How much will you pay for your meat?

Debt_Free_Chick

I think meat - and turkey in particular - could be even more expensive, when the time comes - due to all the turkeys being slaughtered due the bird flu outbreak in Suffolk.

Those turkeys (and geese and other birds) were being raised specifically for the Christmas market, so there are bound to be orders unfulfilled and a danger that there won't be sufficient supply to fill the demand.

That'll have a knock-on effect to other meat too, as some who can't get a turkey may well get beef instead - so the demand for beef and other meat will increase. And Christmas beef may well be more expensive, if the cattle were finished on feed - the price of which (even silage) has doubled in the past year.

I think we should all be prepared for a bit of a shock! :eek:

competitionscafe

Hippychick wrote: »

I was just wondering how much people are prepared to spend on their Christmas dinner meat.

This year we want to have a really nice joint of beef and so far the cheapest quote for about 2.5kg of decent sirloin is £45.00:eek:

Does anyone know of any good quality online suppliers who may be more reasonable?

Sounds about right, a 3kg Wing End Sirloin Rib is £45 from the Fine Beef Company, but their Longhorn beef is fantastic - probably too late for this Xmas but well worth splashing out for a special occassion.
http://www.thefinebeefcompany.co.uk/catalog/index.php

I would go for Forerib though as it's a bit cheaper and still a wonderful roast, £35.70 would get you a 3kg joint on the bone - I think it tastes much nicer roasted on the bone, even if carving is a bit more tricky. :-)

Can also recommend the beef from Higher Hacknell, though that's a bit more expensive as it's organic. Or sign up for the Natoora email newsletter which almost always has a £10 off voucher in it, (so basically free delivery) and their meat from Well Hung Meat is very good.

Roast beef, yorkshire puddings and potatoes roasted in the beef fat - yum! :-)

thriftlady_2

Last year I paid £80 for a goose from my butcher :eek: . No wonder he was smiling :rolleyes: This year I'm getting a goose from the same supplier but direct from the farm. I'm still expecting to pay an arm and a leg for it -£8.95 a kilo (£50-£60). I notice the butcher is selling them for £13.50 a kilo. I generally expect to pay around £50-£60 for a free range turkey or goose of considerable size. This time of year I wish I were a butcher.

BTW if you're paying a hefty sum for your festive meat make sure you get every last morsel out of it. Use up all the meat, freeze it in meal sized portions if you can't face it all immediately after Christmas. Make stock or soup with the carcase and freeze that too. I reckon I'll get two meals for 7 out of the goose plus another two padded out with veg/rice/pasta etc for 5, plus stock for 2-3 soup meals for 5. That's 34 portions at about £1.50 a head. I don't plan on buying any more meat for a couple of weeks after Christmas.

competitionscafe

thriftlady wrote: »

Last year I paid £80 for a goose from my butcher :eek: . No wonder he was smiling :rolleyes: This year I'm getting a goose from the same supplier but direct from the farm. I'm still expecting to pay an arm and a leg for it -£8.95 a kilo (£50-£60).

Never tried goose, always wanted to but others aren't so keen :-( Can't really justify the expense if nobody else is going to eat it. £8.95 /kg sounds about right - seldom seen farm is [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]£3.90/lb so about £8 ish per kg (£39 to £47 per goose) + delivery I guess? [/FONT]http://www.seldomseenfarm.co.uk/prices.htm

thriftlady_2

I get my geese from here.

Lillibet_2

Well, from our local indpendent organic butcher I have ordered a 3 bird roast (duck, capon chicken, pheasent & cranberry stuffing), 24 pigs in blankets, 12 rashers unsmoked bacon & 4 large chicken breasts (chicken chasseur in the slow cooker on boxing day;)), I expect the total cost to be approx £55, £40ish of which will be the 3 bird roast, which I don't think is bad for organic meat in this part of Surrey. He charges approx £30 for a large 10 (generous) portion organic turkey.

HTH;)

nuttywoman

I`ve bought a meat hamper £32 from local butcher,we join his xmas club, all really top class meat, the beef is hung etc, turkey has come from aldi.

meester

Hippychick wrote: »

I was just wondering how much people are prepared to spend on their Christmas dinner meat.

This year we want to have a really nice joint of beef and so far the cheapest quote for about 2.5kg of decent sirloin is £45.00:eek:

Does anyone know of any good quality online suppliers who may be more reasonable?

The cheapest good quality turkeys i've found are about £35.00 to £40.00.

There must be places to buy meat at a reasonable price surely?

Mey Selections sold in some Sainsbury's stores is much better than Waitrose, M&S or most butchers. Get a nice rib of beef, and roast it slow. Should be about half that price. Nice Scottish beef from the North Highlands.

Try calling Sainsburys, or check here:

http://www.mey-selections.com/g/14297/high-street-outlets.html

No turkeys though.

competitionscafe

Waitrose still have turkeys, got this in an email:

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I am sorry to trouble you at this hectic time of year.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]However I did feel it necessary to set the record straight on recent media reports that Waitrose has no organic turkeys for customers this Christmas.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Regrettably, the farm that supplies our organic turkeys was affected by the recent outbreak of Avian Flu, and the birds destined for Waitrose were culled as a precaution. Because we always source fresh produce from farms we know and trust, we were unwilling to compromise these principles by securing additional organic birds on the open market from sources not audited by Waitrose.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]We still have excellent supplies of high quality free range and Waitrose Select Farm turkeys. Over 1,000 customers had placed orders for organic turkeys and we wrote to all of them offering a fresh free range turkey as an alternative together with an additional £10 gift voucher for the inconvenience caused. The team and I at Waitrose were touched when some customers returned the vouchers, requesting the money be given to the farmer and his family - a genuine act of kindness in the season of goodwill. Naturally, we have extended our support to ensure the farm can restock with confidence next year.[/FONT]

Burlesque_Babe

I've had mine from Devon Rose for 3 out of the last 4 years.

http://www.devonrose.com/shoponline.aspx

I'm getting a 2kg crown of turkey which will be around £26. Fabulous meat from really lovely people.

I'm treating us to the Elizabethan box as well. There's only the 2 of us but it's once a year and the freezer will be full of meat to see us from this Wednesday to past New Year.

The highest prices I saw were Abel and Cole. Their goose is £72.50 (ouch!)

I bought the goose which was boned and stuffed from Waitrose last year. To be honest I was a bit disappointed and it was horrifically expensive.