Why doesn't meat taste like it used to?

researcher

aliasojo wrote:

I wish I could afford to buy organic or farm fresh, naturally reared stuff all the time.

You can if you decide to eat less meat and also buy the cheaper cuts. If we all treated meat as something special, and refused to buy the c**p sold in supermarkets, the farmers would be forced to rear less intensively.

I'd rather have a piece of delicious pork, with crispy cracking once a month than that other stuff one a week!

calleyw

susank wrote:

As for your butcher - if he is using defrosted meat in his window - ask him why and ask for fresh instead make him prove it especially when shop is full!!! - after all we are the customer and we should get just what we want or try some other butchers with recommendation from others. I travel 6 miles to a good butcher and back and I buy 20 - 30 pounds money of meat products at a time and freeze them or bulk cook and freeze so it lasts me ages and ages.

How do I get him to prove that his meat has not been defrosted unless he cuts the meat up right in front of me.

People use supermarkets all sorts of reason including the fact that they are open longer hours.

My local butcher seem to open at around 9.30-10.30 am and is shut by about 2.30-3.00pm. Not much use for most people. And if I walk in to town on summers day I am not going to be able to buy meat and get it home (takes about 25 mins) in one piece and cool.

I have to make either make a special journey or to try fit it in with something else as I will not buy from my local butchers full stop. As I just don't trust it. And they never seem busy. A busy butchers shop is proof of a good butchers.

Yours


Calley

Philippa36

We buy most of our meat from the monthly farmers market. It is more expensive but the taste is incomparable to supermarket meat. It is worth every penny extra. I would never go back to buying all my shopping from the supermarket, I much prefer to spend a little more of the budget on decent food and save a little elsewhere.

moonrakerz

The quality of pork, in particular, depends on the breed of pig. People want lean meat nowadays, the producers breed "lean" pigs - no fat -no flavour !

I note the comment "it had 5 days left on the sell by date." - it would probably have tasted much better if it had been 5 days after its sell by date. Meat has to "hang" to be edible. Beef in particular, most supermarket beef is bright luminous pink - it should be a dark reddish brown. I'm afraid the supermarkets have a lot to answer for in the meat they provide to the public. I go to an old fashioned butcher, I rarely buy organic, I think that in many cases this is grossly overpriced to meet the latest food fad.

susank

In fact my butcher cuts up my meat in front of me all the time or rather at the back of the counter and we can ask for how much we want. You can also buy round steak and see it cut and then watch him mince it if you like. I would prefer to source organic products which are pricier and I would rather do a few veggie days and have this if I could.
I think living in scotland I am lucky in having a good butcher - yours sounds terrible to be only open a short time - its silly. A cool bag works wonders to take it home - remember I live 6 miles away and do other shopping too.

TOBRUK

I am on a tight budget, however where meat is concerned I never buy from a supermarket anymore, even if they have special offers - did anyone see the programme on channel 4 about supermarket meat? That would definitely put you off!

Supermarket meat has no taste, especially if you compare to meat you get from the butcher - if it's a good butcher! I know it may be a bit dearer but I would rather go without than eat meat from the supermarket. I have a great butcher who can tell me where the meat is from and how it has been reared. It is important to find a good butcher and one you can trust.

Buying offers from supermarkets may be kinder to your pocket, but you don't have the same quality and taste. Much better to have quality rather than quantity I feel. Even if you can only afford a 1lb of mince, the taste of that from a good butcher will be ten times better than that from any supermarket.

It is so disappointing when you buy meat on offer at a supermarket, feeling good that you have saved some money, only to be disappointed with the meal afterwards - better to save money elsewhere!

competitionscafe

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

Avoid supermarket pork ... really

Agree 100% with that - same goes for chicken - both usually reared for lowest possible cost per lb of meat and not for flavour (or welfare!). Try and get one of the old fashioned breeds (so called rare breeds) for pork that actually tastes of something. Organic is not essential, although Soil Association for example will guarantee certain standards of welfare etc, but buying directly from a small producer or good butcher is almost always a better option than a supermarket.

Pork belly is a cheap (and underated) cut of meat so worth spending the extra to get a decent quality.

suki1964

Have to agree - dont buy supermarket meat.

Im so lucky that I have moved near a town that has about a dozen butchers. As in everything theres good and bad and theres more then one that sells frozen meat and has red lights The butcher I use sells his own animals. This week I had leg of lamb - it was beautiful, so flavoursome that I got over the fact that I had probably watched the same lamb (or at least its cousins) in the fields the week before It was no more expensive then supermarket meat and its done 4 adults two meals and I can get soup out of whats left. If I go in for a piece of beef for roasting, out comes a quarter and Im asked what part I want. He trims the joint, rolls and ties it if need be and throws in a bag of very meaty bones free of charge (meant to be for the dog but I also make soup from the very meaty ones). He doesnt sell pork, I have to go to the pork shop for that, home cured bacons and gammons and once again the butcher knows the animals. I dont get the huge choice of cuts that the supermarket has - lambs liver is only available when a lamb is slaughtered for example, he may not have any chickens that week, but at least what Im getting is fresh, properly butchered and tastes good.

Im also trying to only buy locally grown veggies and ok so Im not getting the choice that the supermarket has on offer, but because Im eating seasonal veg Im realising veg actually has taste and Im at long last beginning to enjoy them

suki1964

Oh as for chicken - Id never buy a supermarket one again The farmer behind my house has a chicken house. 20,000 chicks are delivered to her for feeding up. Within 2 weeks they start the slaughter because as they get bigger the chicken house gets too crowded. Every week the agent comes down to do a weigh in and more and more go to be slaughtered.Within six weeks they are all gone and a new delivery comes in. These are no ordinary chickens (nudge nudge) and the store in question charges premium prices for "barn reared" chickens. Yes its a barn they are in, but theres no straw on the floor, no nesting boxes and certainly no daylight

stripeyfox

I haven't purchased any meat from a supermarket in six months. I read Hugh Fearnley Whittingsall's book and it changed my attitude to intensive farming. I now use my local village butcher who I had always avoided as he had a reputation for being expensive. And, yes it is more expensive than the supermarket but the quality is fantastic. Had a beautiful joint of beef on sunday.
Aside from selling the meat, he will always give advice on preparing it or tenderise it and always has great recipe ideas. I even have an account with him now which I pay at the end of each month and add a little bit on to put in has christmas saving club.

I also like the feeling that I have made some small contribution towards improving the way animals are farmed. Seriously, do not buy meat from any of the supermarkets - you wouldn't if you stopped to consier how it had been farmed.