[Asherweef]

Morning all,

For the past 6 months or so we have given up buying meat (and a lot of veg) from the supermarkets due to pice and quality. Instead we go to our local market (Bolton) and get a job lot every couple of weeks which we freeze and use. My question is - who do you all use for your meat? I'm hoping that with the interests on this board people will know about traceability and price of their meat.

I'm looking to start using our local butchers but don't want to be shocked by the price - it would be much easier for me to pop up the road once a week than a drive in to Bolton so the butchers would be my preference.

Any experiences of quality along with price would be appreciated as well. As would any knowledge coming from the Wigan/Bolton area.

Thanks,

Asherweef

[snowdrops]

I have been going to a local farm who rears beef cattle,takes it to slaughter,then has it butchered,then freezes it. He used to have lamb,but stopped rearing his own a few years ago,but rented fields out to another farmer & then bought the lamb from him. Unfortunately he has retired  & sold his farm house to his nephew who is not going to continue the business so I now need to source my beef from somewhere else. I think I've managed the lamb. We eat very little pork,hubby doesn't like it, but I go to the local farmers market for bacon & sausage & the ones I have come from a local farm too. I tend to buy chicken from the supermarket although my beef farmer did buy chickens in from a local supplier but they have now retired too.

[Rallychef]

Sorry I don't have any knowledge of your area, but a good relationship with a good local butcher is well worth the extra you pay over the price of supermarket meat. I have used only around 5 butchers in a 30 year career as a chef(and for personal use) in Cumbria, our last butcher (before I retired) was also a farmer, had his own abattoir and shop. only used local farms for meat he could not supply himself. Our Sunday lunch boards also stated the name of the farmer and farm which supplied the joint for that week (never more than a 10 mile radius of the pub......I stopped short of the name of the cow!!!!!
If you are a meat eater, you cannot beat knowing that the animal has been treated well, right thoughout the process and has been hung and matured properly.
It does come at a price and these are hard times but I feel it is a price worth paying

sorry lecture over
regards Ian D

[GrannieAnnie]

We eat a lot of Turkey and chicken.  We've been rearing our own, but no more.  So once what's in the freezer has gone I will have to think again.

Beef we had been getting from someone we know 5 miles away, either buying it or swapping for Turkey, but his prices have doubled in 2 years.  There is another place who rears their own @£10/k.

pork we get from friends who moved to kings Lynn, so that is a day out once a year to pick up a piggy.  Lamb is the problem at the moment, trying to source it cheap enough.

But if you can find a decent butcher who sources locally, it's worth the extra money, just eat less of it.

[snow white]

Butcher beef is so much better than supermarket stuff.  It is more expensive granted, but it is all local meat.  I just choose to eat less meat but eat good meat when I do.

[GrannieAnnie]

Unfortunately, not all butchers buy in locally sourced meat.  When we lived in Essex, our village butcher used to buy his meat from the wholesalers, and went with whoever was cheapest! 

The wholesalers down there used to go to all the auctions and everywhere to source their meat. 

[Asherweef]

Thanks for your replies - especially you Ian - I agree completely and would love to know as much as possible about the meat I eat. I think I'll definitely give it a test shop, I actually think I'd save a bit on planning the meals properly and I know from experience that beef tastes wholly different from a butchers. (Girlfriends dad goes to a local butchers and pays a lot but the meat is second to none!)

[Mrs Bee]

I did my teaching practice in Bolton in the seventies. I went to Padgate College in Warrington.

As for buying meat, I get mine from a master butcher who specializes mainly in specialty sausages which are second to none, but he also will get anything I need, even obscure  and unusual meats.

And his prices are not much different to supermarket prices but the quality and taste is miles above the supermarket tasteless unhung stuff. The 30 day dry aged beef we had at Christmas was amazing.
He always looks after me really well;might have something to do with the cakes I take him when I go shopping.

It is worth searching out a really good butcher though as some butchers I have used are not much better than the supermarkets

[Asherweef]

Results are in - we went to the butchers on Saturday and I got  weeks worth of meat (5 days including a 2kg pork roasting joint for Sunday and sandwiches) and it came to…



£15!

Of that, the joint is just less than £10. I've obviously not tested everything yet but I found the price phenomenal and the service was great - the butcher was very helpful and I made some fantastic crackling yesterday from the fat he chucked in for free. Looks like we'll be going every week now!

[chrissie B]

we had a great butcher for years he moved to spain , he knew his costomers he said once there was a lttle old man came every Friday for 1/2 a beef mince 1/2 beef sausage and a small bit of meat for the weekend ,  he came one day when the problems with beef were on this is years ago and cancelled his mince and beef joint so david said do you still need the sausages oh yes we still need them , he couldn't figure it as the sausage was beef as well ha ha
chrissie b

[Sparkyrog]

Beef , lamb and pork all bought from local farmer ,poultry from local cash and carry as I can't be bothered to do my own anymore! Game shot in season, rabbit and pigeon as required . Just seem unable to get Hare these days and I do miss it

[Growster...]

Mrs Growster had just this Sunday cooked a chicken from our butcher. It weighed 3lb 12oz, and we have so far had it hot on Sunday, cold yesterday, and she made four double portions of curry or casserole today for the freezer.

There's also a great pan of stock for at least half a gallon of soup, when I can get the leeks out!

I think we paid about £8.00 for it, but the quality is outstanding, and there's no weasely treatment like injecting water into the breast etc...

His pork chops last us two meals each, and the crackling is just superb!

When times are tough we've always had supermarket meat, but this latest experience has just changed our ways yet again, and anyway, we eat much less meat than we used to!

[Asherweef]

I'm looking forward to a bit more seasonality in my meat; I do the best I can with veg at the moment. I think the meat from the butchers has the added benefit of making me rediscover how much I love cooking

Cooked some mince off last night for tacos - the fat was minimal and the smell was amazing. In girlfriends words: 'it doesn't make me want to throw up'.

No meat has ever had a better epitaph!

[Mrs Bee]

Mrs Growster had just this Sunday cooked a chicken from our butcher. It weighed 3lb 12oz, and we have so far had it hot on Sunday, cold yesterday, and she made four double portions of curry or casserole today for the freezer.

There's also a great pan of stock for at least half a gallon of soup, when I can get the leeks out!

I think we paid about £8.00 for it, but the quality is outstanding, and there's no weasely treatment like injecting water into the breast etc...

His pork chops last us two meals each, and the crackling is just superb!

When times are tough we've always had supermarket meat, but this latest experience has just changed our ways yet again, and anyway, we eat much less meat than we used to!

When times were tough and money tight we ate vegetarian most of the time.

There is a lot of meat on a vegetarian.

I can't believe the waste in some peoples kitchens. They eat the breast of the chicken and throw throw the rest away. And do the same with a turkey at Christmas.

Since my son has finally got a place of his own and we are on our own now I have taken to buying a whole chicken and cutting it in half and then freezing the halves so we have half a roast chicken on a Sunday.  My OH prefers the breast and I prefer the leg. Have to say I am not overly fond of reheated chicken in othe r dishes and would rather cook a whole dish from  raw chicken.

[Growster...]

So right, Mrs Bee!

Spam also calls, more often than not..;0)