meat from butchers V supermarket

Pink.

I mix and match between the supermarket and butchers depending on how much I have to spend and what I'm looking for. I find my local butcher is quite expensive and it doesn't help that much of the meat is not priced so sometimes the price you pay can be an unpleasant surprise.

We have an existing thread on this topic which should help:

meat from butchers V supermarket

I'll merge both threads later to keep the replies together.

Pink

Spiggle

I will only eat meat from the butchers. I find that it is far tastier, has far less water pumped in, a lot is locally produced and free range. The shrinkage and 'oozings' from sm meat makes me feel quite yuck to be honest.

I don't find that meat is appreciably more expensive and as someone said above because there is less shrinkage when cooked you do get more for your money. A small/independent butcher is going to find competing with sm 'offers' for meat difficult because they are selling quality, they are independent and they don't screw the producer down to almost insolvency levels. If money is tight I can get a smaller amount weighed out to match what I want to spend and not the weight that some factory is programmed to package it up at. Advice on cooking and alternative cheaper cut options are readily and cheerfully given.

And for me there is no comparison on taste and texture especially with minced beef. I have to be very careful not to insult friends if we eat round theirs and they've done a pan of a mince based recipe such as spag bol, it's all small and almost sandy or gritty to eat with no meat texture at all, yuck.

As for bacon, I just agree with the comments above. Try a rasher of sm bacon and a rasher of butcher bacon in two pans or separated under the grill. Check the difference in size (you could weigh it before and after I suppose) once it's cooked and I'm sure you'll be amazed at the difference.

Can't comment on sausage, pies, etc as I don't eat them even from the butcher but my OH thinks they truly are the business. Oh and I've yet to find FR eggs larger or cheaper in the sm than those my butcher sells and I know the farm from whence they came.

It is difficult to generalise too widely because there will be butchers who don't offer the best service or do overprice their produce though they tend to be a minority. It is easy to generalise about sm meat though because it is mass produced, water pumped and under hung.

Hope that little bit of my humble opinion helps a little.

All the best,
Spigs

WantToBeFree

It seems that the general concensus is that butchers win

I have to pop into town tomorrow will check out the local ones. I'm relatively new to the area and dont know if theres a farm shop locally, used to use one all the time before I moved but have to say it wasnt cheap :undecided

I need to save the pennies at the mo but like some have said its far easier buy the amount that I need from a butcher rather than pre-packaged from a sm so thats where some MSE might work for me

spike7451

Pink-winged wrote: »

I mix and match between the supermarket and butchers depending on how much I have to spend and what I'm looking for. I find my local butcher is quite expensive and it doesn't help that much of the meat is not priced so sometimes the price you pay can be an unpleasant surprise.

We have an existing thread on this topic which should help:

meat from butchers V supermarket

I'll merge both threads later to keep the replies together.

Pink

Have you tried McKees butchers in Asda Bangor or Bloomfields Pink?...I find they're well expensive compared to my local butcher,although I've noticed the one in Asda is cheaper than the one in Bloomfields..

Big_Graeme

ragz wrote: »

Am I the only one nervous of butchers? I don't like the idea of being put on the spot like that, in a supermarket I can browse, pick stuff up and put it down again, calculate all the prices...

The kind of one on one service you get in a butchers makes me uneasy, I would feel under pressure to byu loads of expensive stuff!

You shouldn't be nervous, a good butcher is one of the best friends you can make, they would much rather sell you a pound of mince than a pound of fillet steak if that was what suited you.

They will point you in the direction of good value cuts, tell you how to cook it too, give you bones for stock as well. That way you not only give them your trade once, you return week after week.

Spirit_2

I go to the local farm shop every week as they sell their own meat. We will buy veg there if they have it or from a local greengrocers.

We eat quite a lot of meat and have very little supermarket shopping.

jackyann

ragz wrote: »

Am I the only one nervous of butchers? I don't like the idea of being put on the spot like that, in a supermarket I can browse, pick stuff up and put it down again, calculate all the prices...

The kind of one on one service you get in a butchers makes me uneasy, I would feel under pressure to byu loads of expensive stuff!

This is just what supermarkets want you to think! Because I was brought up in a family that watched the pennies, looked for value and used a butcher ( this was before supermarkets!) I have always expected butchers to look after me. Mostly they love to tell you how to cook stuff (so do other customers) and will sort out nice cheap things with pleasure. Some of my best MSE advice has come from butchers & others in the shop.
Most of them take great pride in their work, & know that they have to sell the cheaper cuts from a carcase as well as expensive joints.
It's good for your health & purse to make a little tasty meat go a long way.

monnagran

Butchers every time! We are very lucky to have an excellent one in our small town. All his meat is locally sourced and the taste is superb. We would rather have a small amount of really excellent meat than masses of tasteless stuff. I am on the tightest of budgets but find the butcher no more expensive than the SM. You can build up a relationship with your local butcher and yes, he will look after you.
Last time I went in there was a young couple with their toddler and it was very obvious that they were struggling financially. The butcher was explaining to them how to cook pork belly slices in a slow oven for a long time to make them crispy and how you could put in a rice pudding and some jacket potatoes at the same time to make good use of the gas. Try getting that advice in Tescos!
I can also get a HUGE bag of delicious bacon bits for 50p. Last time I got 7 meals from one bag.

With my lovely butcher and the local farmers market for veg, eggs etc we live very well on very little money.

PipneyJane

WantToBeFree wrote: »

Firstly apologies if this has been asked before

But am curious which people tend to find cheaper? Or does it tend to depend of the cut of meat?

Also, extra lean beef mince or cheapest there is and drain the fat after cooking?

Am new to this site and want cheap but healthy meals I can 'con' my kids with :rotfl:

I buy our meat from a butcher. The quality is better and there is no comparison regarding the flavour (you can really notice the difference with chicken). On the price front, yes a butcher is more expensive but I think the meat goes further. We save up a "meat fund" every month and only visit the butcher every 3 months or so to stock up the freezer.

I wouldn't go back to the supermarket.

jackyann

It occurs to me that you might like some advice on stepping through the door! I would go in with at least one distinct order in mind, even if it's just some sausages or mince. While you are there, point to something & say "how would you cook that?" - you will get as many opinions as there are customers!
What can be confusing for newbies is that supermarkets seem to pick out only a few cuts, and mince the rest - butchers have more variety but can vary - some will label things like "stewing steak" or "pork for casserole" others will keep use the original names - so you have to decide between flank, brisket etc (and some names vary with the region). But as well as asking in the shop, you can get a book from the library, or ask on here where there are a lot of knowledgeable people.