Buying meat in bulk - i.e whole lamb etc

blackandwhitebunny

I always buy meat in bulk, usually whole lambs (I prefer the older lambs, sometimes called Hogget) and half pigs. I can only second what other peopple have said, find a local butcher, get to know him, find out where his meat comes from and order from him.
You will get a price per kilo for the whole weight which I find is normally about the same as the supermarket cheap cuts price so you pay a lot less for the leg of lamb etc. The butcher should be prepared to cut it to your exact specifications, our will leave one leg whole and cut one in half for instance. Our butcher will even vaccuum pack the cuts in whatever serving size people request (four chops etc).
I have also bought a beef hipbone - you get the fillet a load of rump steak and some stewing steak. Its not cheap when you buy it but is a lot cheaper than buying the individual pieces.:D

scaredy_cat

this farm is local to me and they supply my local butcher. I haven't had their lamb though - as a single person on jsa it's a bit pricey, but if i could afford it i would buy it.

http://www.thenlc.co.uk/

Finefoot

I used to do this, but sadly our local butcher closed, when Sainsbugs moved to town. Really helps with menu planning and once a month cooking.
Don't know if I would buy it online though.

Dark_Star

We bought a whole lamb from a local farm for £120 ready butchered in small family sized chunks that does fit in the freezers. It tastes fab:D

Bought chicken in bulk from local butchers.
Fillets - about 28 for £24 they're HUGE
legs/quarters - about 40 for £28 - decent size

far cheaper than a supermarket...

Whole pig, raised locally, we pay the costs, can't remember what it works out at but tastes incredible. We give the butcher a cutting list of the joints we want & bacon, sausage & he sorts it all out. Gorgeous taste

Worth a try but agree with everyone above, it is worth getting to know your butcher.

One of our local ones will make up burgers (minimum weight produced is a lot) so we have chicken/leek/onion/bacon..mmmmm & they last several months due to the volume. Not cheap but quality food...

Tamsin_Temrin

If you buy a whole eg lamb, do you get the offal? None of my lot will touch it, I wouldnt know where to start cooking it.

I suppose I could donate it to next doors dog, but would that make the whole lamb worth buying?

rachbc

I bought a whole lamb for £90 - butched to my request plus I got all the offal and the fat whcih I rendered and stored for roasting.

My parents are raising a pg this year so i will buy half that from them - they reckon feed, slaughter and butchery will cost £250 - though I might be able to get the butchery cheaper

schofield8883

i always buy my meat in bulk have a chest freezer and buy half a pig, a lamb or 20kg chicken works out the same as own brand meat at supermarket and much better quality. Butcher cuts it into small joints etc for us and asks us what meats we want and how many in a bag etc. Previously bought at local butchers but they ended up just getting there left over stock from there freezer and giving it to me (which equalled up to the weight of half a pig) instead of actually butchering half a pig which meat it didnt last as long and didnt get what i wanted! have also bought straight from the slaughter house which was cheaper but didnt butcher it to what i wanted but now found a nice local butcher who does it for me. well worth it and the standard of meat is much better. did look into half a cow! much bigger and more expensive than i imagined!

melt84

I'm looking around to buy half a lamb and half a pig but how do you know what's good and what's not! The prices are so varying! Any advice would be great!

oldskool_83

There was recent article in men's health about buying a whole pig, he recommended it. Think the meat worked out at just over £3 a kg.

hex2

I swear by it. The local (ish) abbatoir has a butchers next door (just off J20 M1). Price list is here:
http://www.joseph-morris.co.uk/pdf/meatlist.pdf

£2.51 kg for a side of a pig. They butcher it as required without further charge.

I had had their meat/mince/sausages from the local farm shop for years so I knew they were good.

The only trouble is I end up with bags of neck in the freezer that I never use. That said I have never quite drummed up the courgae to buy 130lb of beef forequarter.