Secret to superior sausages
City butcher snags super sausage awards at comp
IF YOU are looking for good sausages, look no further than our very own city with one butcher taking out a swag of awards at the Outback Sausage King Competition.
Luke and Michelle Jensen along with son Hugh, from Westridge Meats and The Ridge Meats, made the trek to Jandowae Timbertown Festival at the weekend for the competition.
After a successful day, the businesses achieved the most winning entries for any butcher in the Darling Downs region.
The awards including Best Poultry Sausage for Westridge Meats’ chicken, honey and chives and The Ridge Meats won Best Gourmet Burger for its coconut, chicken curry and vegetable patties as well as second and third place for Continental Sausage for its lucania and boerewors sausages.
Butcher of 15 years Mr Jensen said the secret to a great sausage was to use locally produced meat, mixed with fresh produce along with his own blend of herbs and spices.
“Our experienced butchers love experimenting with flavour combinations and draw inspiration from our loyal customers,” Mr Jensen said.
Over the past 12 months, butchers at both stores have reverted to traditional butchering methods when making sausages, which creates a uniqueness that is moving away from additives, flavourings and packet mixes.
“We use wholefood ingredients, real tomatoes, onions, herbs and spices,” Mr Jensen said.
“As our meat comes to us fresh, we can select only the best cuts for our sausages.”
The award-winning chicken, honey and chives sausage is made using only fresh chives and honey with gluten-free rice flour.
“Sausages do have a small percentage of fat in them, as it provides additional flavour and ensures the sausage remains moist. Adding oil when cooking sausages only jeopardies the flavour and integrity of the sausage,” he said.
The family butchers also congratulated their Maranoa counterparts at Roma’s Queensland Country Meats who won an equal number of first places as well as a few seconds and thirds.
Westridge Meats and The Ridge Meats will now compete in the state sausage competition at the Ekka in August.
Photo: Contributed