Butchers or supermarket for meat?

[Millie]

I always shop in Asda for meat, convenience mainly, and I also get a 10% discount. meat is still a huge amount of money though, so I wondered if it was cheaper to buy from the butcher.

What do you reckon?

Millie xx

[Shirley]

It won't be cheaper... but it will be better. You are far better off eating less meat of a good quality - and you will probably find there is less waste too.

[Millie]

Bingo! Need to take that into consideration really. How likely is it that the butchers will be organic?

[shiney]

Hi Mille, nice to see you here missus!

If you go to that butchers in Trow. just down the road from the postoffice he does all meat that is produced in Wiltshire. Some is free range and organic. It all depends what he can get. I buy my meat from there all the time now and it's far superior to supermarket meat. It tastes much, much better.

If you buy a pork hock from him it's just £2.50, which does us a meal and if you cook it in the slow cooker its delicious and tender. I don't have as much meat now but what we do eat is much nicer!

[Stonehead]

Butcher first, last and always!

On price, you may be surprised as butchers can be quite competitive - especially on seasonal meat like lamb and on the lesser cuts (which may not be stocked by supermarkets). However, price is not the main thing.

On quality, almost all butchers are a definite cut above the supermarkets (pun intended ) and a fair number are well above.

On traceability, many local butchers source their meat locally and can tell you exactly who it came from. In the case of our main butcher, he can give you chapter and verse on every bit of meat in the shop.

On customer service, well, you can't beat someone who gives you a bag of bones for soup, who rounds prices down when he thinks you aren't looking, and who sneaks choice pieces of meat into old ladies' purchases when they definitely aren't looking.

It's a two-way street with our butcher. Whenever I go in to organise to have our lamb and pork butchered, I always buy something as a way of paying for his time. I fit slaughtering in around his schedule and give him homebrewed stout for Christmas and his birthday. And, whenever we have a little money to spare I buy beef and some bacon from him.

In return, he does our butchering for less than he charges certain people, tries to round the price down because he knows we can't afford much, and does an excellent job of butchering our meat.

And he's not an isolated example. Our second butcher up here is much the same, while the two butchers we used in Skipton were equally good.

Organic? Well, that's more difficult as the farm has to be certified, the abbatoir has to be certified and the butcher has to be certiified - and it can be very difficult to find an organic abbatoir.

If you can find a butcher with an organic range, see if it is actually local. It may not be.

Personally, I'd prefer to use a butcher who sources meat locally from extensively raised herds and flocks than one who stocks organic meat from the other side of the country.

Other advantages of butchers? Many do a great range of pies, pasties, sausage rolls, preserved meats, potted meats, etc. And there are the ones with their own secret sausage recipes...

Yes, I'm a fan of local butchers!

[baldowrie]

butchers when I can but having mobility problems means going to several different shops is not always easy.

[Shirley]

I like to use local butchers or other local producers in the area... hence having bought from Stoney, wark farm and other farm shop type places.

I was dismayed to find food colourants and flavour enhancers in my local butcher though - when questioned he looked at me as if I had two heads and said that it just made it look better. They can't do them without as the mix has the colours in already. Hmmmm. Needless to say I don't buy sausages there.

[Millie]

Stoney, you on commission again?

Right, my veg box arrives thursday, and I have just cleared asda of veg, and enough meat to get us to thurs, so I shall venture to the local butcher then :)

[red]

alot of the time the butcher will be more expensive.. try comparing chicken breasts - its that welfare/food miles thing. along with - I would hate for the butchers shop to disappear.. its use it or lose it.

mince beef - supermarket might well be cheaper.. and probably from abroad.. whereas my local butcher.. the meat comes from the local villages. He has a sign up saying what farm, what village, what breed. and in my experience the taste is usually much better

if you want economy, consider buying in bulk - you usually do well if you have a 1/2 lamb or 1/4 beef - although you definitely need freezer space for that one. perhaps share with a friend.

[baldowrie]

hey Millie, Stoney doesn't need commission the pork is so nice one taste and your hooked.

Shirely sausage mixture also contains E221 (sometimes E223), which I am allergic too

[Stonehead]

hey Millie, Stoney doesn't need commission the pork is so nice one taste and your hooked.

Shirely sausage mixture also contains E221 (sometimes E223), which I am allergic too

And some of the sausage kits/mixes sold on line contain these too...

Better to make your own if you're not sure, but mincing and making 30kg of sausages by hand is a very big job!

[Millie]

Hmm now Stonehead mincing, now thats something I'd love to see!

[bazil]

wot about the mad butcher in "the leugue of gentelmen" he had something funny in his bangers too

[Wombat]

I used to make sausages when my daughter had allergies. I used to shop at a particular butcher in St Marys, wnet ot get some pork fat of the bugger and he wanted to charge meat rates for it. We never went back.

Nev

[Stonehead]

Hmm now Stonehead mincing, now thats something I'd love to see!

You should see me in my pinnie and rubber boots, dear!