Buying from a butcher

ceri_morgan

Bexstar

The trouble with the average butcher now is that they buy their meat from a meat wholesaler as in years gone by - the meat would of been supplied from the local farm. Hence you can buy some very poor meat, you won't be able to know where it came from, if it was slaughtered locally, the age of the animal and in the case of the lamb and beef - was it hung properly? Go by breeds of the animal on the sales ticket or ask. Try the internet if in doubt and buy from a farm that sells pedigree meats. Try Longhorn beef, Gloucester old spot pork and 7 day hung lamb. With traditional breeds you get slow growing flesh which contributes towards better cooking. Hanging is a necessity especially if you freeze the meat as it comes out of the freezer with better creed. If your butcher cant specify the breeds of animals dont bother also try a butcher that sells free range too as far too much chicken is factory farmed.

Ceri

vivaladiva

If you are going to buy chicken breasts do ask by number that you want/usually buy. However you will probably find that they are larger than you would get in the supermarket and don't cook down so much.
I always ask for sausages by number and have been heard to ask for a pork loin joint by the number of strings round it!

dianeclaire

Have you tried local farmers markets, we use one every month and as you are buying from farmer direct, you normally get a discount, or local farm shops.

You can do a search for both on either the river cottage website or https://www.bigbarn.co.uk also your local council website should have details of farmers markets

As said before, if the butcher knows where the meat comes from your on to a good thing, I've been in butchers and asked for a cut and when he undoes the vacuum packing in front of me I've said no thanks!

tripled

If I'm going into a butcher and ordering something loose, like mince, then I'll order a pound or whatever. However if it's pre-portioned size, I'll ask for say a half dozen rashers of bacon or sausages. After all, I have 3 sausages with my tea, not quarter a pound or whatever it works out as!

I'm pleased to see I'm not the only one who has altered their buying habits since river cottage - ready meal free now for two months here Started shopping in Cardiff indoor market today instead of Tesco. The good thing is there are about 5 butchers, 3 greengrocers, a couple of fish mongers, so plenty of choice. I bought some rabbit, and could have got things like partridge too. And unlike the supermarket, if one stall has run out of something I can just stroll onto another! Also with stuff being loose as well, I can get exactly how much I want so will cut waste - and hopefully my shopping bill.

For the bits and pieces you do need to get from a supermarket, or if you are short of time, Co-op is a good bet. It's a little more expensive than Tesco, but is an ethical company owned by its members.

Bexstars

funny this thread should be brought back up!

Today I was feeling dead brave and decided I would go into our local butchers to buy some sausage for our tea only to find that they had closed down! No sing to say they are to re-open so I need to search for the next nearest one.

We do have a farmers market once a month but they hold it on a Sunday which is the only day I work so I cant make it

Lizzieanne

Bizzimum wrote:

... and have been heard to ask for a pork loin joint by the number of strings round it!

That sounds just like me!

If I buy anything from my local butcher, I usually ask for "this much" and use my hands to show how much I want.

Alisonpennypincher

Most local butchers are helpful, and will be more than happy to advise on weight/portions etc.My local butcher is tucked away, it took me 7/8 years of living here to "discover" him. Anyway back to my point, i am vegetarian but buy meat for Dh and DS, so i am quite clueless as to portions weights etc, i just tell him what i want to cook and he sorts it out for me. Never had any complaints, and apparaently his turkey was to die for at Christmas. Go in, smile and bat your eyelashes, always works for me!

VickyA_2

We are lucky enough to have two butchers shops in our little town, both of them excellent quality and CAN tell you exactly where all the meat comes from. One of them has just won the regional heat for "Best Rural Retailer", but it's actually the other one that we use more often because they only source from selected farms (some of them being their own) within a 10 mile radius - and they sell Inverawe smoked salmon :whistle:.

My parents have a butcher a mile away from their house in Lincolnshire, who again source very locally. My gran always has to be reassured that "Hardwicks only have X's beef in"!

Then again, there are some rogues out there and I know that we're incredibly lucky to have these excellent shops on our doorstep. If they can't tell you where it's from, then it's probably not worth going in.

PS I first thought that I had to order everything in imperial measurements when I first started buying my own meat, because that's what my mum did. However, our butcher deals in everything (as the law requires them to do): metric, imperial AND "eight rashers of back bacon" please. Not to forget the "some of that" and point technique .

Rowan_2

How does Costco compare to a local butchers shop for quality?

lil_me

I won't by from supermarkets/costco etc any more, farm shop butchers, it's just sooo much nicer! Meats either from his farm or one which belongs to a friend locally. Same with eggs etc. Taste fantastic!