Here at Weschenfelders we spend our working lives producing sausage casings that are strong and without holes, so you can imagine the heart ache when you go to a BBQ and see friends pricking holes into the sausages before they are ceremoniously burnt on the grill !?  Pricking a good sausage just allows all the flavour to drain away, while leaving it whole allows the fat and juices to cook the sausage and will produce a much tastier and succulent sausage as a result. 

On the subject of pricking I was asked this week if it was necessary to prick a Haggis before cooking.  Having consulted one of the best Haggis producers in Scotland I can confirm that he does give the Haggis one small prick ( no bigger than a pencil size) before the Haggis is cooked, maybe two holes in a big one, which allows any air trapped inside the Haggis to escape. When the Haggis is re-heated another couple of pricks stops the Haggis splitting before it is served.