Buying from a butcher

Steph112

Oh, sorry, I didn't know.

Just to clarify - you don't have to sign up - I was never trying to spam.

Little_Miss_Naughty

I want to start shopping local and not so much in the supermarkers and my first stage of this is to find a good quality butcher locally that will not cost me a small fortune to use.

I have never really bought meat from scratch to cook with and don't really know what i should be paying for meat.

I also want to start using my slow cooker more and was thinking that maybe Lamb Shanks or Ham Hocks would be a good start as i have come across a couple of good recipes.

Can you please give me some ideas of what i should be paying for various cuts / joints of meat from the butcher?

Also can anyone recommend any cheaper cuts that the butcher might have and how to cook them to help me save a few pennies.

Thanks

flea72

cheap cuts, tend to be anything that needs to be cooked in liquid, so stewing steak, neck of lamb, mutton, goat, offal, etc.

meats that you fry or grill, tend to be more expensive cuts

also i find chicken can be quite pricey at a butchers, but i think thats prob because my local butchers are all run by farmers, so they have to buy chicken in, so it isnt as cheap as the stuff they produce themselves

personally i would try and find a butcher on recommendation - some butchers still deal in pile it high sell it cheap stuff similar to the supermarkets, where the quality isnt that great.

i find you can tell the quality of a butcher by their bacon. if it doesnt shrink, and stays dry whilst cooking, then the butcher is a good one. if it shrivels and theres water in the bottom of the pan (or it spits alot), then its poor quality meat

the biggest thing to note with buchers though, is a 1lb of sausages, will not be 8 sausages, youre lucky if you can get 6, but boy will they be filling and meaty

at my local butchers, i would say the prices are more comparable to the finest/speciality ranges you find in the supermarkets, so no i dont find them a cheap option, but i am prepared to pay the prices for the quality of meat, and the lack of 'extras' that get added into things like sausages

as a rough guide, i think i pay about £3/lb for minced beef, 1lb of sausages about £4-£5 (depending on size), a whole chicken would be £8, lamb chump chop thing £2ea, lamb burgers 60p ea, beef burgers £1ea - but they also occasionaly do specials like a shoulder of lamb for £5 (usually nearer double), 20 drumsticks for £5, or lamb cushion for £8

however its only usually when i buy steak or joints of beef, that i faint at the price - so try and avoid those as an everyday item

F

Little_Miss_Naughty

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond.

The information you have provided is excellent and will use it as a guide.

When it comes to buying sausages etc i was thinking along the lines that although i may not get as many to the lb/£ we would probably eat less as they would be a better quality.

The bacon is a great tip - i have 3 butchers local and was not sure how to find the best of the 3 so i will not put them all to the bacon test.

Thanks again

suzybloo

To give you an idea have a look at the various ones online - eg Donald Russell, Well Hung Meat Co, to name a couple there are many more. They will give you ideas of different cuts of meat and their uses. Their meat is premium quality so the prices are slightly higher, but Donald Russells do good online deals at times.
Our local butchers have Steak Mince at £8.80 per kilo, Stewing steak £9.00 per kilo, Sausages - far superior quality to any supermarkets £7.20 per kilo. Brisket is usually about £10.50 a kilo. Hope that helps

flea72

http://www.layermarneylamb.co.uk/price-list.htm

this it the price list for one of the butchers i use in my area

hth F

chumbasmum

I was exactly like you. I don't think that I had ever really bought meat from a butcher until a new one came to our town.
I think it was because in a supermarket it was laid out, and priced so no nasty surprises etc.

Anyway, I took the bull by the horns (so to speak) and went and asked him about the prices of things etc. He was brill. He weighed e.g. 2 chicken breasts and told me how much. He also said there would be no problem in saying how much I wanted to spend and it would be weighed to the cost rather than weight.

I haven't looked back. It was definately worth taking the lesson from them. The quality is superb, less packaging, less milage and local.... what can I say... I have seen the light. Even made a fab beef casserole for 6 for £4 for xmas eve. Everyone wanted more.
Do it!! Support your local butcher!

wssla00

I use douglas willis and they are pretty good value but give you an idea of prices. I am very pleased that I can support an independent butcher and their meat is far superior to that of the supermarket.

shykins

well done on deciding to go for a butcher rather than supermarket meat u will notice a big difference in the quality straight away

another thing to look out for is the 'packs' a lot of local butchers do . our local one does a family pack with 5lbs of sausages, stewing steak, chicken breasts, pork chops and mince for around £50 which works out a VERY good deal.

do ask their advice on things they are happy to suggest new ways of cooking and new cuts of meat etc

Little_Miss_Naughty

Thank you all for the advice.
I was a little scared about the new experience but feel better after all your words of wisdom.
First trip to a local butcher planned for tomorrow and it does feel good to be supporting a local business too.