lets get back to basics... starting with the butcher

gailey_2

Sorry to sound dence but always wondered.

amount of days hung, what diffrence does it make and why?

Would love pet piggies they so cute.

[Deleted User]

Where I live in Kent I am very lucky that in our village we not only have a decent butchers, but also a great wet fish shop.My local butcher buys his stuff from Stockbury which is not very far from us and has won numerous awards for his animals.The lads in the butchers are smashing and often will tell you what the good offers are and when they are coming up.There is very rarely a time when its empty in fact, and I always buy my large eggs from there as they are free range and at £1.29 for half a dozen are far superior to anything a supermarket has. Deep yellow yolks for a start and often double ones as well.

The fishmonger is excellent, and has on occasions even delivered to my door when I wanted a couple of dover soles and they wouldn't be in until the next day.I also have an old fashioned ironmongers who sell all sorts of odds and ends, and if you want a half a dozen screws or one light bulb then you can buy them there .I even took my DDs saucepan lid in and they replaced the knob on it with a wooden one as the plastic one had broken and fitted it for me and charged me 50p all told .
I am very lucky living where I do as I can buy what I want without too much hassle and the local traders go out of their way to help you if possible.I believe in using local firms if possible as the big ones don't give you the same personal service.
Last Christmas Eve I dropped a box of HM sausage rolls into the butchers so they could have a quick bite as they are always very busy with queues stretching down the street.They open at 7.00.a.m. and close at four and when you walk past the shop from about 3.00 onwards they are scrubbing it clean every day so its spotless.
Our greengrocer is next door to the butchers and he will split a cabbage for a pensioner if they only want half of one,he too is a great chap and knows his customers and always has a smile when you go in there.I very rarely go into Chatham (the nearest big town) to shop as its not worth the hassle or time trying to find somewhere to park.

Being rather ...erm older than a lot of posters I learned to cook from my Mum, and as it was during rationing she could streeetch meat until it almost snapped :)
I have started to teach my DGS (22) how to cook as he has got interested in doing it (his mum can cook but doesn't enjoy doing it) He now can cook a mean chilli, and a decent curry or two I am going to show him how to cook a chicken at the weekend as he thinks that a chicken is only the breast part,we will do a whole one and he can see how by careful carving it can make several meals instead of just wrapping a slice of bacon around a breast and bunging it in the oven .

I love slow cooking and last night had from my freezer a portion of cassroled beef that I had made about a month ago.It was delicious with spuds and some cabbage.This is a great thread and if it gets folk thinking about how they can with a little effort make tastier meals and less of the 'pinging stuff' from the supermarkets then that's terrific. Well done on starting it. I know for a lot of people finding a butchers can even be difficult My sis-in-law lives in Bromley, and there is no fresh butchers there at all in the town centre There used to be a Kennedys which did the best sausages ever but they sadly closed down.I agree let's get back to eating 'proper' food and less of the prepacked junk that the supermarkets have been palming off on folk for far too long

tdf010604

JackieO can I ask what village you are in please? I am not far from Chatham (though I don't shop there) the village I live in has a butchers/greengrocers and a number of good quality farm shops, but I have been trying to find a fishmonger as our one closed some time ago.
It may well be worth my while making a trip to your fishmonger to stock up once in a while!!
Thanks x

ferretkeeper

MysteryMe wrote: »

Are you sure your rare breed pork is not actually ferret?

Ha Ha, no I'd never be able to convince people, not enough meat on ferret chops!

Cooltrikerchick, next time try asking for everything back from your pigs...I don't know that I always get everything back I asked for, it's all thrown in a bag together, and I usually don't have time to check, it just goes in the freezer.

I asked for the spare back fat off a large old pig we took in for sausages, but I must admit never thought about the caul fat, will do that next time, I want to try faggots and what a good idea over a roasting bird, much cheaper than streaky bacon.

Most of the offal etc is best used fresh but I'm not that organised, I just take it because it's mine! The abattoir would make it into something useful for their shop or sell it on. I have a lot in the freezer now and any that's not good enough for me will be cooked up for the dogs and cats, why not?!

I also started asking for the bones back, although pork stock isn't often mentioned in recipes. Some bones are better for thickening in recipes, with more marrow eg leg, trotter. Again anything big enough will be a treat for the dogs. Don't forget the ears for them too, roasted in the oven!!!

I must admit I probably haven't dealt with the heads immediately after slaughter because I thought I would recognise the pigs, but it's been a couple of months now so out they will come!

Have you tried the cheeks and/or thought about brawn?

You do need a whole day and an army of helpers when you get your pig back, I never realised how much work was involved, and also to be organised with the ingredients for cures etc.

I just think if there's an extra meal in it I'll have the head or I'll have the offal, it's too expensive to keep animals and not make use of absolutely everything!

In the not too distant future I hope to be able to convert an old building into a commercial kitchen, so we can have literally two halves of a pig back and do what we want and know we have all of it.

I also want to start courses here to teach people about caring for various animals, butchery and cooking with their produce, things my mum might have seen her mum doing but has forgotten, and I've had to re-learn.

Watch this space.....

duchy

tdf010604 wrote: »

JackieO can I ask what village you are in please? I am not far from Chatham (though I don't shop there) the village I live in has a butchers/greengrocers and a number of good quality farm shops, but I have been trying to find a fishmonger as our one closed some time ago.
It may well be worth my while making a trip to your fishmonger to stock up once in a while!!
Thanks x

You beat me to it Chatham is my nearest town too . Perhaps a PM if you (understandably) don't want to post exactly where you live JackieO ?

I spent my early years living in South London and we had a proper butchers (the grocers next door was always referred to locally as "The butchers" as he owned that too) and fishmonger - I didn't even realise you could buy ready prepared fish in breadcrumbs until I was twenty .

gailey_2

Just got back from local high street and ventured into deli -normally very grumpy woman and nightmare with buggy.

Any way they don't do meats but they had sausages and bacon from local farm-sold out have no idea how much meant to get more in tommorow so will take a trip sat.

[Deleted User]

duchy & tdfo i have pm'd you where to find the butchers,greengrocers,iron & fishmongers :)
by the way there is also a farm shop on the outskirts as well :)

defairmans

There's no reason for anyone here to be eating other living things. Your bodies should not be graveyards to other living things that wanted to live and breathe. Butchers have no right selling the dead.

Why doesn't everyone go vegetarian?

lindens

mysk_girl wrote: »

I went to my local butchers today for the first time. I bought 2 chicken supremes (not sure what they are, I asked for breasts?), 750g of diced lamb and 6 eggs. Came to £14! Can anyone advise some cheaper cuts to ask for possibly? I like to cook, and am willing to learn. I have a slow cooker :-)

In that case, buy a whole chicken and cook it in your slow cooker. Tasty as anything, everything falls off the bone and you easily end up with 3 or 4 meals worth of chicken, and some bones if you feel like making stock with it.

frugal_shopper_2

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

thanks frugal:beer:

not due to take any piggies to abotoir soon, so will ask butcher,

When i do take the pigs, Do you know how much I would get from one pig?

How would I store it, and how long would it keep? could I freeze it?

When we get our pigs back, we dont have the heads back, they did ask if we wanted then but hubby didnt like the idea, ( all new to this,so didnt want them back just incase it upset us:rotfl:) plus we didnt know what to do with the, same as the trotters..

You get one sheet of fat per animal. Most of the sheets I get weigh around 250g-300g I assume they are complete rather than trimmed.
I usually buy it within a couple of days of the time I plan to use it & keep it in a tupperware box in the fridge, if I end up with multiple sheets or don't need a full sheet then I freeze the excess each packed individually as there is no way you could separate them if frozen.

ferretkeeper wrote: »

I asked for the spare back fat off a large old pig we took in for sausages, but I must admit never thought about the caul fat, will do that next time, I want to try faggots and what a good idea over a roasting bird, much cheaper than streaky bacon.

You can use caul fat in sausages too it adds a gelatinous texture. If you fancy a change from the usual sausages or burgers then it can also be used as a casing for sausage patties.

gailey wrote: »

Sorry to sound dence but always wondered.

amount of days hung, what diffrence does it make and why?

Hanging meat does several things. The most important change is that it allows the lactic acid build up & trigger the enzymes naturally present in the meat to denature the proteins and connective tissue around the muscle fibres which makes it much more tender.
If it is dry hung it allows excess water to evaporate off & the flavour from the bone to permeate the meat so you end up with something that tastes much better & is not too watery.
If it is wet-aged (like supermarket matured meat) it is basically cut into manageable pieces, vacuum packed & left on a shelf in a fridge so it is tender but it's also watery (more water=more weight=more profit for a supermarket) with a flavour that is not fully developed.
The time it is hung for is determined by how much fat is on the animal, the fat stops the meat deteriorating for example a rabbit would have very little fat so it would only be hung for a couple of days whereas a pig or cow would have a thick layer of fat so may be hung for several weeks.