Meat from an auction van

mum2many

has anyone done this, prices look cheap but is the quality cheap too?

want to stick to my budget and usually buy meat from Mr T, is it worth paying that little bit extra and going to the butchers?

and is the fruit/veg really cheaper at farm shops?

going to scout round aldi/lidl for all other stuff so maybe could afford the extra for nicer meat

Kazonline

In my experience you can get some really good deals from these vans - but not allways.
My best buy was some Angus beef steaks a year or so ago and these were really nice, and also very thick cut bacon. It can be a bit hit and miss though. Uneven chops and odd bits of meat are often amongst the lot. Do allways check whether it has allready been frozen - and make sure you have plenty of freezer bags in and freeze asap as I find it doesn't allways keep as well in the fridge as from Mr T.
HTH,
Kaz x

mum2many

Kazonline wrote:

I find it doesn't allways keep as well in the fridge as from Mr T.

tbh i have had to throw meat away(well took it back in one case) that was still in date but stunk when opened from MrT, and it had been stored in the fridge as soon as we got it.

thanks

nuttyrockeress

My mum, aunt, uncle and I have started to do this. I get loads and then batch it then freeze. I find the quality fine!

moggins

We have two vans at the market here, one on a Wednesday and the other on the Saturday. The quality from both is excellent, one always gives a little more for your money though. You may have chops that are slightly misshaped, some extremely thick and some thin ones but if you don't mind this then you can't lose.

I always get home, get the freezer bags out, sort in into meal size portions and then immediately freeze it.

They often get one off offers in, I've just got about 15lb of McDonalds chicken burger misshapes for £5 and regularly get 8lbs of steak mince for a fiver too.

lynzpower

I've just got about 15lb of McDonalds chicken burger misshapes for £5

Good heavens, how big is your freezer? the sixe of an artic lorry!! Great bargain though!!!

We dont tend to have them in london, but if anyone knows of any anywhere in the capital do post up and let me know!!

My mum used to buy from one in Bolton, one of the downsides is with chops sometimes they can have rather a lot of fat on, as they are done by weight, not a good buy. Other than shes had some great buys from them. the other thing is the butchers really do need to get shot of it due to storage restrictions, so towards 4 o clock you can get shed loads for a few quid :beer:

redballoon_2

I personally wouldn't buy meat from a van

mum2many

still a bit weary

just been to a new farm doing there own meat and managed to get some lovely meat for £22

at least enough to do 7 meals.

might try the butchers after 4 too, see if i get any bargains

moggins

lynzpower wrote:

Good heavens, how big is your freezer? the sixe of an artic lorry!! Great bargain though!!! :beer:

20 cubic feet lynz plus I have a half and half fridge freezer in the kitchen too. I also used to have a 13 cubic foot alongside the 20 but we got rid of that one a couple of years ago.

I usually wait until the freezer is half empty and then go and stock up on meat at the market van every couple of months. It usually costs me between £40 - £50 pounds a time and that is everything, joints, chops, whole chicken, chicken portions, steak mince, steak etc.

Spendless

moggins wrote:

I usually wait until the freezer is half empty and then go and stock up on meat at the market van every couple of months. It usually costs me between £40 - £50 pounds a time and that is everything, joints, chops, whole chicken, chicken portions, steak mince, steak etc.

This is what I do too and it costs me about same to stock my freezer. I live in a large market town so 3 times a week there is an indoor meat market (butchers stalls). I regularly buy 3 joints for £10, pork,beef and lamb. The lamb is usually NZ so we have that the following day, but from time to time we have had English lamb.

lynzpower

Any in london then