meat from butchers V supermarket

winniepooh

thanks for the advice everyone x

gayleygoo

That sounds like a high price, if you only got 500g or so of stewing steak. In my local butchers' it would be no more than £12, next time ask for the reciept and check what the prices are? Meat packs are an economical way to buy meat too. Cheaper meats, like pork belly and shoulder cuts are usually cheaper in butchers than they are in supermarkets.

Rainy-Days

Our butchers has the abbotoir behind them so they don't have the additonal costs there and that is how they sell their meat reasonably priced. We use them because they have good ethical standards as well.

Our butcher does 10lb weights for freezer prices. So for 10lb of mince put into 1lb bags it comes in at £1.40 a pound which is pretty good going for steak mince. They also do joints of beef, pork and lamb on these 10lb weights as well. When I went last month we spent about £120.00 in money but we won't go again until February time. For that it included bacon, sausages, chicken legs, joints of pork, lamb and beef. Mince steak, pork loin steaks and one of their special meat pies. It seems to be getting harder to find decent butchers, but they are out there.

spike7451

My butchers stocks locally sourced produce as well from eggs to Ulster pasties.I can see the meat I want & can order stuff like Pheasant (that reminds me,must order mine) duck,partridge & rabbit during the season.
He may be slightly more expensive than the CoOp over the road,but I can honestly say I've never had any bad meat or poultry from him,unlike the CoOp,which has been shockingly bad at times!

andygb

To save on meat, we very often wait for offers to come up, which means that we have precooked some meat so as not to run out.
The "cheap and cheerful" seem to be:
Beef mince - usually around £1.40 fo 400/500g from most shops when reduced, only pick good meat though.
Chicken thighs/legs - never pay more than £3 for 6 thighs/4 legs
Whole chicken - £3 maximum for a 1.7K plus bird. This will keep you going for ages if you remove the legs/breasts, then use the carcass for soups/stews.
Braising/stewing steak - never pay more than £4 a kilo
We even bought a half leg of lamb from Asda last week for £8 (£7.50 a kilo - very cheap), and I deboned it, leaving two good, luxurious meals (4 portions), and a massive stew, containing the bone and the other meat, which together with borlotti beans, barley, chopped carrots, onions, spinach and herbs and spice, will keep us going for most of the week.

troll35

I would shop around to see if different butchers have offers. I certainly agree with others that butcher's meat is generally far superior in quality to supermarket meat and often from local sources.
My butcher does a range of packs of differing sizes and values. I get his £20 pack about once a month and it consists of a large brisket joint, 1lb frying steak, 1lb stewing steak, 1lb pork chops, 1lb pork steak, 1lb steak mince, 1lb sausage (home-made in a variety of flavours) and 1lb liver. I often swap the liver for a few extra sausages, or the brisket for a pork joint and his weights are often generous :-).
At the weekend I got a large gammon joint which was £7.99. I asked him to take a slice off for grilling and then chop the remaining into 2 joints and restring, which he was happy to do. Each of the joints will do us (3 adults) 3 meals and some sandwiches!

reddleman

I'm lucky to live near a butcher who sells pigs liver. Very cheap, and tasty. Their bacon and steak are cheaper than the supermarket too.

ladymarmalade

Sooooo, yesterday for the first time in about three years, I decided not to go to the butchers as part of my weekly shop, as I have to go up a very steep hill, and couldn't face it after it in the snow after it had already taken me 1.5 hours to do a 20 minute journey, so I did ALL my shopping at the supermarket yeaterday instead of just the cupboard type items.

I was really shocked, I have ended up spending about an extra £12....which I have worked out has gone on meat.....ie chicken/lamb mince/ chicken thighs/sandwich meat and various other bits and bobs!!! Since when has supermarket meat been more expensive than the butchers!?!?!? I should probaly point out the butcher is a member of the butcher guild and regularly wins national awards for his products, so it's not like he's not any good or anything.

I was just really shocked to pay more for a substandard, water pumped product!:eek:

thehappybutterfly

I always assumed that supermarket meat and especially poultry was much cheaper than butchery meat? I've always been a bit too scared to buy mince, stew etc from the butchers - I feel intimidated as I don't know how much and what to ask for

I just buy the packs of mince etc without actually knowing the weight - i know by looking how many people it will feed. How do you explain to a butcher how much you need? They don't know what size portions I eat.

Osarkon

I've found supermarkets to be more expensive as well, which is why I now use my local butcher. Really friendly, will give you advice and recommendations, and is a far side cheaper than even aldi.