Value for Money: Vegetable Stock

This week, Value for Money compares five varieties of vegetable stock

* * * * * Excellent

* * * * Great

* * * Fine

* * Below Par

* Awful

Knorr Stock Pot

€2.89 for 112g, €25.80 per kg

Highs: This is comparatively new and backed by an advertising campaign featuring the bad boy of British chefs, Marco Pierre White. It is a gelatinous lump which, when added to water, delivers a nice rich, golden coloured broth. It is heavily flecked with vegetable pieces and looks suitably warming.

Lows: Shame there was only the merest hint of vegetable flavours and it was way too salty. At least Knorr is upfront about the salt content – 100ml per portion or 18 per cent of an adult's GDA – but of more immediate concern was the price and the fact that you get just four servings in a packet.

Verdict: Pricey and salty

Star rating: * *

Marigold Swiss Bouillon

€2.95 for 150g, €19.66 per kg

Highs: This stock is frequently recommended in cookbooks – and with good reason. It is salty enough to add flavour, and you can actually taste some of the vegetable in the mix. It is pale in colour and is the only stock option which doubles up as both a savoury sprinkling and a "delicious hot drink". It was also surprisingly cheap given its good reputation.

Lows: While it is certainly drinkable, delicious might be overstating it ever so slightly. The packaging is just a little bulkier than the competition and while it impossible to spill a stock cube, this is altogether more vulnerable to accidents.

Verdict: Top notch

Star Rating: * * * * *

Oxo Vegetable Stock Cubes

€1.39 for 71g, €19.57 per kg

Highs: This smells and tastes meaty, almost like a chicken stock (but, to be clear, there are no meat products contained within). Despite having the highest salt content of all the products reviewed, it does not taste particularly salty and had a surprisingly smooth flavour.

Lows: While we were marvelling about the balanced flavours, we had a quick look at the ingredient list and saw a possible explanation – monosodium glutamate. The flavours dissipated very quickly leaving an aftertaste which was quite artificial and not particularly pleasant.

Verdict: Artificially enhanced

Star rating: * *

Kallo Organic Vegetable Stock Cube

€1.95 for 66g, €29.54 per kg

Highs: A range of very high quality stock cubes are to be found under this brand, but we decided to review the "very low salt" option which has obvious advantages for infants and others who need to watch their salt intake. The vegetables have more room in this stock, which is nice and smooth in texture. It has a freshness which seemed to be lacking elsewhere.

Lows: There is no escaping it: when you take out salt, you take out flavour, which is what this stock cube really lacks. It also tasted a little watery and was the most expensive of the products reviewed.

Verdict: Low salt, low flavour

Star rating: * * *

Marks & Spencer Concentrated Stock

€3.99 for 210g, €19 per kg

Highs: This is a remarkably sweet stock, full of strong vegetable flavour and with a nice, pure ingredient list. It is very rich and has a velvety texture that is to be found in the best of stocks. The tomato and garlic flavours dominate and we reckon it wouldn't take much to turn this into a top-notch vegetable soup. It is also surprisingly cheap and seems to last a long time.

Lows: Which might just be a problem as it is a paste rather than a cube, something we fear will impact ever so slightly on its shelf life.

Verdict: Excellent

Star rating: * * * * *