Mr Sainsbury Makes A Cheap Pig Sandwich. (Sainsbury's Basics Cooked Ham)

Member Name: katykicker

Product:	Sainsbury's Basics Cooked Ham
Date:	13/08/09 (17 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fairly nice taste, reasonably priced.

Disadvantages: Awkward packaging, thin, tastes a little salty.

I like to try and save money wherever possible so decided to give this 'Basics' Cooked ham a try in the place of my normal Sainsbury's ham to save myself around £1.50.

There are 30 square cut slices of reformed ham that has been cooked and cured with added water. There is 75% pork in each slice which is obviously less than I'd like but not bad for such a cheap product. Each slice of ham has 12 calories and 0.4g of fat so is pretty good if you are watching your waistline, however, there is 0.33g of salt per ham making everything in the food circle green except the sale which is red.

The packet is fairly tough plastic and I found the only way to get inside the packet was just to slice a slit down the side, tear the packet open and use a sandwich bag to keep it fresh in the fridge. It's not the ideal packaging but it's not bad for a cheap product, at least it's strong enough not to be tampered with easily in the supermarket.

The ham slices themselves are a square, uniform size. In each slice I can see that there is fat and that this is not the best cut of pork. The ham has quite a watery taste to it but then put inside a sandwich, mixed with a salad or placed on top of a pizza it's quite tasty. It's definitely better than some cheap hams I've tried in the past. The ham is thin but it's fairly chewy and tasty but I can detect some of the salt in each slice.

A 400g packet, containing 30 slices, is currently selling for £1.64 in Sainsburys stores and compared to wafer thin ham I normally buy it's around half the price! It's only when doing this review that I've realised how much money I've saved. I think the price of this is fantastic and it's ideal for cutting the work lunch budget by a massive amount.

I would recommend using two slices in your sandwich or maybe 1 and a half for normal sized bread so that you can still taste the ham and not just feel it.

I would rate this ham 3/5 as the price is fantastic, the taste is not so great but I wouldn't expect anything more for half the price of my normal product. It's ideal in a sandwich or on a pizza as you barely taste it anyway (at least not with the fillings/toppings I use!). It's an ideal budget cutter and one I will be buying again.

Summary: An average slice of ham that's cutting the budget.