Discussion
Where do you guys stand on cheap meat? I know the cheaper the meat, the lower the quality you might expect and also the way the animal is raised is also in question. However in this economic climate, surely all families should have the option of having decent sunday dinner? I've recently received an email from my local Toby carvery offering two meals for a tenner. Surely at that price, they must be getting cheap joints of meat for their roasts.
Personally, I do go for the cheaper option. Currently, Morrisons are doing pork shoulder for £2.66 a kilo. I think they use British farmers too. A tad over a fiver will get you a 2 kilo joint which when roasted with veggies and yorkshire puddings will do a decent Sunday dinner for 4 people for under a tenner. Costco do 2 1.7kg chickens for £7 which again is pretty decent. Morrisons do 2 sirloin, rump or ribeye steaks for £7. Minimum of 225g. I've had these in the past and they've been decent. Over Easter, you could get fresh leg of lamb for £5 a kilo. A local butcher are advertising their lamb shoulder on Facebook for £9.99 a kilo. Would theirs be really twice as good as the £5 per kilo leg?
Personally, I do go for the cheaper option. Currently, Morrisons are doing pork shoulder for £2.66 a kilo. I think they use British farmers too. A tad over a fiver will get you a 2 kilo joint which when roasted with veggies and yorkshire puddings will do a decent Sunday dinner for 4 people for under a tenner. Costco do 2 1.7kg chickens for £7 which again is pretty decent. Morrisons do 2 sirloin, rump or ribeye steaks for £7. Minimum of 225g. I've had these in the past and they've been decent. Over Easter, you could get fresh leg of lamb for £5 a kilo. A local butcher are advertising their lamb shoulder on Facebook for £9.99 a kilo. Would theirs be really twice as good as the £5 per kilo leg?
I used to work in the meat and fish business.
Morrisons have a very good reputation - they stipulate very high welfare standards and you can usually guarantee everything is decent quality. Might not be the best, but for the money you can't complain. Are you sure you're right about the lamb price? I saw a fiver a kilo for shoulder, but not for leg. Shoulder is the better cut anyway...
I'd be wary of Costco, as I don't know where they source meat. I know Iceland get chicken from the Far East, so this should be avoided, as should any Danish or Dutch pork.
Lidl are pretty good, too, and mostly use British and RSPCA certified farmers, just watch that Dutch and Danish pork thing, especially on bacon (this is true for all supermarkets)
Morrisons have a very good reputation - they stipulate very high welfare standards and you can usually guarantee everything is decent quality. Might not be the best, but for the money you can't complain. Are you sure you're right about the lamb price? I saw a fiver a kilo for shoulder, but not for leg. Shoulder is the better cut anyway...
I'd be wary of Costco, as I don't know where they source meat. I know Iceland get chicken from the Far East, so this should be avoided, as should any Danish or Dutch pork.
Lidl are pretty good, too, and mostly use British and RSPCA certified farmers, just watch that Dutch and Danish pork thing, especially on bacon (this is true for all supermarkets)
Once it's dead it's dead. I've got several Asian butchers near me and meat is always cheap, as long as you don't ask for pork.
£3.29/kg for boneless chicken. Was £3 until recently. Not sure what bits of the bird it is, assume anything but the breast but it's cheaper than breast and much nicer to eat. Packaged up in plastic at a supermarket and you're close to £8/9.
If you feel like it they'll also do you lamb's stomach, cow's feet, unidentified 'fish' and god knows what else.
None of that organic corn fed b
ks in my house.
£3.29/kg for boneless chicken. Was £3 until recently. Not sure what bits of the bird it is, assume anything but the breast but it's cheaper than breast and much nicer to eat. Packaged up in plastic at a supermarket and you're close to £8/9.
If you feel like it they'll also do you lamb's stomach, cow's feet, unidentified 'fish' and god knows what else.
None of that organic corn fed b
ks in my house.Trabi601 said:
I used to work in the meat and fish business.
Morrisons have a very good reputation - they stipulate very high welfare standards and you can usually guarantee everything is decent quality. Might not be the best, but for the money you can't complain. Are you sure you're right about the lamb price? I saw a fiver a kilo for shoulder, but not for leg. Shoulder is the better cut anyway...
I'd be wary of Costco, as I don't know where they source meat. I know Iceland get chicken from the Far East, so this should be avoided, as should any Danish or Dutch pork.
Lidl are pretty good, too, and mostly use British and RSPCA certified farmers, just watch that Dutch and Danish pork thing, especially on bacon (this is true for all supermarkets)
I always though Morrisons strived for high standards for the welfare of the meat they sold. Morrisons have a very good reputation - they stipulate very high welfare standards and you can usually guarantee everything is decent quality. Might not be the best, but for the money you can't complain. Are you sure you're right about the lamb price? I saw a fiver a kilo for shoulder, but not for leg. Shoulder is the better cut anyway...
I'd be wary of Costco, as I don't know where they source meat. I know Iceland get chicken from the Far East, so this should be avoided, as should any Danish or Dutch pork.
Lidl are pretty good, too, and mostly use British and RSPCA certified farmers, just watch that Dutch and Danish pork thing, especially on bacon (this is true for all supermarkets)
Lamb leg was definitely a fiver a kilo over Easter. Asda were doing it at that price and so were some of the budget supermarkets. I paid around £12 a leg.
KungFuPanda said:
Where do you guys stand on cheap meat? I know the cheaper the meat, the lower the quality you might expect and also the way the animal is raised is also in question. However in this economic climate, surely all families should have the option of having decent sunday dinner?
No not at all. I don't understand where this idea of entitlement comes from?If I couldn't afford to buy meat, eggs etc where reasonable care have been taken of the animals, I just wouldn't buy it. Or buy less, and less often.
I'm mostly veggie now but in my past I treated meat much as I now treat whisky. I don't need it every day so instead of buying 7 meals of cheap meat per week, I would buy 1 or 2 days worth of really nice stuff.
I'd like to think that when a supermarket offers meat at below the price it takes to produce it, it's them that are taking the hit as a loss leader to get you into the shop and buying other stuff, but I fear that's not the case and that they are blackmailing their producers into taking the hit in return for regular sales.
Its tempting to take up their bargains but the moral part of me says no. I can't believe that they can sell meat for less than it was 20 or 30 years ago without a downside somewhere.
I'd like to think that when a supermarket offers meat at below the price it takes to produce it, it's them that are taking the hit as a loss leader to get you into the shop and buying other stuff, but I fear that's not the case and that they are blackmailing their producers into taking the hit in return for regular sales.
Its tempting to take up their bargains but the moral part of me says no. I can't believe that they can sell meat for less than it was 20 or 30 years ago without a downside somewhere.
No the kind of discussion I thought this would be about:
Feather steak
Cheeks (pig/beef/etc)
Onglet
Short ribs (Jacobs ladder)
chuck eye
Shin
Neck (All meats)
Brisket
Teres Major
Merlot steak
Pork Top Sirloin
Collar (Pork, etc)
Shoulder (Lamb, etc)
Not about the quality of chicken, etc...
If you try the hidden old skool cuts then you might still find some gems there that are better than the premium cuts if cooked correctly... plus they are still reasonably cheap.
Feather steak
Cheeks (pig/beef/etc)
Onglet
Short ribs (Jacobs ladder)
chuck eye
Shin
Neck (All meats)
Brisket
Teres Major
Merlot steak
Pork Top Sirloin
Collar (Pork, etc)
Shoulder (Lamb, etc)
Not about the quality of chicken, etc...
If you try the hidden old skool cuts then you might still find some gems there that are better than the premium cuts if cooked correctly... plus they are still reasonably cheap.
Trabi601 said:
, as should any Danish or Dutch pork.
Just out of interest, why avoid the Dutch and Danish oink? is it more cursed? Not that it matters as we mostly get Chinese or (strangely for a Muslim country) Indonesian pork.Du1point8 said:
If you try the hidden old skool cuts then you might still find some gems there that are better than the premium cuts if cooked correctly... plus they are still reasonably cheap.
Whack 'em in a pressure cooker and away you go! 
Du1point8 said:
No the kind of discussion I thought this would be about:
Feather steak
Cheeks (pig/beef/etc)
Onglet
Short ribs (Jacobs ladder)
chuck eye
Shin
Neck (All meats)
Brisket
Teres Major
Merlot steak
Pork Top Sirloin
Collar (Pork, etc)
Shoulder (Lamb, etc)
Not about the quality of chicken, etc...
If you try the hidden old skool cuts then you might still find some gems there that are better than the premium cuts if cooked correctly... plus they are still reasonably cheap.
Shin is my favourite cut of beef. Absolutely amazing falvour & melts in the mouth if browned well then casseroled in a 125c oven for 3 hours.Feather steak
Cheeks (pig/beef/etc)
Onglet
Short ribs (Jacobs ladder)
chuck eye
Shin
Neck (All meats)
Brisket
Teres Major
Merlot steak
Pork Top Sirloin
Collar (Pork, etc)
Shoulder (Lamb, etc)
Not about the quality of chicken, etc...
If you try the hidden old skool cuts then you might still find some gems there that are better than the premium cuts if cooked correctly... plus they are still reasonably cheap.
In the last year or so Sainsbury's have started selling neck of lamb as shoulder and have upped the price. Is that not against some sort of law?
Du1point8 said:
If you try the hidden old skool cuts then you might still find some gems there that are better than the premium cuts if cooked correctly... plus they are still reasonably cheap.
The irritating things is most of those have been picked up by one celebrity chef or another and are on people's radar far more, so prices have risen.StangGT said:
Chicken gizzards, if you can find them, are fantastic.
So much more flavour than cotton wool chicken breasts and far cheaper too.
Apparently people dont like them due to their name and the fact its offal. Good. More for me.
Same with chicken livers, in fact, all liver is lovely... kidney is a bit of work.So much more flavour than cotton wool chicken breasts and far cheaper too.
Apparently people dont like them due to their name and the fact its offal. Good. More for me.
Pan fry in flour and garlic and I could have them every day.
Shame OH doesnt like the smell of them cooking.
Trabi601 said:
I used to work in the meat and fish business.
Morrisons have a very good reputation - they stipulate very high welfare standards and you can usually guarantee everything is decent quality. Might not be the best, but for the money you can't complain. Are you sure you're right about the lamb price? I saw a fiver a kilo for shoulder, but not for leg. Shoulder is the better cut anyway...
I'd be wary of Costco, as I don't know where they source meat. I know Iceland get chicken from the Far East, so this should be avoided, as should any Danish or Dutch pork.
Lidl are pretty good, too, and mostly use British and RSPCA certified farmers, just watch that Dutch and Danish pork thing, especially on bacon (this is true for all supermarkets)
Costco meat is excellent, and properly sourcedMorrisons have a very good reputation - they stipulate very high welfare standards and you can usually guarantee everything is decent quality. Might not be the best, but for the money you can't complain. Are you sure you're right about the lamb price? I saw a fiver a kilo for shoulder, but not for leg. Shoulder is the better cut anyway...
I'd be wary of Costco, as I don't know where they source meat. I know Iceland get chicken from the Far East, so this should be avoided, as should any Danish or Dutch pork.
Lidl are pretty good, too, and mostly use British and RSPCA certified farmers, just watch that Dutch and Danish pork thing, especially on bacon (this is true for all supermarkets)
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