Why doesn't meat taste like it used to?

apple_mint

I always use a butcher who sells once a fortnight at the local farmers market or a butcher (for pork) in the village near us.

The butcher at the farmer's market raises his own animals (beef & lamb) and is more than happy to bring along a bulk order. The queue from his stall is enormous. The local butcher opens around 8.30 and closes at 5pm. I have even popped in at 5 minutes to 5 and he has happily cut 2 pork chops from a joint for me (although he has packed away).

We now eat smaller portions and stretch the meat with some more creative recipes. It tastes wonderful and I would rather opt to have fish or veggie meals some days and be able to have good quality, tasty meat other days from the two butchers I use. That said, I don't think the meat I am purchasing is more than the supermarket prices.

snax

Quote from OP.....

Thanks for all your replies, I left the string on and it looked lovely but...

It tasted horrible (not because of the string though). My mum used to do belly pork and the meat was juicy and tender and I just loved the bit with the fat on.

Why does meat taste so manky nowadays?

Belly pork is a delicious cut if cooked correctly, [the chinese are experts and savour pork belly - ask at your local takeaway for the best way to cook a pork belly].
It does have a high composition of fatty layers - so if you are not a 'fat' person, so to speak, you may not like it.

Never cook it 'rolled' up - [this is a tactic used by the supermarkets to trick you into thinking that you are buying a proper 'joint' for roasting. You are not!] so don't be conned - cooking it 'rolled' will give you a spongy, fatty and tough end product.
Take off and discard the netting ... this is ok to leave on lean cuts - but anything with a top layer of fat* needs only to be tied with enough string to hold it together [netting is used as it's far easier and quicker than using string - horrible nasty stuff though - should be banned!!]

* you need fat if you are roasting, to provide flavour, moisture [basting] and protection for the top most and exposed parts of the joint from the direct heat of the oven which helps the joint to cook evenly. Remove fat AFTER cooking if you're not going to eat it [not all cooked fats are palatable]

Lay the pork fat side up and criss-cross with the tip of a sharp knife. Rub your flavourings/seasonings in or just salt [which will help to 'draw' any water in the fat out, so helping it to 'crisp']
It's impracticle to ask you to seal it in a pan so put your oven on to a HIGH heat and when HOT put the pork in on the top shelf [preferably on a trivet [coathanger and pliers] or bed of root veg] for 20 minutes ..... then place it in the bottom 1/3rd of the oven and turn the heat down to 140°- 150° and let it cook slowly [slow roast - remember to baste].

The next bit is a small technique that I can do with my oven but you may need to use a grill**.

For the last 20-30 min of cooking switch from fan/oven to grill/oven - the grill element will now provide an overhead heat [instead of the fan element at the back of the oven].
The fan should still work [on mine it does] to cycle the hot air but the overhead grill element will directly 'cook and crisp' the belly fat to leave it perfect.
Remove from the oven when done to your satisfaction and leave to rest for 10 min before slicing into strips.
Yum.

** To use a grill to do this - transfer the tray from the oven to the bottom of a moderate heat grill [some experimentation may be needed to get the temp. correct - you don't want to burn the fat or skin] and leave to 'grill' until the fat is crisp and sounds hollow if you tap it with the edge of a knife.

Modern fan ovens are without doubt a marvellous development in cooking equipment technology ... but in my opinion the are not particularly ideal for roasting.
They cook by actively cycling hot air around the oven to cook efficiently and evenly - now this is ideal for ready meals, frozen food and pastry in particular [think homemade steak pie with lovely crisp puff pastry] but for proper roasting you need a 'hot-box' oven - the kind you see in a pro kitchen or restaurant, usually under the cooker top with a fall-front or drop-down door. They have brick or ceramic insulation all round and are usually gas.

These ovens have a different way of applying the heat, using the natural heat currents within the oven to create hot and cold spots. Learning and using these spots will help you to cook crisply and brown evenly.

When you hear a cook saying they will need to 'keep a close eye on something' in the oven or they 'don't know how it will turn out' it's usually because they won't be familiar with how a particular oven cooks ... top, middle and bottom shelves as well as back-to-front space on a shelf are all integral as to how the heat produced will end up cooking whatever is in them.
If you are watching the 'Great british menu' at the moment on BBC2, whenever there is a bird or joint for the maincourse to be roasted - it is done in the 'hot-box' oven under the cooker top - hardly ever the fan or convector oven at the back of the equipment on the right hand side.

As to the debate on supermarket meat - well it's all about price at an 'acceptable' level of quality ..... ie. as cheap a source as they can find or negotiate [within regulations and guidelines] so they can sell it cheaper than the next supermarket up the road WITHOUT you throwing it back saying it's crap.
If you want better quality - stop buying the rubbish stuff in the major stores AND TELL the instore butcher/manager that you don't want cheap rubbish - you want affordable quality - if you don't tell them, they will react to falling sales by reducing prices [through buying even lower quality - note brazilian beef now becoming common in stores because british beef is too expensive].

Personally I have enough experience to tell mostly by looking and by trial and error, what is ok to buy and what to avoid so I can take it or leave it.
Alternatively get a freezer, a big roll of freezer bags and a Costco card - their meat is quality and [reasonably] affordable.

Sorry it so long winded and hope it helps

S.