Building on the runaway success of their Pie Maker, Kmart announced a sausage roll maker back in May. It’s taken until now for stock to actually become available – check your local stores – but they’re finally starting to hit stores, and I’ve managed to nab one to try it out.

I’m a big sausage roll aficionado from way back, I’m not a huge fan of the traditional meat pie so ended up at the good ol’ sauso roll as my bakery treat. The Kmart Sausage Roll Maker scratches the pastry treat itch, while still leaving room open for other recipes – if you’re willing to get experimental.

At $29 it’s inexpensive, but like most Kmart gear it’s pretty well made. The unit itself is solid, with a manual the only other thing included in the box.

The Sausage Roll Maker plugs in with the attached 240v plug, and aside from the Red and Green indicator lights there’s not a real lot to know about the Sausage Roll Maker itself – turn it on, the red light indicates heating, green flicks on when it reaches optimal temperature.

You don’t have to pre-heat the sausage roll maker, switch it on and go.

Pro-tip: Get your pastry defrosted and filling ready before you switch it on.

There’s a few recipes included in the manual, but with Sausage rolls your key ingredients are sausage mince, bread crumbs and an onion wrapped in pastry. I usually throw in some bacon, parmesan cheese and some mixed herbs, with an egg to bind it all together. But the manual has actual recipes with measurements and everything.

There’s pre-formed Sausage Roll holes like a jaffle maker or pie maker, so it’s easy to make your sausage rolls. 

It’s easy to make the Sausage rolls, you can either cut your pastry in half and lay half down, fill it and then lay the other half on top or leave it whole and just flip it over before closing the lid. 

There’s a locking mechanism which keeps it shut, much like your jaffle maker, or indeed your Kmart pie maker. It can be a bit difficult to close if you open the unit to check progress, but you don’t need to be the hulk to get it closed again.

Cooking time for me was about 20 minutes, with the sausage rolls golden brown and the filling cooked through. There’s a bit of trimming up for the overhanging pastry but the pre-formed guides in the sausage roll maker make it easy to snap them apart.

My only feedback would be to get a place to wrap the cable around when not in use, but it’s not a huge deal, the sausage roll maker itself is pretty small anyway – but, if they refine the design, it’d be nice to see.

Of course, now you’re thinking ‘Sausage Roll Maker is a bit limited in scope’ but you haven’t thought ahead. The clever people over at the Kmart Pie Maker Facebook group have already suggested making ‘Mars Bar rolls’ and also, forming up choux pastry and creating chocolate eclair shells. I’ve tried the Mars Bar rolls with a little vanilla ice-cream and the nougat and caramel when it’s gone crystalline is delicious.

I’m planning a breakfast roll with some eggs and bacon, and some more deserts (Apple Pie here we come!) and the recipe page from the manual is definitely calling to me – so this gadget is going to get some use. I’m also keenly watching the Pie Maker Facebook group for any other awesome ideas to try.

I’m a sucker for these single use kitchen items – there’s a whole cupboard dedicated to them in our kitchen – and like most of these, the Kmart Sausage Roll maker is very easy to use, and at $29, it’s worth having a look.

The Sausage Roll Maker from Kmart is arriving in stores slowly, but check the website for stock in stores near you.