Buying from a butcher

milkydrink

The thing about butchers is you don't know what it will cost.

You ask for 6 lamb chops & you will have no clear idea of what it will cost you. You ask them to cut you off meat & then after you find out how much it will cost.

Whereas in the supermarket it is clear.

I know butchers cannot help this, its the way their business works.

But I think this is why a lot of people shop in the supermarket for the clear & easy pricing.

I would feel too embarrased if I asked for 6 chops & he got them to not accept them, worse if he had to cut something. Many of you may find that silly but I think its the reason a lot of supermarekets do so well.

Whenever I shop in the butchers it always seems to be more than I expected it to be.

thriftlady_2

kimevans wrote: »

The thing about butchers is you don't know what it will cost.

You ask for 6 lamb chops & you will have no clear idea of what it will cost you. You ask them to cut you off meat & then after you find out how much it will cost.

Whereas in the supermarket it is clear.

I know butchers cannot help this, its the way their business works.

But I think this is why a lot of people shop in the supermarket for the clear & easy pricing.

I would feel too embarrased if I asked for 6 chops & he got them to not accept them, worse if he had to cut something. Many of you may find that silly but I think its the reason a lot of supermarekets do so well.

Whenever I shop in the butchers it always seems to be more than I expected it to be.

I often can't visualise how much the meat I want will cost in the butcher, so I just say 'how much will one of those chops cost me ?'. The butcher weighs it and tells me, then I can decide how many to buy (or not) You can do this with any kind of meat from roasts to stewing meat. Don't ever be embarrassed to refuse meat. You are the customer and you're the one with the money. Last time I looked at chops in the supermarket they came packaged in 4s -not very economical for my family of 5

dannahaz

kimevans wrote: »

The thing about butchers is you don't know what it will cost.

You ask for 6 lamb chops & you will have no clear idea of what it will cost you. You ask them to cut you off meat & then after you find out how much it will cost.

Whereas in the supermarket it is clear.

I know butchers cannot help this, its the way their business works.

But I think this is why a lot of people shop in the supermarket for the clear & easy pricing.

I would feel too embarrased if I asked for 6 chops & he got them to not accept them, worse if he had to cut something. Many of you may find that silly but I think its the reason a lot of supermarekets do so well.

Whenever I shop in the butchers it always seems to be more than I expected it to be.

Don't forget you can also buy by weight. So once you know that you want, say, 350g of chops you can ask for that.

And as Thriftlady says, if you ask for 6 chops and when he puts them on the scale it's too much, just ask him to take one (or whatever) off. You don't have to say anything about it being too expensive.

loopylass81 wrote: »

How else do I find out if I have a local butcher near me? Am thinking of using local butchers but not sure if it is going to cost me more?

Many thanks

Yellow pages or yell.co.uk?

Hapless_2

Try contacting a local farm shp and see if they can supply and deliver, or tell you where you can get the meat you are after. Many online farm shops deliver.

http://www.moorlandsfarmshop.co.uk/index.html

BrandNewDay

FTB83 wrote: »

Butchers are the way to go!

My local butcher is actually cheaper than the local supermarkets on a majority of cuts, he can also tell me where the meat is from, when it was slaughtered, how long it's been hung (if applicable), the best way to cook it and so on. If I only want two rashers of bacon, I can buy just two rashers of bacon (having said that, I know supermarkets do have their own 'butchers' and will probably do this too)...and to top it off it comes wrapped in paper, not vacuum packed in yucky plastic.

I'll sometimes go in not knowing exactly what cut I want, but I just tell him what I'm hoping to do and for how many people, and he always comes up trumps with a superb cut of meat. Honestly don't feel daunted going in without the knowledge, they're there to help and will probably take pleasure in sharing their knowledge (imagine how your OH would feel if you actually asked him to explain how he got to level 10 in his latest computer game, or how a car engine works...;) )

You can get specialist organic butchers, but I'm more in favour of good local produce.

I hope it goes well anyway - I moved out of home last May and have only been shopping for food since then, but being able to pop into various shops for fresh food and a natter is great, and it does feel better to support local business.

You can also get a good rapport going with local independent shops - shop there regularly and maybe £12 will be rounded down to £10, or a bag of bangers thrown in for free...:D that's a good deal in my book!!

I have to say: you seem to have a fantastic attitude!

BrandNewDay

frosty wrote: »

I decided to give https://www.freshmeat2u.co.uk a try,the quality is really good if you spend over a £100.00 its free delivery,it comes really well packed with ice packs that were still frozen and a free roll of bags.I asked family and friends if they wanted to order anything so we could make the order worth while,and we shared everything out so we could try everything,we were so impressed we are planning to fill our freezers soon.The barbecue pack was really good value and the chicken breasts were massive.

Just to be clear: the meat, itself, isn't frozen - right? I ask because it's very frustrating to see a bargain on a bulk purchase of meat cuts and then I realize that I can't thaw them as needed... that happened with a big pack of pork chops from Iceland. I had to thaw them ALL out and then we had pork chops for three days straight, before finally just giving some to our neighbors.

muddled_midget

I live in a rural town in dorset and we have 4 fab butchers. I'm a vegetarian and when I cook meat for OH, I like to know where it has come from, how it's been treated and that I'm getting good value for money. I'm also fairly disorganised, so it's great for me that one of them is actually open on a Sunday morning to get a joint for roasting! I know absolutely nothing about meat, having not eaten it since I was 11, so I'm a complete idiot when it comes to how to cook it. My butcher will tell me which farm it has come from, usually by pointing out the hill in the distance that the animal lived on, and will cut me a piece appropriate for OH for dinner, sandwiches for 2 days and a bit for the dog, and tell me the best way to cook it, and what to serve with it. So anyone who is scared about going in, don't be! (you'll probably be a convert to shopping there by the time you leave!)

BrandNewDay

I find that butchers are very good for asking questions. They can turn you on to cuts of beef you never thought of. After all, I think most of us are conditioned by the supermarkets to take what they're offering. Butchers (and fishmongers) can also give great cooking advice. When I was new to this country, all the cuts had unfamiliar names, so telling a butcher what I wanted to do with the meat helped. (Example: I want to put pork into a slow cooker with a bunch of BBQ sauce until it can be shredded with a fork and served on buns.) It's also great because you don't have to buy odd numbers of cuts at a time, the way supermarkets pack them.

I do expect *more* for my money than I get from a supermarket. I expect to find huge packs of meat on special at the supermarket, and that's when I stock my freezer. From the butcher, I expect things like having every single filet in an individual platic bag if that's what I want. After all, that's what I do when I get home. I went to a butcher in Gloucester who advertised a multi-pack special as "packed for your freezer." So, I said, "Please put each breast into a separate plastic bag." He got very snotty with me and said I can do that myself, at home. I said that I can go to Asda if that's how he wanted it, and never went back.

When you patronize the small retailer, they should be aware that what they offer over the big chains is personalized service. We owned a small book shop and we knew very well that people came to us because we would track down hard-to-find titles, remember their faces, go that extra mile for our customer. We couldn't compete with the big chains on price, so we had to give more service.

If a butcher/fishmonger/greengrocer/whatever doesn't seem to get that, then walk away and spend your money elsewhere.

odds-n-sods

`i have a fab butchers not too far from me; they are all cheeky so+so's but they know what they are doing. I can go in and look at what they have, ask for xx amount of this, of that, 4 x 3 packs of sausages (they have a local guy who makes them) etc. and that's what they do.

Even tho I'm moving soon, I'll still go to them.

Ticklemouse

Don't be afraid to look at places like market stall butchers. I use a fab one on Blackburn 3 day market - he has a list up of where each animal comes from and what breed etc. They are all local too. He also butchers his own meat and it's delicious and not over-priced. I go with my wally-trolley and fill it. He does special offers on things like 5lb of mince or chops and will always offer to bag it as you like it.

I also use a butchers on Clitheroe market when I'm there. In fact yesterday I mooched past his stall and he had a piece of meat labelled up as hotpot joint, which I've never had before. So, in my SC at the moment is some gorgeous looking lamb, which I shall devour when the boys are asleep He also sells fab eggs (I got 1/2 doz duck eggs too but his hen eggs are to die for).

Local butchers will help you. Just ask. Tell them what you want or say if you don't know. They will give you recipe advice and as mentioned, often round down their prices - and it's great to be remembered even if you haven't been there for a bit I don't use Tesco for meat any more!!