Store-bought meat vs butcher meat--what's the difference?

MonkeyBalls

Pretty basic question, as I haven't a clue. I'm making an effort to clean up my diet. I've asked a couple of butchers in my area what the main difference is between their meat and packaged meat at say, Tesco or Dunnes. They hemmed and hawed a bit and couldn't really say, except that they knew where the meat came from and slaughtered their own animals. (One girl at Tesco shrugged and conspiratorially said "nah...there's no real difference".) But she's gotta be wrong...

Take beef and lamb from Tesco, pre-packaged--it tastes good, though the butcher meat tastes a bit better.

Are the cattle from butcher stores typically from farms that raise/slaughter healthier animals, say, that are fed more on grass (rather than mostly corn/silage)? where does the Tesco and Dunnes stuff come from?

sheikhnguyen

For the most part with beef butchers hang their meat for longer giving it a stronger, better flavour. The supermarkets don't because it takes time.

With other things like pork you can get cuts from the butcher that you can't get in a supermarket. It is hard to ask the supermarket to give you a kg of boned pork shoulder with the skin on but you can do that with a butcher.

Also you can get offal much easier and can ask the butcher for a few bones for soup while you're there.

Most important of all the butcher is a small business, mostly likely locally owned and staffed. Not some giant conglomerate like Tesco where all the profits get offshored by rich people. Support local business!!

uberwolf

fry off mince meat from tesco in one pan and from a good butcher in another. The amount of liquid that runs off the chain bought mince is unbelievable.

TBoneMan

Meat from a quality butcher will always be better.
If they rear their own beef and lamb it typically will have a better standard of living & been grass fed leading to healthier fats within the meat.
Butchers hang the meat on the bone for longer; 21 to 35 days for beef; allowing it to tenderise and develop more flavour. Supermarkets package everything within a few days of slaughter.
You can tell from the look of the meat itself:
Supermarket meat is bright red with white fat
Quality meat should have a deep red wine colour and almost a yellow fat colour
Bottomline when it comes to a local butcher is find one who CAN answer your questions otherwise they are buying from factories and are basically the same as the multiples

mikemac1

Expertise.

You can ask your butcher any question and they should have an answer or at least know how to find out. You won't get that in Tesco and it's not the staffs fault, they just are not trained. If the butcher cannot or will not be bothered with your questions then move on

Look for guild of master craftsmen. I doubt all of them have it but a lot will.

It's local business and they sell Irish produce too. For example the rapeseed oil from Donegal is only sold in craft butchers and not in supermarkets.

Keep trying your local butchers OP and if you find one you are happy with you can build up a relationship. After awhile they'll tell you of all the best deals and they may have stock they'll give you free. Don't rely on this now but they will look after their regulars

gowley

tesco is actually one of the biggest employers in ireland. all their fresh pork comes from hilton foods in drogheda. dunnes use a couple of suppliers but the main ones are tender meats in dublin, cartys in athlone bradleys in cork and cookstown in tyrone. these are own label suppliers.

MonkeyBalls

Thanks for the replies. So it comes down to: better flavour because the meat's hung for longer; more types of cuts available/deals; the cattle are more expertly raised in a healthier environment and have healthier fats; and, of course, it's a local business.

I figured that the cattle were probably raised better and this should result in a better omega 3/6 profile.

Here's a thought though--a fair amount of people apparently react badly to the nitrites (and/or I think "amines") that develop on meat that's hung out for a couple of weeks. So they'd probably do better on unaged, fresh meat.

jlm29

There's not a lot of butchers that raise their own cattle anymore. Not where I live anyhow. It probably does come down to hanging times really. Tesco is supplied by an Irish factory- one which will only take meat from quality assured factories, same as all the factories.
The farming forum would probably have more in depth answers!

Ush1

Pretty sure most cattle farmers have no idea where their cattle end up after being slaughtered so I don't think the actual quality of the animal would be any different but hanging times could be different alright.

Pretty sure all cattle in Ireland are grass fed apart from certain times of the year when they are fed rations.

--Kaiser--

Ush1 wrote: »

Pretty sure all cattle in Ireland are grass fed apart from certain times of the year when they are fed rations.

Ha ha, rations. That's only prisoner cows!

Practically all beef in Ireland is grass fed. Pastures for most of the year and silage/hay for winter months, and they're usually 'finished' with grain (a small supplement to their diet) to increase weight

TBoneMan

Nitrites are what is used to preserve food; i.e. bacon , ham , sausages etc... it prevents Botulism & many other naturally occuring toxins.
In the aging of meat; beef & lamb; it is the natural enzymes in the flesh that break done the protein fibres thereby tenderising & developing flavour in the process.
These enzymes are present in all muscles whether they have been allowed to age on the bone or not. The Supermarkets method of wet aging in plastic bags does not work as moisture loss is a key part of Dry aging meat.

grames_bond

I am very biased here as my dad is a butcher - but in my opinion there is no comparrison, meat bought from a butcher is just superior! (again though you can disguard my opinion of you wish due to the nature of bias! )

This will always remind me of that pork scare we had a few years ago - all butchers had to remove all pork products, the massive tesco next to my dads shop just put up a sign saying "don't worry - all our pork is danish so you have nothing to worry about".....people had been assuming it was Irish for years but it had been imported! that would be another big tick for the butchers shop - you know what you are getting and where it comes from!

Question_Mark

Hah, that's crazy I didn't know that.

Pork in Ireland though isn't raised much different than it is elsewhere in Europe as far as I know, so personally I wouldn't be too butthurt to find out it's Danish, but if beef or lamb labelled Irish turned out to be foreign imported, that'd be outrageous and heads would roll

I just like that the butcher has random stuff all the time.

Venison Burgers, minted Lamb chops, Steak burgers, Black pudding and apple sausages etc. Having things in one week but not the next usually means it's fairly fresh/seasonal / local imo.

My local butchers is quite cheap compared to the supermarkets, and the idea of just going to "grab some meat" and cooking it appeals to me. I am fairly planned out about meals but I like to try and eat something a bit 'off the wall' each week.

Chancer3001

Am I the only one whod prefer the fresh meat??

screw this hanging it around for a month!

fresher is surely better healthwise (probably not tastewise)

gowley

grames_bond wrote: »

I am very biased here as my dad is a butcher - but in my opinion there is no comparrison, meat bought from a butcher is just superior! (again though you can disguard my opinion of you wish due to the nature of bias! )

This will always remind me of that pork scare we had a few years ago - all butchers had to remove all pork products, the massive tesco next to my dads shop just put up a sign saying "don't worry - all our pork is danish so you have nothing to worry about".....people had been assuming it was Irish for years but it had been imported! that would be another big tick for the butchers shop - you know what you are getting and where it comes from!

where is your dads shop ? all tesco pork is from hilton meats . all bord bia approved. no danish pork whatsoever in tesco. they sourced pork from tne north and the uk after the scare.

sungear

Tescos meat is bland, dont know what it is but didnt notice till I got some meat in another large store

Id go to a butchers if I could locate a good one or knew they cut their own meat or that it was traceable, Ive been told a lot of butchers only sell meat that has been cut in a factory anyway and that a lot of stuff is labelled Irish, like chicken fillets, but really it may be no better than Tescos brazilian Irish chicken fillets.

Like I said, if I knew what I was getting was good, Id prefer to support a butchers or small chain of butchers than a large retailer.

gowley

this thread is a load of crap. there are very few butchers killing their own animals anymore. the ones that are would be top notch. theres a guy in clonmel who has top quality stuff. most of the chicken fillets in butchers are imported and full of water. supermarkets now nearly all buy from the island of ireland. the regulations now are strict and it is easier for an independent butcher to mislead customers than it is for the supermarkets.

WrigleysExtra

I would buy chicken fillets out of a supermarket such as superquinn over a butchers anyday. The amount of times I have bought butchers fillets that have a funny smell and have so much fat or wastage compared to the supermarket is ridiculous.

Stojkovic

I never ever ever buy meat or chicken fillets in a supermarket. Always in the local butcher, always.

gowley

WrigleysExtra wrote: »

I would buy chicken fillets out of a supermarket such as superquinn over a butchers anyday. The amount of times I have bought butchers fillets that have a funny smell and have so much fat or wastage compared to the supermarket is ridiculous.

at last some sense. while there are some top quality butchers in ireland the vast majority are less regulated than the large supermarkets. this is mainly because their products sell without any packaging or origion statements, though there are exceptions. all the multiples now need factory codes on their products.

talking pork and bacon as an example;

tesco : all from hilton meats in drogheda. bord bia approved

dunnes; all from cookstown in tyrone carty in athlone connollys in monaghan

lidl; bradleys in cork( product not irish) callan bacon and oakpark Molls bacon( product not irish}

Aldi; callan bacon{ 4 lines not irish) oakpark bradleys.

SV. cartys in athlone

SQ. cartys in athlone callan and oakpark

just because some product has an irish factory code doesnt mean its irish.

Drake66

gowley wrote: »

this thread is a load of crap. there are very few butchers killing their own animals anymore. the ones that are would be top notch. theres a guy in clonmel who has top quality stuff. most of the chicken fillets in butchers are imported and full of water. supermarkets now nearly all buy from the island of ireland. the regulations now are strict and it is easier for an independent butcher to mislead customers than it is for the supermarkets.

Like horse lasagnes?

gowley

Drake66 wrote: »

Like horse lasagnes?

lol. its customers like you make things easy for the dodgy suppliers. the horse meat only came to light because of regulations. it was only in frozen product and ready meals. it was never in fresh meat. ignorance is bliss

gctest50

Drake66 wrote: »

Like horse lasagnes?

More of it - look at dem eatin goats and so on

http://www.exoticmeats.co.uk/horse-meat.html

mad m

I went into my local butchers a few times to get stuff, all meat was great. But I asked for some sausages and he came out with this pre packed crap in a huge tub. Took off a pound of sausages and took the rest out for display. I was sort of annoyed as they didn't make their own.

uck51js9zml2yt

mad m wrote: »

I went into my local butchers a few times to get stuff, all meat was great. But I asked for some sausages and he came out with this pre packed crap in a huge tub. Took off a pound of sausages and took the rest out for display. I was sort of annoyed as they didn't make their own.

very few make their own.

my father in law does from his own sheep but he's not Irish:)

mad m

Jamie Early Handcuff wrote: »

very few make their own.

my father in law does from his own sheep but he's not Irish:)

Well to be honest, Superquinn make their own.

jlm29

mad m wrote: »

Well to be honest, Superquinn make their own.

They used make their own in store. My local store buys them in now.

worded

My local butchers ...
http://www.fenelons.ie/

Free parking in Stillorgan SC as well

I find supermarket meet usually tasteless

CJhaughey

Stojkovic wrote: »

I never ever ever buy meat or chicken fillets in a supermarket. Always in the local butcher, always.

Chicken in a butcher is much more likely to have been imported than from a supermarket. This came out during the horsemeat saga, from the guys that breed chickens Carton I think their name was, they supply most of the supermarkets with fresh chicken. The rest of the imports were largely sold through the independents. If the butchers label doesn't state Irish chicken its probably imported.
Not so for beef/lamb etc just chicken.

TBoneMan

gowley wrote: »

this thread is a load of crap. there are very few butchers killing their own animals anymore. the ones that are would be top notch. theres a guy in clonmel who has top quality stuff. most of the chicken fillets in butchers are imported and full of water. supermarkets now nearly all buy from the island of ireland. the regulations now are strict and it is easier for an independent butcher to mislead customers than it is for the supermarkets.

All chicken, regardless of packaged or sold loose are required to have their class,fresh or frozen, type (farmfresh, freerange, organic), origin and use by date displayed. Look closely at your butcher and you'll see the info.
Any butcher/shop that has a 5 for 5euro, etc deal going is a banker to me NOT irish.

If they don't comply all stock without this info can be removed and destroyed. Now its up to the public to ask for this info if it is not displayed and contact the fsai if they believe false labelling is in place.

Drkitkat

The meat in Tesco butchers counter has a label which says not suitable for home freezing. I asked the manager if that was because it had been previously frozen and he didn't have a clue, he just mumbled about freezing the beef would affect the flavour.


I will stick to my local butcher.

April O Neill

For things like chicken, I prefer buying them in supermarkets, as you can pick the ones that have the Bord Bia Quality Assurance mark, whereas you haven't a clue where butcher ones come from. Ireland, while still not great, has better conditions for poultry than most countries and that matters to me.

This doesn't matter so much for lamb and beef as these always seem to come from Ireland in the butchers.

rubadub

Drkitkat wrote: »

I asked the manager if that was because it had been previously frozen and he didn't have a clue, he just mumbled about freezing the beef would affect the flavour.


I will stick to my local butcher.

The local butcher could be frozen too. I see Fenlons of stillorgan mentioned in this thread and in several others. When I lived nearby I very often got half frozen chicken fillets from them.

It can be refrozen again of course, it can effect texture of the meat though, but there are no magical freezer bacteria which some people think.

I find it bizarre and amusing how much irrational trust some people have in butchers vs supermarkets.

April O Neill

rubadub wrote: »

It can be refrozen again of course, it can effect texture of the meat though, but there are no magical freezer bacteria which some people think.

I think if you freeze, defrost, then refreeze, there can be a higher bacterial load on the frozen product the second time, as the condensation formed on a defrosting piece of meat is a perfect place for settling bacteria to grow, or in the case of mince, for internal bacteria to multiply in the warmer temperatures. Of course, this risk is lessened if the meat is covered and/or defrosted in a fridge rather than at room temp.

niallu

As a lover of steaks, i have no problem in buying from Tesco / Superquinn.

I do only get it from the counter though (as opposed to the pre-packed stuff). The tesco finest steaks are 28 days matured, (a richer dark red) and much more flavour than the packaged bright red stuff.

I'll go to the local butcher and or tesco, and usually go with whoever has offers on at that time.

If i'm buying in bulk chicken breasts, i usually prefer to get from the butcher. Alot of the pre packed stuff is pumped with solution to bloat it up and increase the weight.....resulting in something the size of a pigeon breast when it's cooked!

gowley

TBoneMan wrote: »

All chicken, regardless of packaged or sold loose are required to have their class,fresh or frozen, type (farmfresh, freerange, organic), origin and use by date displayed. Look closely at your butcher and you'll see the info.
Any butcher/shop that has a 5 for 5euro, etc deal going is a banker to me NOT irish.

If they don't comply all stock without this info can be removed and destroyed. Now its up to the public to ask for this info if it is not displayed and contact the fsai if they believe false labelling is in place.

have had a look in a few butchers tbone and while they maybe required to its not happening. in fact i saw product packed in ready to cook trays across all proteins with no weight no origin. all that was on the pack was as follows
i pce e6 2 for e10. this was in a quite a few butcher shops.

TBoneMan

gowley wrote: »

have had a look in a few butchers tbone and while they maybe required to its not happen, in fact i saw product packed in ready to cook trays across all proteins with no weight no origin. all that was on the pack was as follows
i pce e6 2 for e10. this was in a quite a few butcher shops.

When goods are processed or marinated in any form, ZERO traceability is required. i.e. fillets, whole chickens, legs, wings REQUIRE LABELLING ... EVERTHING ELSE DOES NOT. This is due to change in January 2014 which will mean origin of all meat products must be displayed. Kiev , maryland etc ... pre prepared meals ... all are due to be covered by this new legislation.

jlm29

niallu wrote: »

As a lover of steaks, i have no problem in buying from Tesco / Superquinn.

I do only get it from the counter though (as opposed to the pre-packed stuff). The tesco finest steaks are 28 days matured, (a richer dark red) and much more flavour than the packaged bright red stuff.

I'll go to the local butcher and or tesco, and usually go with whoever has offers on at that time.

If i'm buying in bulk chicken breasts, i usually prefer to get from the butcher. Alot of the pre packed stuff is pumped with solution to bloat it up and increase the weight.....resulting in something the size of a pigeon breast when it's cooked!

I'm curious to know why you would only buy from the counter, as opposed to prepack?