cheaper cuts of meat

Alfietinker

On another note - it does depend on your butcher. We're lucky enough to have the village butcher in our road but I must admit I prefer to drive 20 minutes to one in Maldon. I ordered my first ever turkey from there and when I collected it, it was half-frozen and not what I'd wanted. (I couldn't complain because he's my next door neighbour). Their bacon is lovely though - no white stuff. I just feel embarrassed going in there. But the one in Maldon I think is brilliant.

Shop around until you find one you like.

thriftlady_2

It's certainly worth making friends with your butcher.I'm very envious of you on the fish front.There are no fishmongers in Worcester,so I have to rely on Tesco(I hate Tesco).My Mum's(in Brum) high st fishmonger who has been there since before i was born -at least 40 years,has just closed down.It depresses me no end to see 'proper' shops disappear.I don't have a local high st,my nearest shop is Tesco express and the next nearest is a Tesco superstore-grrr.

funkymonkey

just a quicky - i thought you couldnt buy oxtail anymore - bearing in mind it is spinal cord? is it not? since bse crisis anyway unless im wrong!

Smiley_Mum

Classed as beef on the bone and they do sell in my butcher, no problem.

thriftlady_2

It was a banned substance after the BSE crisis,but now available again.Not sure whether because it's been reclassified as 'beef on bone' or because not thought to be a risk anymore.

competitionscafe

thriftlady wrote:

I'm very envious of you on the fish front.There are no fishmongers in Worcester,so I have to rely on Tesco(I hate Tesco).My Mum's(in Brum) high st fishmonger who has been there since before i was born -at least 40 years,has just closed down.It depresses me no end to see 'proper' shops disappear.I don't have a local high st,my nearest shop is Tesco express and the next nearest is a Tesco superstore-grrr.

I am lucky in that I have 3 fishmongers within walking distance (2 of them are good, one is okay) so I have never bought from Tesco - but their fish never looks great (much of it previously frozen and then defrosted) and the variety is limited, I try to avoid Tesco altogether now as it seems to get worse on each visit (they snatched my clubcard voucher from me last time I was there [I was using those awful self service machines], they insisted it had already scanned and put it in the machine - then when I showed them the receipt and insisted for the 2nd time that it hadn't they eventually admitted I was right and opened the machine to retrieve my £5 voucher)...anyway fish is the last thing I would buy from them - would rather use one of the online places like Fish society or Ramus and stock up the freezer.......

Jay-Jay_4

Just a note to anyone who's scared of going into the butchers....

The first time I went in there was a counter full of meat, nothing had the price on or anysigns saying what anything was..... and I didn't know what to ask for. I said "I want some of those lamb chops but with a bone that I can use as a handle!" The butcher looked strangely at me and proceeded to lift up several different cuts for me, none of which I wanted . After a while he established that I wanted 'bone in lamb cutlets' or 'hockey sticks'.

I also would ask for a lump of mince, when he asked how much I answered (holding up hands) "that much" Then I wanted 'some' casserole beef . He would ask how many it was for and put some on the scale, asked me if that looked about right.

Don't be afraid to walk into the butchers and say "what can I make a casserole out of and how much do I need?"

thriftlady_2

competitionscafe wrote:

- would rather use one of the online places like Fish society or Ramus and stock up the freezer.......

Has anyone any experience of buying fish online?I'd be interested to know how good they are

moneysavingplumber

Jay-Jay wrote:

Just a note to anyone who's scared of going into the butchers....

The first time I went in there was a counter full of meat, nothing had the price on or anysigns saying what anything was..... and I didn't know what to ask for. I said "I want some of those lamb chops but with a bone that I can use as a handle!" The butcher looked strangely at me and proceeded to lift up several different cuts for me, none of which I wanted . After a while he established that I wanted 'bone in lamb cutlets' or 'hockey sticks'.

I also would ask for a lump of mince, when he asked how much I answered (holding up hands) "that much" Then I wanted 'some' casserole beef . He would ask how many it was for and put some on the scale, asked me if that looked about right.

Don't be afraid to walk into the butchers and say "what can I make a casserole out of and how much do I need?"

I agree, and many will know exactly the best way to cook it.

competitionscafe

thriftlady wrote:

Has anyone any experience of buying fish online?I'd be interested to know how good they are

No, as I use local fishmongers but have heard that Fish Society and Donald Russell for frozen and Ramus, Martins, Matthew Stevens and Fishworks for fresh, are all good. Would be interested to hear if anyone has used any of them.

http://www.thefishsociety.co.uk
http://www.donaldrussell.com/seafood.cfm
http://www.martins-seafresh.co.uk/
http://www.ramus.co.uk/
http://www.mstevensandson.co.uk/shop/index.php
http://www.fishworks.co.uk/fishworksdirect.asp