Buying meat direct

charlies_mum

Called in out our local abbatoir (not sure about spelling but sounds better than slaughterhouse), and found they have a shop which is just like going into a normal butchers.

I bought some lamb, pork and mince (real bargain, 80p per lb if you buy 10lbs).

Sorry if I'm preaching to the converted, but the meat was lovely, fresh, tastier and much cheaper than the supermarkets.

thirtythreedragons

Is there a list of such outlets?

Fossil_2

For people in London, you can always visit:

Smithfield near Farringdon for pork, poultry and other meat related things cheaper (not always but certainly more fresh) than you can buy in supermarkets

or fish/seafood related in Billingsgate market near Poplar, Docklands..


catch is:

that you have to buy big-ish pieces.. so huge pieces of pork ribs, neck ends, etc in Smithfield.. in Billingsgate, you can buy single fish, etc but boxes are obviously cheaper

you have to go there early in the morning about 4am-7am.. weekdays only.. excluding public holidays.

vegansaver

When I first left college I went for a job in a slaughterhouse,

One morning in there and I haven't eatten meat since.

Most disturbing, but each to their own.

W1zz

I buy all my meat and poultry from local farm shops.

Have to agree 100% with Charlies_Mum - It's unbelievable the taste difference and quality between correctly reared, slaughted and hung (4-5 weeks) meat than the mass produced, conveyor belt meats rolled out in supermarkets.

davet_3

You're quite correct, although I'd be very suprised if meat from a slaughterhouse has been hung for a couple of weeks.

W1zz wrote:

I buy all my meat and poultry from local farm shops.

Have to agree 100% with Charlies_Mum - It's unbelievable the taste difference and quality between correctly reared, slaughted and hung (4-5 weeks) meat than the mass produced, conveyor belt meats rolled out in supermarkets.

Sarahsaver

You can buy big (huge!)joints of meat in makro and divide them up. Don't forget that in cheaper stuff there will be water /moisture if its not been hung long enough, which will damage the meat when frozen - unless it's as tough as an old boot!
From an abbatoir maybe you can also get offal and blood which are of course best used asap !

cookiemonster25

for those local to stockton/ middlesbrough/ darlo, george bolams in sedgefield (opposite the community hospital) sell good quality meat, cheap but gorgeous sausages for a fraction of what they cost in the supermarket, we usualy get about a month-6 weeks worth of meat for about £30 and freeze it
their mince is brill, never had a bit of grissle in it yet :rudolf:

charlies_mum

thirtythreedragons, try looking in your local yellow pages for your local slaughterhouse and ask them if they sell to the public. Where I go, you can buy as little or as much as you want and they will cut the meat to your requirements.

vegansaver, I can understand what you are saying, if I went into the actual barns, then I would probably never eat meat again.

Hanoijane

Try https://www.bigbarn.co.uk for food producers who are local to where you live.

-food is fresher
-less waste in transporting food for miles
-your money is spent locally, so it's good for where you live
-cut out the middlemen, producers get more £
-pay less for better quality
-buy from producers who have concentrated on flavour and quality rather than shelf-life
-seasonal produce

grex9101

Sarahsaver wrote:

You can buy big (huge!)joints of meat in makro and divide them up. Don't forget that in cheaper stuff there will be water /moisture if its not been hung long enough, which will damage the meat when frozen - unless it's as tough as an old boot!
From an abbatoir maybe you can also get offal and blood which are of course best used asap !

sorry, but i find makros meat to be quite poor quality,and fairly expensive