I love cocktail sausages; not if they are swimming in barbecue sauce in a chafing dish mind you, but as a breakfast meat, or an anytime, low carb snack. Most brands are generally smoked, so if you’re inclined, you could eat them right out of the package. For me, I prefer them a little crispy, a little char, fried up in a cast iron skillet. “Overcooking” this treat for me makes them have a sensation (to me) of having a natural casing, gives them a little “snap.”
I’m choosy about my brands and their composition, preferring all beef, and usually latching on to Hillshire Farms (Sara Lee). Lately, tho, the texture of them seems to have changed a bit, at least to me, and I have been looking for an alternative selection.
I might have found a successor. The discount grocer Aldi uses a number of co-packers around the country to manufacture products to their specifications; in the sausage realm, Aldi’s house brand is Parkview. Their cocktail sausages are made by a small company in Nebraska, an old family concern named Wimmer’s, which distributes several different brands of smoked sausages and meats in the Upper Midwest. Wimmer’s was purchased a couple of years ago by a larger Midwestern family concern from Illinois called “Land O’ Frost.
The USDA plant number that cranks out these little gems is Est. 5600, in West Point, Nebraska, a burg of 3500 about 40 miles NW of Omaha. They have about 130 employees, so they are an important part of the community.
The Parkview cocktail sausages vary in composition from my usual preferences, in that they are made up of pork, beef, with some poultry. Usually that third ingredient would be a deal killer for me, but in this case, I believe it provides a smoother texture. I like the flavor and texture both of these sausages. Not to mention since they are an Aldi product, they are value-priced. If you’re shopping at a major chain for brand name cocktail sausages, like all meat and especially pork products, the prices of sausages and bacon have skyrocketed lately, and you can count on Aldi to come in at a good 25-33% less than the national brands.
Good deal. Good food.
Parkview Cocktail Sausages Review