The uninspired transparent packaging of the Sainsbury's sausage rolls (two stars out of five) revealed squashed and flaky pastry that was dry and flavourless. For the same £1.55 tag, the Waitrose effort (four stars) looked far more appealing, with an attractively decorated dark golden crust, and the sausage meat was peppery and juicy.

Asda's lattice-design roll (three stars) also looked tasty, but there was too much air inside. The worst of the bunch were Morrisons' (zero stars), which featured a meagre amount of unpleasantly acidic and cheap-tasting meat crammed inside pale pastry.

Despite having puffier pastry and spicier sausage than its rivals, Tesco's (three stars) were let down by a base that was too moist, although the £1 price tag made them good value.