I need meat!

mojod

Still no-one really mentioned small butchers. It depends on where you are obviously, but even if the meat in the window seems more expensive than supermarket stuff, by going in and explaining roughly what you want and what you plan to do with it, you can get some real bargains along with a little bit of haggling. Generally better quality and fresher too

patchwork_cat

For stewing, shin of beef is good value. Have you got a farmshop nearby? Where do you live? For example in our area there is a facebook butcher ( I know it sounds weird) who delivers over a large radius and is competitively priced and I know of people in other areas with similar.

Mrs_Cheshire

sniggings wrote: »

Yes, a little bus ride away but I guess these things can be frozen so I can grab them when I'm passing to keep the costs down.

Yes definitely can be frozen, ask the butcher's counter if you need any help. I wanted some chinese pork shoulder steaks when I went last time, but they didn't have any out. They told me to grab a packet of plain ones and they coated them in the chinese seasoning for no extra charge. If your only cooking for one I would suggest batch cooking a meal, eating a portion and then freezing the left overs would save time and cost.

almillar

Check local butchers. People work under the assumption that supermakets are cheapest for everything. Can be very un-true!
Depending on the butcher you could be getting higher quality meat, better welfare meat, more traceable meat or better advice, or all of the above.

tiff

Pork shoulder joints in Tesco today £2.99/kg, they have come into the store with £5.99/kg stamps on some of them and those ones have yellow stickers with the correct price. Situated away from the usual pork joints.

andrewsmum

I make an economical 'stew' in my slow cooker by using the leftover chicken after a Sunday roast chicken or by using a can of corned beef, which I add cubed for the last half hour, with some dumplings added at that time too...yummy

maman

I got a joint of the £4 per kg beef from Asda. I'll cut it into some small joints and cube the rest for casseroles.


I like chicken thighs for casseroles, much tastier than breasts. They sell a big bag of thighs and drumsticks frozen in Sainsbury's excellent value.


I do buy chicken breasts and use one small one between us is good for a stir fry. If you slice it thinly when it's been out of the freezer for 30 mins it's plenty with a load of veg and rice.


Aldi/Lidl gammon joints are about £4 per kg and make great meals, slices freeze beautifully too. Then I make my favourite lentil soup with the stock.


YS is great when you can get it but a bit hit and miss.


And portion everything up before you freeze it or cook first and freeze the meals.

geordie_joe

almillar wrote: »

Check local butchers. People work under the assumption that supermakets are cheapest for everything. Can be very un-true!
Depending on the butcher you could be getting higher quality meat, better welfare meat, more traceable meat or better advice, or all of the above.

No mention of the meat being cheaper.

What about the people who don't car about animal welfare, traceability, advice etc.?

almillar

geordie joe - I did - check the first sentence! Local butchers can be cheaper AND better at the same time than the supermarkets.
If you don't care about the above, feel free to stick with your horse burgers... You can still get the good stuff cheaper than the supermarkets.

maman

almillar wrote: »

geordie joe - I did - check the first sentence! Local butchers can be cheaper AND better at the same time than the supermarkets.
If you don't care about the above, feel free to stick with your horse burgers... You can still get the good stuff cheaper than the supermarkets.

I suppose it depends where you live. I just looked at the website f my local one and beef shin is £8.80 per kg and I think silverside was £18.50. The joint from I got from Asda was £4 per kg. I suppose it depends whether your local butcher sees their market as the yummy mummy brigade or is pricing more realistically to make the business survive.