Not sure why but I am nervous about buying reduced meat at the supermarket!

The_Golden_Goose

Esp if the meat is changing colour.

Yesterday when I went shopping, there was a number of reduced joints and chickens, yet I couldnt bring myself to buy them!

Lamb shoulder from £5 something to £3 something...... I guess I would freeze same day as useby day was yesterday and then when ready to cook defrost thoroughly beforehand??

Any tips? Anyone else experience the same thing? Words of comfort? LOL.....

Slopalongplacidly

I don't eat a huge amount of meat but anything I do buy would be on offer or at its' sell by date. I have been doing it for 30 years, still here, and the only advice would be make sure you buy and take it straight home and freeze it or cook it. I have never had a bad experience with doing this, but I think you have to make sure that the packaging isn't 'blown' and don't treat beef mince in the same way you would steak. If you eat enough meat then buying a reduced item of a joint and splitting it quickly has got to be a winner every time. A friend visits her daughter late evening in town and the local Asda knocks all the large joints down to really silly prices.

Always buy at the end of your shopping and make a mental note to deal with immediately you unpack.

PollyFlinders_3

I buy reduced meat most of the time. I only buy meat that looks OK colour-wise, and smells OK, and I freeze it the day I buy it. I also make sure I cook it thoroughly.

Sell-by dates are the producers' way of minding their backs, and there's no reason why something that is OK to eat today will automatically be unfit to eat tomorrow. When you think of how meat was stored years ago before we all had fridges or freezers, I imagine most of the stuff we see in the supermarkets on its "last day" is probably super-fresh by comparison!

jamespir

The_Golden_Goose wrote: »

Esp if the meat is changing colour.

Yesterday when I went shopping, there was a number of reduced joints and chickens, yet I couldnt bring myself to buy them!

Lamb shoulder from £5 something to £3 something...... I guess I would freeze same day as useby day was yesterday and then when ready to cook defrost thoroughly beforehand??

Any tips? Anyone else experience the same thing? Words of comfort? LOL.....

i always buy the reduced meat cause its cheap and gf wouldntlet me buy it normally shes a veggie ( fussy mare) and its always nice i freeze it and it tastes lovely

tessie_bear

i buy lots of reduced meat...bring it home and freeze straight away....its all been fine....the discolouration is the effect of light and it isnt off....smell meat if u are concerned about it...youll be able to tell straight away if its off.....when u defrost treat meat as u would any other...make sure its cooked through properly

pink_princess

Tessie is right,its oxygen that turns meat brown,its very safe to eat.I would trust any of the big four ,as there dates are at least 24 hours on the safe side.We are a family of 5 and all we eat (meat wise ) is reduced.
Quick tip,hit sainsburys at 9.30 am for 20 % reductions and then 6.30 pm for big knock downs .
PP

luxor4t

The_Golden_Goose wrote: »

Esp if the meat is changing colour.
Anyone else experience the same thing? Words of comfort? LOL.....

I know exactly where you are coming from with this - DH says I handle the packs like they are going to explode

I appreciate that there is nothing wrong with it etc etc but the voice of logic says "don't eat green meat"

If it worries you, don't buy it - you won't get the lovely glow that a good bargain brings, in fact you will probably throw the meat away after it has lurked in the freezer for months making you miserable.

There are bound to be plenty of other ways you can economise without feeling guilty.:idea:

malc1603

Jonathan Maitland did an entertaining tv show about eating food past its sell by date a year or two back - probably not online but theres a full account of it here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1024879/The-best-challenge---One-man-boldly-goes-use-dates-food.html

flea72

if i but reduced meat i cooked it straight away and then freeze it, because that way if its off when i open the pack, i can return it for a refund, whereas if it stinks two months after freezing, its a bit hard to then return it

i do this from experience, having defrosted and opened various packs of reduced meat, to find they are off

i know cooking would prob kill all the bugs, but you just cant disguise that 'winey' tang (even by adding vino lol)

Flea

rosalie-lavender

I am wary of buying reduced price fish or meat because I have had problems with it being off. In more than one case it has still been well within it's sell by date. If I lived nearer town I might be more tempted but an 18 mile return journey to take something back is expensive and inconvenient.

I tend to save money now by stocking up when things are on offer instead.

Addy

That article is very interesting. I'd always steered clear of pork and chicken products very close to their sell by/use by date. Don't worry about lamb or beef tho.

Bought a pack of chicken thighs & legs from Tesco once, opened it and nearly got knocked out by the stench, on closer inspection the skin also had a greenish tinge! It was well within it's sell-by date.