Telling Porkies (Sainsbury's Basics Cooked Ham)

Member Name: flodombey

Product:	Sainsbury's Basics Cooked Ham
Date:	13/07/09 (68 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Er....it smells like synthetic ham?

Disadvantages: Taste (or lack thereof), weird texture, doesnt last very long once opened

I have been slowly trying to shift down a brand with my food shopping over the last few months and to be fair I have found that some supermarket's economy brand products are actually a good value for money trade - but this is not one of them.

I bought the Sainsbury's Basics British Cooked Ham for £1.64 for 400g which apparently equates to 30 slices although I did not count them.

The first thing I noticed which was quite annoying was the cheapness of the packaging, it has one of those awful plastic packets where you are supposed to pull one corner to peel back the lid. However, this is one of those where pulling on the corner will result in shredding the lid part as bits will peel back and bits will stay stuck across the package in threads.

On eventually getting into the packet I was overwhelmed by the smell of what can only be described as chemically designed 'ham'. It smelt like an exagerated strong hammy aroma but unfortunately this strength of smell did not equate to an equally strong taste. I had the ham on a sandwich and could not discern much flavour at all. I wondered if it was just me being picky and pulled a slice out of the packet to eat on its own - but to be honest the taste was synthetic and had a slight flavour of ham rather than actually tasting like ham.

The slices are flimsy and very uniform in colour which made them feel very cheap and processed, which, I suppose, is what they are.

I noticed when I was about to put the packet back in the fridge that the advice on the label says that the product should be consumed within two days of opening. Now I know that cooked meats will begin to lose freshness once opened, but im sure most meats will last longer than two days? For a pack with 30 slices in that means using a lot of ham in a fairly short space of time. I did wonder, seeing as the product contained the usual unidentifiable stabilizers and 'preservative' why it couldnt last longer than 2 days?

I have persevered with the ham and used it on sandwiches where I have put other fillings in like cheese or pickle, it is bearable but certainly does not taste much like ham to me. I think in future I will give this a wide berth and ham will remain something where I buy a decent, higher quality product for a higher price.

Summary: Not one I shall be buying again