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

GlynD

polesalot wrote: »

Well, spurred on by this thread we went to the butcher after doing our usual food shop. My dd was excited because she hadn't been in a butchers before (and she's 9 )

I really just wanted to see what they'd got so I just got 1lb steak mince (already made into a chilli) and the same of diced chicken (for fajitas tomorrow). There was so much more than I had expected so we are going to try something new every week.

I've never heard of anyone being excited going to a butchers before, not even a child but I find it so refreshing. I'm really glad you've plucked up the courage and I bet you really enjoy the produce far better than the stuff you've been getting from supermarkets. Butchers mince is gorgeous btw - much more succulent.

vasseur

GlynD wrote: »

I've never heard of anyone being excited going to a butchers before, not even a child but I find it so refreshing. I'm really glad you've plucked up the courage and I bet you really enjoy the produce far better than the stuff you've been getting from supermarkets. Butchers mince is gorgeous btw - much more succulent.

It's weird the things kids get excited about today that we took for granted, like going on a bus or train!

They were really nice in there even when I admitted that I wasn't sure how much to ask for in lbs as opposed to grammes but the young butcher who served me had to ask one of the older butchers just to check! Also one of the butchers carried out a customer's bags to her car for her.

I was so glad we went and when we got there the queue was nearly out of the door despite 3 butchers serving. I could have spent so much more but now I've seen what they've got I will menu plan for the week. They also sold fish, fruit and veg and there was a deli there too

GlynD

polesalot wrote: »

It's weird the things kids get excited about today that we took for granted, like going on a bus or train!

They were really nice in there even when I admitted that I wasn't sure how much to ask for in lbs as opposed to grammes but the young butcher who served me had to ask one of the older butchers just to check! Also one of the butchers carried out a customer's bags to her car for her.

I was so glad we went and when we got there the queue was nearly out of the door despite 3 butchers serving. I could have spent so much more but now I've seen what they've got I will menu plan for the week. They also sold fish, fruit and veg and there was a deli there too

In reality then it's a learning curve for you which you will enjoy, as will your family. You'll find your likes and dislikes and start to repeat buy but in the meantime it's a voyage of discovery. One which I know you will enjoy.

[Deleted User]

years ago I once made the mistake of buying into a half share of a pig.Now I love pork and this one was being slaughtered from a farm in Wales and the other half was going to a friend of mine.The price was good and when it arrived I couldn't fault the meat its just there was so much of it .I had to give about half of my half away as I couldn't get it all in the freezer.I also ended up with the head which I gave to my sis-in-law and she made brawn out of it (not my favourite stuff but my OH loved it) It was carved and packed ok its just there is a heck of a lot of meat on a pig and even half a pig you really need an almost empty freezer to pack it all away.:):) I think at the time I paid something like £28.00 but it was about 25 years ago, I bet it would be a lot more now.Huge amount of chops and ham and bacon though.
Re the mince I have always put it into a pan with a couple of cups of water first and brought to the boil then drained off the fat into a pyrex jug before I browned it off.When the liquid goes cold you can skim the fat off and use it for cooking spuds or bacon in the frying pan and the mince doesn't have the fatty deposits in when cooking.Nothing is wasted then and if you don't want to use the fat pour it into a mould and with some porridge oats mixed in when cold feed it to the birds .I just hate to waste anything and if I don't eat it the birds will, especially this weather

frugal_shopper_2

lindseykim13 wrote: »

Works out about £6kg maybe just under if you can find a good deal.
You can either have it cut basic
2 legs, 2 shoulders ect which seems to be cheaper or you can have those cut in half again then specify what you want to happen with the rest.
For example one i am looking at does
1 x whole Leg Lamb
2 x 1/2 legs lamb
2 x 1/2 shoulders
1 x whole shoulder
Rack of Lamb
2 packs of 6 Loin Chops
2 pack of 4 cutlets
Breast of Lamb
We are also able to cut a lamb to suit your needs e.g boned and rolled legs, diced shoulder, minced lamb, lamb leg steaks, marinated in various marinades, for this added service we charge £10

It is unusual to be charged extra for butchering a lamb. You would normally either have the option of going along with their recommended cuts or you could specify exactly how you want it prepared or indeed choosing to receive it intact & butchering it yourself either way it should be the same price.
You pay the price per kg with the bones included if you request boned & rolled joints you will then have the option of either keeping the bones so you can use them for something such as stock or giving them to the dog or the butcher can dispose of them for you if you cant make use of them. You still pay for the weight of the bones even if you don't want them. Offal is usually optional as well.

When you buy a partial pig or cow on the other hand you may be charged extra if you want part of it turned into sausages, burgers, faggots, gammon etc... as that does require more work than just cutting it up along with extra ingredients.

lindseykim13

Well i emailed a few places last night that were local and one of which was a farm shop. We are getting a locally grown whole lamb for £99 butchered how we like. Know exactly where it has come from.
Quite excited really lol
They just happen to be getting some in from monday, so perfect timing.

Went to another local butcher this morning and they were friendly enough although one seemed a bit put out when i said i wanted 5 burgers and they only had them in packs of 2. I had gone in to ask for pork ribs but they said they don't do them in the winter more a summer thing hmmm?


I am enjoying this thread and already achieved a lot by getting in contact with some local farms and butchers. Mostly have been very friendly.

lindseykim13

frugal_shopper wrote: »

It is unusual to be charged extra for butchering a lamb. You would normally either have the option of going along with their recommended cuts or you could specify exactly how you want it prepared or indeed choosing to receive it intact & butchering it yourself either way it should be the same price.
You pay the price per kg with the bones included if you request boned & rolled joints you will then have the option of either keeping the bones so you can use them for something such as stock or giving them to the dog or the butcher can dispose of them for you if you cant make use of them. You still pay for the weight of the bones even if you don't want them. Offal is usually optional as well.

When you buy a partial pig or cow on the other hand you may be charged extra if you want part of it turned into sausages, burgers, faggots, gammon etc... as that does require more work than just cutting it up along with extra ingredients.

Yes i agree i have now found a butcher who doesn't charge extra for this. Looking forward to trying it-used to new zealand lamb. Never really thought about it before but who needs imported lamb when you can have local.

red_devil

https://www.pottersmeats.co.uk this butcher does marinated meat at no extra cost. Its very creative.

lindseykim13

So we had our burgers for dinner tonight and as nice as they were i was wondering if someone knows why there seems to be added items? I thought there would be no rubbish but the sticker reads
82% beef
rusk
salt
herbs
spices
E451
E223
E300

Is my butcher rubbish or is this normal stuff?

ferretkeeper

frugal_shopper wrote: »

It is unusual to be charged extra for butchering a lamb. You would normally either have the option of going along with their recommended cuts or you could specify exactly how you want it prepared or indeed choosing to receive it intact & butchering it yourself either way it should be the same price.
You pay the price per kg with the bones included if you request boned & rolled joints you will then have the option of either keeping the bones so you can use them for something such as stock or giving them to the dog or the butcher can dispose of them for you if you cant make use of them. You still pay for the weight of the bones even if you don't want them. Offal is usually optional as well.

When you buy a partial pig or cow on the other hand you may be charged extra if you want part of it turned into sausages, burgers, faggots, gammon etc... as that does require more work than just cutting it up along with extra ingredients.

One of my customers asked for the shoulder of her half pig to be boned and rolled, the abattoir charged extra for this and also for something else, boning out the leg maybe, can't quite remember.

Anyway I was surprised it cost more and assumed it was the norm, I will ask another abattoir what they charge for extra butchering, but actually their basic slaughter prices varied a lot so I expect it'll be swings and roundabouts!

Yes, processing into sausages etc will cost more, time, ingredients etc, but this isn't difficult to do at home with a kenwood/kitchenaid and the mincing and sausage stuffing attachment is affordable. It's good fun too, I tried it with a handful of girlfriends and a couple of bottles of wine. Cue lots of smutty jokes :rotfl:

One of the best things about that was choosing exactly the ingredients. We got the abattoir to make our last big batch of sausages and got three flavour options, all nice but would have liked more.

We were going to be charged by them for vac-packing everything, 40p per bag, so decided to let the abattoir make sausages and joint the meat but do the re-packaging and bagging of joints, chops etc ourselves.

This meant we needed our kitchen signed off by environmental health, I had to do a food hygiene course and had to hire a label printing machine (cost about £1000 to buy!) in order to sell my produce legally from the farm gate. It is more than a little difficult to satisfy all the demands of Env Health, Trading Standards and Animal Health but we got there! :mad:

I charge £5/kg for pork, half a pig typically weighed 20-30kg last time round, there was masses of meat there for £100-150. From memory - Shoulder in two joints, leg in two, belly/ribs in two, a good dozen to fifteen chops, hocks, trotters and half a head! The smaller pig halves would be better for a small family/couple as the joints are correspondingly smaller, so if that's what you want ask the farmer, it is unlikely they will be taking one animal to slaughter so you should have a bit of choice. Equally, butchered in that way a half pig could be split in two again, you'd each get something of everything, might have to fight over the head though!

I only charge a little more for sausages, £6/kg, despite much higher processing costs but people won't pay much more than that, so we bit the bullet. Haven't done any bacon yet but that will be dearer again.

We are hoping to get a couple of business loans to convert an outbuilding into a commercial kitchen, this will allow us to make sausages and bacon, no room in our current kitchen, and maybe even butcher the meat ourselves for ultimate control over the processing. This will save us a good few quid per kilo at the abattoir, although will take us much longer, but hopefully next time we'll make some money!