lets get back to basics... starting with the butcher

COOLTRIKERCHICK
COOLTRIKERCHICK Posts: 10,510
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edited 20 February 2013 at 9:41AM in Gone off!
With everything up in the air with meat , pre-made meat meals etc in the supermarkets, and the rising costs , is it or isnt it Halal meat etc..

Plus there are threads being started by people who have never stepped foot into a butchers, let alone bought any meat from one..

I thought we could start 'back to basics' threads to help people ease their way, and get their confidence in buying from butchers, bakers, green grocers etc..

and show that the supermarkets are NOT the 'B' all and end all of grocery and shopping in general.


A few tips in using a local butcher..

1.... Do some research, ask people what butcher they use, and ask them why?.. quality? Price? only using locally sourced meat? Huge variety, maybe including exotic meat?

2... When you are out and about look out for butchers, and look in their windows, and see if the meat is 'tempting' you to buy..good quality meat will jump out at you, and make you want to buy it..

3.... the busiest times for butchers is normally the end of the week, so have a look to see how many customers are in the shop etc ( our butchers has constantly got a que out of the door on saturday mornings
( this is the butcher we use)
http://www.thebestof.co.uk/local/neath/business-guide/feature/ponty-butchers

4.... A good butcher will have a good and loyal customer base, so for me personally if I were looking for a new butcher, and every time i passed there was no one in there, or only the odd customer, then alarm bells would ring that they either didnt have good meat, or the prices were ott.

5.. once you found a butcher that you feel you would like to use..pluck up the courage and go in, and say you have never used a 'proper' butchers shop before, now I know this might sound sexist, but I found men to be more understanding and helpfull than women at this point ( maybe women automatically presume you know what you want when it comes to cooking etc)

6... Tell them EACTLY how much money you want to spend.. When I use my butcher I say I want diced beef, and about x amount of £££ worth, I never say I want xxxx weights worth...Allways use £££ as the gauge, unless the meat they are selling is per item, e.g steaks are normally sold x£ per steak, same as duck breasts and chicken breasts.

7.... Dont forget you are in control with the quanity you buy from the butcher, not like the supermarket.. you can only buy the quanity that has been pre-packed...so if you only want 4 sausages then 4 sausages you can buy....etc..

8.... Please don't compare prices like for like with the supermarkets.... some things will be cheaper, some things will be more expensive..BUT the quality will be far superior to the supermarket, even the so called premium ranges from the supermarket...

9.......... I set myself x£ I will spend in a butchers...I used to go in and buy a whole silver side, chicken breasts etc, the butcher would cut the silver side into various size joints, and i used to freeze and have approx 6 -8 weeks worth of meat, BUT now I will do it on a weekly basis.. this is all down to balancing my spending budget..

So now I will set myself a weekly budget for meat, veg.. store cupboard, etc...

Today Hubby spent over £20 ( will give an exact figure when he gets back home)

Which I had 2 rump streaks, a large bag of beef peices, which will make a casserole, and a large beef curry, minted lamb, which will be for tomorrow's sunday dinner, and hubby asked for some cheap lamb for cawl ( lamb stew) which was a front leg lamb bone with loads of meat on it for £1.99:T:T, the cheapest lamb in the supermarket is rolled breast which is practically all fat.


here is a pic of my £1.99 lamb
005_zpsc1f22e13.jpg




oooo heck didnt mean for the post to be a long serman, but its a start, hopefully in a series of back to basics threads, but will help everyone get back into to control of their shopping habbits, budgets and also supporting your local independants that really do appreciate your custom..


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Comments

  • maman
    maman Posts: 28,491
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    Thanks for your post COOLTRIKERCHICK. I'll definitely take on board your tip about checking out (make that searching out) local butchers. I know the one nearest me (and not that near) is hugely expensive. In my area (South East) lots of butchers have closed down and the ones that remain are very high-end, posh places.

    But when I'm down your way (my brother lives in Alltwen) I'll have to buy some meat to bring back for my freezer!:)
  • maman wrote: »
    Thanks for your post COOLTRIKERCHICK. I'll definitely take on board your tip about checking out (make that searching out) local butchers. I know the one nearest me (and not that near) is hugely expensive. In my area (South East) lots of butchers have closed down and the ones that remain are very high-end, posh places.

    But when I'm down your way (my brother lives in Alltwen) I'll have to buy some meat to bring back for my freezer!:)


    :eek::eek::eek: small world..

    Maybe other mse'r who use a good butcher in your area could let us know which one they use?

    I have allways said it is better to have a smaller piece of good quality meat than a large piece of basic meat.. If you have a good bit of meat, you will have a good meal, as you will have good gravy etc
    Work to live= not live to work
  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
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    studies have shown red meat isn't healthy
  • timbo58
    timbo58 Posts: 1,164 Forumite
    There's studies around to say anything is/sin't healthy if you look hard enough.
    There's equal number of studies that favour lo fat OR lo carb for that matter and they both have their detractors.

    Quote a source and be specific and we can all decide whether these 'studies' stack up.
    Unless specifically stated all posts by me are my own considered opinion.
    If you don't like my opinion feel free to respond with your own.
  • studies have shown red meat isn't healthy

    everything is unhealthy if not eaten in moderation;)
    Work to live= not live to work
  • shammyjack
    shammyjack Posts: 2,685
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    studies have shown red meat isn't healthy

    Don't eat any then , I'll have yours !
  • Edwardia
    Edwardia Posts: 9,170 Forumite
    I live in a town of 50,000 people. We have seven supermarkets plus other convenience stores.

    ONE butcher, which doesn't sell organic meat and is part of a county wide chain. A small amount of the meat comes from the county but this isn't really a beef area.

    Only three of the supermarkets have an actual butcher's counter and AFAIK none of them mince meat for you or bone and roll joints.

    Only two of the supermarkets sell pre-packaged organic meat and poultry although five out of the seven have organic ranges.

    Four out of the seven sell game though, even if it's often only as pre-packed chilled burgers or frozen birds.

    There were two butchers but one closed last year because of direct competition from two meat vans parked in the market on the same street, Thursdays and Saturdays.

    Only one of the vans is refrigerated and it's obvious from the boxes left behind by the unrefrigerated van, that the meat comes from Eastern Europe. :(

    Finding good quality local meat and poultry is difficult here and finding organic too.
  • Edwina,

    not all of us restrict our food criteria even further by wanting organic,

    This is a thread to use 'proper' high street butcher, not a meat counter at a supermarket..

    Its all about getting back the basics of using an independant butchers and getting the confidence in asking for, using different cuts, and asking for different quantities of meat which suit your personal/family needs, not what is put into a tray, and then put on a shelf in a cold shelf..

    I love using the local butcher, not only for the excellent quality meat, but they know me personally, and refer to me as the 'biker lady' which I am proud to be called:beer::beer:

    Its all about the personal touch, and how they make you feel valued....

    The service, price, attitude, etc Is it different in a built up area? to a local village?? where maybe a local village/small town really do need to pull out all the stops to keep their customers, where as a built up area, has a higher population etc so generally has a higher footfall passing their shops?
    Work to live= not live to work
  • Edwardia
    Edwardia Posts: 9,170 Forumite
    Trixie

    My point is that many people don't have a local butcher, and that even if they do, that doesn't guarantee that the butcher will carry local meat and poultry.

    It's just as restrictive, to be wanting local food, as it is organic. There's NO beef in the country surrounding the town I live in.

    Even when we lived in a village with a butcher, none of the beef was local because beef isn't reared here.

    My point is that unless you live somewhere where you have local butchers which DO local meat and poultry, then you haven't got the choice.

    There will be plenty of people who have no access to a local butcher at all, and no vestige of a butchery service in their local supermarkets, just pre-packed meat.

    Just because there's been a horsemeat scare, doesn't suddenly mean that after a good thirty years or more of shunning local butchers in favour of supermarkets, they will be there when people decide they want more traceability on their food.

    You sneer at me repeatedly on threads for choosing to buy organic food. We went organic last year after finding that the plain pork loin steaks from Tesco Extra were only 89% pork, with 11% added water and three additives, one of which would raise my blood sugar.

    That's no difference between avoiding additives which can affect my health and people discovering the lasagne or burgers they've eaten contain horsemeat, and deciding they want to avoid it and have more traceability of their food.

    Not everyone lives in the country and has enough land to rear their own pigs. You choose to do that, I choose to eat organic.

    I hope this thread will be useful for those people who DO have access to local butchers and can buy good quality local meat and poultry.
  • Meadows
    Meadows Posts: 4,530
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    oooo heck didnt mean for the post to be a long serman, but will help everyone get back into to control of their shopping habbits, budgets and also supporting your local independants that really do appreciate your custom..


    Yep certainly is a sermon and I think most are quite capable of shopping wisely.
    Not everyone eats poorly or does not know how to shop wisely or indeed need pointers on how to get back in control of shopping habits or budgets as they have never been out of them!
    And not all butchers are good butchers, around by me you pay expensive prices at the farm shops for meats that do not taste that good or the high street butchers are the type of butchers that sell meat buy the tray. Buy cheap - sell cheap, sure they would appreciate my custom but I would rather not shop there!
    Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.
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