A former Greggs employee has revealed the best time to visit the bakery chain if you want a hot sausage roll. According to the ex-worker, the lunchtime rush between 12pm and 2pm offers the best chance of getting a piping-hot pastry, as staff constantly bring fresh batches from the oven to meet demand.
Why Greggs pastries aren't always hot
The former worker, who spent their university years at Greggs, explained that the most frequent customer complaint was that food wasn't as warm as expected. The reason comes down to VAT: in the UK, cold baked goods and items left out to cool are zero-rated for VAT. By allowing freshly baked pasties and sausage rolls to cool on shelves without heated storage or heat-retaining packaging, Greggs can keep prices down.
However, the ex-employee noted that the pastries taste far better when warm, and having served customers for years, they confirmed there is a particular time of day when you stand the best chance of getting a hot pastry.
Lunchtime is the best bet
Many might assume that visiting first thing in the morning guarantees a scorching-hot sausage roll, but mornings at Greggs were largely centred around hot breakfast rolls and coffee. To prevent food waste, only a limited selection of pastries were baked when the shop opened, meaning you risk disappointment or a wait of around 15 minutes while a fresh one is prepared.
Instead, the ex-worker recommends scheduling visits during the busy lunchtime period, roughly between 12pm and 2pm. You may need to join a queue, but with many customers collecting their lunch, staff were continuously bringing steaming hot pastries, sausage rolls and bakes straight from the oven to serve.
Priority items and cake advice
The best-selling items were always given priority - think sausage rolls, steak bakes and chicken bakes - meaning you've got a better chance of securing these while freshly baked. However, given it's the busiest period, there's always the possibility that the customer ahead of you will purchase lunch for an entire workplace, swiping all your go-to items in an instant. If this happens, you can request what you'd like, and staff should be able to pop a few fresh ones in the oven for you, assuming they're not already in there.
When it comes to cakes, the ex-worker recommends visiting first thing in the morning for the freshest offerings. They're delivered daily and positioned in the display cabinets beside the sausage rolls, so the earlier you arrive, the softer they'll be. Unlike the savoury options, all the cakes arrive ready-made, so there's no way for the team to whip up a fresh batch if your favourite choice has sold out.
