Behind the scenes of sausage judging to determine the Supreme Award winner and the top six progressing through to the People’s Choice award in Auckland.

A jury of butchers and food writers have crowned a skinny Thai-style chicken sausage the best in the country.

The chicken, lemongrass and lime sausage from Mangawhai Meat Shop was deemed the nation's best, beating out 500 other contenders in the Devro Great New Zealand Sausage Competition.

It's not easy to decide on the country's top snag, nor is the annual title taken lightly.

Supplied Chicken Lime and Lemongrass Sausage from Mangawhai Meat shop.

As one of the six Supreme Award judges, I sampled 15 of the country's finest across 12 categories (there were a couple of ties). We covered classics like pork and poultry, to more gourmet offerings - wild venison and black plum was a personal favourite (care of Peter Timbs Meats) while pork and Tasmanian (why not Nelson?) apple cider from New World Rolleston took out the People's Choice Award at last night's ceremony in Auckland.

In the end it was very close - the poultry sausage won by a whisker after carefully considering texture, aroma, flavour and how much we wanted another bite. The winner was unique and well-balanced, a crowd-pleaser that cut well and smelt great.

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JASON DORDAY/FAIRFAX NZ Behind the scenes of sausage judging.

Three butchers and three food writers made up the final judging panel who (before actually tasting, of course) sliced, sniffed, squashed, poked and prodded every single gold medal sausage, all cooked by the same chef, in the same home kitchen, in the same way. In once instance the raw snag was asked to be seen to confirm that it was a little on the nose. (Don't trust an anemic-looking sausage, I told them.) And some finalists failed to win the experts over (apparently they've been more impressed in previous years).

There were a few surprise stand-outs around the table - a classic crimson saveloy from Hellers (winner of the pre-cooked category) ticked all the boxes, but goodness knows a sav needs sauce. I also went back for a second slice of Waikanae Butchery's thick white pudding entry (traditionally pork meat and fat, suet, bread and oatmeal), the winner of the black pudding/rounds category. Add some baked beans, maybe some wilted greens, and this would be a perfect brunch banger in my books.

JASON DORDAY/FAIRFAX NZ Sniffing, slicing and note taking - serious sausage competition.

The final 15 gold medal sausages stood out from 500 others entered from around the country, all examined by 24 judges - food experts, chefs and butchers. A mystery shopper visited each star butchery to purchase the gold medallists, making sure they were genuine contenders. A barbecue the day after official judging decided the people's pick.

DEVRO GREAT NEW ZEALAND SAUSAGE COMPETITION 2016 RESULTS

Supreme Award: Mangawhai Meat Shop, Chicken, Lime & Lemongrass

People's Choice Award: New World Rolleston, Pork & Tasmanian Apple Cider

Devro New Zealand Wildcard Winner: Col's Butchery, Free Range Chicken & Parsley

Gold medallists:

Beef category: Harris Meats, Old English Beef

Pork category: PAK'nSAVE Riccarton, Country Pork

Flavoured category: Greytown Butcher, Beef Flavour

Poultry category: Col's Butcher, Free Range Chicken & Parsley Mangawhai Meat Shop tied with Chicken, Lime & Lemongrass

Pre-Cooked category: Hellers, Classic Saveloys tied with Peter Timbs Meats, Pork, Lemon & Parsley

Continental Fresh category: New World Stonefields, Fresh Chorizo

Continental Ready-to-eat category: Ashby's Butchery - The Naked Banger, Pepperoni Bierstick

Black Pudding / Rounds category: Waikanae Butchery, White Pudding

Traditional Flavour category: New World Rangiora, Free Farmed Pork 'n' Fennel

Gourmet Beef category: Aussie Butcher New Lynn - Reuben's Made in Store, Beef, Mushroom & Parmesan

Gourmet Pork category: New World Rolleston, Pork & Tasmanian Apple Cider tied with Peter Timbs Meats, Pork, Jalapeno & Cheese

Gourmet Varietal category: Peter Timbs Meats, Wild Venison & Black Plum