Sainsbury's (edit: and now Lidl) vacuum packed beef mince ... What do people think ?

Longwalker

arnoldy said:

dealyboy said:

500g British & Irish beef mince
prices against % fat

£4.60          3%
£3.20          5%
£3.25         12%
£2.49         20%

£4.50          5%  TTD (taste the difference)
£3.50         12% TTD

... from their website, current prices (variable).

Really good info. Could never understand why people buy the expensive low fat mince when its pretty easy to fry the mince and drain excess fat off.

The plastic film packaging is great; fry and breakup the mince as you cook. Not as good as a block wrapped in greaseproof paper though. But I think that's a step too far for the food industry.

I never buy less then 15/12% fat because you need the fat for flavour imo.

Back in the day when I was a butcher for Sainsbury ( when butchery was done instore ) meat for mince came in big vac pacs and all the trimmings from the joints were mixed with it to get the fat content. One day I picked up the wrong pac, and a fillet went through the mincer. I bought some thinking it would be good but OMG it was tough and tasteless 

pumpkin89

arnoldy said:

dealyboy said:

500g British & Irish beef mince
prices against % fat

£4.60          3%
£3.20          5%
£3.25         12%
£2.49         20%

£4.50          5%  TTD (taste the difference)
£3.50         12% TTD

... from their website, current prices (variable).

Really good info. Could never understand why people buy the expensive low fat mince when its pretty easy to fry the mince and drain excess fat off.

It's not actually the same meat.  It's like comparing fillet steak with ribeye - the fat content is very different but the taste of the meat is also different.  Some people prefer the flavour of the lean mince.

Katiehound

not sure what the argument about vacuum packaging is all about.
If you are going to buy the product in Sainsburys then they actually have facilities for soft plastic recycling! So you take it back to them (when washed, of course)

not all plastic trays can be recycled- black & brown ones are banned   round here as the machinery does not work. I think all supermarkets should be made to use only packaging that can be recycled that would then cut a lot of waste.

EasyToAssemble01

I find the outcry ridiculous. Obviously, waste reduction is more important than whether people find the consistency of mince a bit different - but entirely fine - to cook a meal with. I made burgers with some. Turned out very tasty.

It shows how ridiculous we are as a species, when people think mince texture is more important than the environment.

dealyboy

Lidl will be joining the vac pack crusade from next year ... (I hope it is acceptable to post this here same subject but for Lidl rather than Sainsbury's).

Lidl next to vac pack mince despite Sainsbury's 'mush' complaints - BBC News

GingerTim

Tastes the same to me.

Katiehound

It's a first world problem!!

robbo1969

I have been using this for a while now same mince better use.by date you just gotta work it more while frying breaking it up eventually looks same as old stuff 

dealyboy

@robbo1969 said:

I have been using this for a while now same mince better use.by date you just gotta work it more while frying breaking it up eventually looks same as old stuff 

... I think you're right Robbo. I've been making my stews and birianis with it for some time now and it just needs a little more effort up front with the end result the same ... 

MrsStepford

We don't buy supermarket beef mince anymore, even organic. It all seems to have declined in quality. Lidl is doing grass fed beef mince in this new packaging and claims it lasts longer. Does that mean that the mince is older ???