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

i_love_freestuff

I have just sat with a coffee and read the whole of this thread and really enjoyed it.

I am lucky enough to have family who have owned a butchers for 40 years and it is local to me ( no discount I should add ). We have used it since I can remeber and do still to this day. Although butchers as a whole is mainly a male staffed enviroment this really shouldn't stop people being affraid of going into them. They will be more helpful than large supermarkets as they need your trade and will want you to come back.

I never buy in weight as I really haven't a clue but always ask for 8 slices of bacon, 3 rings of shin ect. I find it no more expensive than supermarket pre packed, I can choose which pieces I want, ask which way is best to cook things and what is on special.

A good butchers should always have customers in and alot of the times people are more likely to talk and pass on tips and recipes to other customers.

I would love to buy a whole pig to share with my folks but I do not have enough freezer space. Great idea that you can buy one to be rasied on a farm and then slaughtered, would be interested in that.

Please people start to use your local butchers, to many independant shops are closing, it would be a crying shame to lose them altogether.

BristolGal

Hi everyone - been following this thread since it started and it has galvanised me into registering. Thank you, CoolTrikerChick and friends. This is my first post and I want to reply to the question from nigelpm:

Nigel, I think the point is that we have generally become so separated from the actual process of meat-eating that many people have come to passively accept whatever the shiny, plastic-wrapped supermarket offering of the day may be - without question or any inkling of quality standards - and there is now a whole generation of folk who have never even thought about walking into a butchers. Fair enough you don't want to do the killing and cutting etc but surely it's can only be good to have proper understanding and be aware of the process?

red_devil

https://www.pottersmeats.co.uk for anyone close to worcestershire.

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

To clarify NOT in butchery as one would perform in a butchers but be able to cut up pieces of meat as required.
If I brought a whole lamb for instance I would NOT wish to butcher it myself.

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

re nigelpm I would rather pay for others to do it for me like you, the butchery skills come in the more masterchef department of cheffy skills.

nigelpm

I suppose the other observation I'd make is if I want good quality bacon as I sometimes do I'll just buy a good bacon joint from Tesco's or Sainsbury's and slice it up myself.

Why would buying bacon from a Butcher's be any better than this?
Most of the discussion I've seen centres around the less common cuts of meat and I agree Butcher's are great for these but to the ordinary public who just want 8 rashers of bacon or a joint of Beef with their weekly shop - why go to a special butchers and queue?

COOLTRIKERCHICK

nigelpm wrote: »

I suppose the other observation I'd make is if I want good quality bacon as I sometimes do I'll just buy a good bacon joint from Tesco's or Sainsbury's and slice it up myself.

Why would buying bacon from a Butcher's be any better than this?
Most of the discussion I've seen centres around the less common cuts of meat and I agree Butcher's are great for these but to the ordinary public who just want 8 rashers of bacon or a joint of Beef with their weekly shop - why go to a special butchers and queue?

because then you know it hasn't been shipped in from abroad, and has had a good standard of life before it got killed..

there is still a big issue with pig farms in europe at the moment, as they have not brought their farms up to EU standard, and still using sow crates etc.

The local butcher also buys off the local abbotoir, or might even got their own.

By buying from your local butcher you are also keeping money within your local community/area, with the likes of big supermarkets all their profits go to offshore accounts. ( well some of them)

There will allways be some people who think the supermarkets supply the best of everything, and they don't, just because the supermarkets tell us this, doesnt mean its right;)

our local butcher buys locally bred and reared pigs, and when we get more, he is interested in buying our, and I can tell you without any hesitation that our meat is far more flavoursome, tender than anything you get in a plastic tray in a supermarket....the colour of the meat is different, the texture is different.

Bristolgal, so glad the thread made you join mse:T:T

nigelpm

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

because then you know it hasn't been shipped in from abroad, and has had a good standard of life before it got killed..

there is still a big issue with pig farms in europe at the moment, as they have not brought their farms up to EU standard, and still using sow crates etc.

The local butcher also buys off the local abbotoir, or might even got their own.

By buying from your local butcher you are also keeping money within your local community/area, with the likes of big supermarkets all their profits go to offshore accounts. ( well some of them)

There will allways be some people who think the supermarkets supply the best of everything, and they don't, just because the supermarkets tell us this, doesnt mean its right;)

our local butcher buys locally bred and reared pigs, and when we get more, he is interested in buying our, and I can tell you without any hesitation that our meat is far more flavoursome, tender than anything you get in a plastic tray in a supermarket....the colour of the meat is different, the texture is different.

Bristolgal, so glad the thread made you join mse:T:T

Thanks for the excellent response although I don't for one minute believe the supermarkets supply the best of everything. That wasn't really my point.

This thread has piqued my interest enough to buy some meat from a butchers and compare. I'll do that and report back.

Spiggle

nigelpm wrote: »

I suppose the other observation I'd make is if I want good quality bacon as I sometimes do I'll just buy a good bacon joint from Tesco's or Sainsbury's and slice it up myself.

Why would buying bacon from a Butcher's be any better than this?
Most of the discussion I've seen centres around the less common cuts of meat and I agree Butcher's are great for these but to the ordinary public who just want 8 rashers of bacon or a joint of Beef with their weekly shop - why go to a special butchers and queue?

The thickness of the slices/having a supermarket joint of bacon does NOT equate to quality! Plastic packed bacon will be pumped up with water amongst all the other chemical preservatives etc added to ensure the meat doesn't go off when it has to travel hundreds and thousands of miles wrapped in plastic.

Bacon from the butcher is likely to be far more local, preserved in traditional ways and can be cut to suit you whether that is wafer thin slices up to joints. You will see a huge difference in terms of shrinkage when cooked too. Butcher bacon won't shrink anywhere near as much as supermarket stuff.

As for beef, joints or processed, well does that really need a response in this thread? As I understand it this thread is to help everyone who wants to have a clear (and mostly local) traceability on where the meat comes from.

I say mostly local as some meat I buy from my butcher isn't local, e.g. Aberdeen Angus, but is reared/killed in the UK and then jointed by my butcher. And he can give me exactly the trace on the beef.

One day I hope the majority will wake up to the con that a supermarket can be. They are not your friend - they want to extract as much profit as possible from you (and spend a fortune on persuading you they're the best/cheapest/looking out for your purse/pocket).

I can honestly say I've never seen a paid for advert for my butcher but that doesn't stop him being continually busy. Now that's quality.

nigelpm

Well it's always a balance between convenience, cost and quality. Like I said I'll give it a try and report back but I''m certainly not of the opinion that Supermarket = crap quality and Butcher = good quality.