco is called Goolsby‘s. Everyone likes them in my family. They’re quite good.

yes that's the brand Goolsby's in the freezer section..


Purnells isn't sold near us in CFL, but you can get it on Bezo'sYachtfund.com

https://www.amazon.com/Purnell...e-Pack/dp/B077KQ72N4

https://itsgooo-od.com/products/

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
We eat a fair amount of breakfast sausage because my kids like it and the one thing I’ve noticed over this past several years is just how LEAN it’s seemed to have gotten. Not sure if they are using other fillers or the amount of fat being used in the grind is no longer the same but it just seems like they are not juicy and do not produce a lot of grease when you cook them like they used to.

^^^^^
This.
None of the sausage I have found produces much grease. As a consequence, I haven't made gravy in quite a while. When I do, it is always a paltry amount that is barely enough for the meal. That's when the entire pound is cooked so I have leftover sausage patties. Leftover gravy has become a thing of the past.

My theory has been that the new kids don't like dealing with the grease and they reformulated how the sausage is made to produce next to no grease to placate their wants.

I totally agree, someone in charge has ruined Jimmy Dean sausage. It's also too expensive. I have gone with Owens brand for the past year or so.

Less grease means less fat, less fat means less flavor.

I think modern pigs are just much much leaner and that's starting to show in sausage.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I think modern pigs are just much much leaner and that's starting to show in sausage.

I was a Meat Cutter Apprentice in 1981 or so and fat back was 2 inches plus, in thickness

left the meat biz, but stayed in Gro Management till 2015 and by then fat back was 1/2 to 1 inch, when you could find it,


hogs have been bred to be lean and tasty,
with brining, of course


Aldi's does a good sausage, one pound chub in a brown package, not sure what they call it name wise,


we get a really good sausage from a local company at the big farmers market in town,


Tennessee Pride Sausage is pretty good to,


none beat the traditional home grown, wife's mom gets some now and again from a local to her guy that makes his own each year when he culls his hogs ,
that stuff is unreal

Yep, fat = flavor. If you can find a local hog fella, buy from them. Or, grow your own and finish them on fermented grain. You won't get a better pig.