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Price of meat.....and butcher's ethics

AJB Temple

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Adrian
We recently bought a 5 bone, rib of beef. 100% grass fed (PFL certified), organic and 35 day aged. Local farm. High welfare. Almost wagyu quality. Retail this is £240 ish (not what we pay). I had a beer next door with the butcher on Friday and, as it happens the farmer who supplies the beef. Retail price for prime grass fed rib from a small top quality butcher who knows his stuff, is around £35 a kilo.

The farmer said that it is becoming very difficult to compete with imports of beef and pork from the EU and fringe states. He gave an example of another butcher I know who operates out of garden centres and a warehouse. They are currently selling fore rib of beef for £17.95 a kilo retail and will discount that to trade by at least 20%. They also claim it is grass fed but there is no certification of that and is sold as "British finished" meat because the carcass is processed in Kent, which is allowed apparently as long as it is labelled (in minute print) as not GB reared. Our farmers and meat producers are bound to struggle as the tide of farm-washing by the wholesalers and retailers takes over.

Maybe it doesn't matter and price is everything.
 
Does the UK government have a tight control of what is crossing your border or if the paper work is correct let it through?
Is the farmers target market local butchers, restaurants ,etc.?
Most beef and dairy farmers here that have a small herd say 50 to 100 head need to work elsewhere to survive.
 
We really do need a level playing field for our farmers.
Nothing should be imported unless there is documented evidence that the animals are reared to the same legal standards that our farmers are obliged to conform to.
We tend to use supermarket meat but only that carrying the British meat logo.
Previously we only used a specific butcher, but he got caught by trading standards mislabelling origins.
 
If I go to a meat or fish supplier I always ask everything about their produce until I trust them. The genuine ones are proud of their knowledge. My main butcher is super proud of his meat and he will know everything about it. A LOT of meat is imported and many of the supermarkets farmwash with pretend UK sounding farm brands when the actual produce is imported and farms are imaginary. Lidl and Aldi do it a great deal, but also Sainsburys, Tesco and the others. This is a disgrace I think.

We are torn over it business wise. For example, I've tried blind taste tests with super high welfare free range eggs vs cheapest from AldiLidl. I can tell in a light fluffy omelette, but any other way I can't discern a taste difference. There is at least a three times price difference.

Lidlaldi pork joints are less than a third of the price of British rare breed, free range organic. If we are serving a crackling rolled pork joint, then sure there is a difference. But for pulled pork...it's just about impossible to tell in terms of taste or texture.
 
Surprised about the eggs Adrian, our own free range eggs have a yolk colour that is vastly different colour than anything from the supermarket. When we gave some to a neighbour she even remarked that her quiches had never been so yellow.
 
Lidl state fresh chicken and beef is from U.K. farmers ( no claims for pork or lamb unless specified) as you say “finished “ is going to be a con, isn’t it?
Sainsbury’s says their pork is U.K.
 
Surprised about the eggs Adrian, our own free range eggs have a yolk colour that is vastly different colour than anything from the supermarket. When we gave some to a neighbour she even remarked that her quiches had never been so yellow.
I agree there is a significant colour difference, especially if corn fed. However, try doing a blind taste test. I used the 4 eggs, cooked identically, method, blindfold, spin the plate take one away and taste the rest. I did this at a cooking class and no one could tell, including the old lady who I get my eggs from when I can. I make a shed load of bearnaise and hollandaise, and the conclusion has to be that using expensive eggs (and for that matter expensive butter) is a pointless waste of money.
 
Lidl state fresh chicken and beef is from U.K. farmers ( no claims for pork or lamb unless specified) as you say “finished “ is going to be a con, isn’t it?
Sainsbury’s says their pork is U.K.
Yes. I agree that is what they state :whistle:. I actually buy the 10 packs of chicken breasts from Lidl or Aldi and use them for casserole dishes as they are about half the price of Waitrose. I also buy their farmwashed pork occasionally - the last time was when I first started making sausages and needed to practice on something, so I used Lidl loin joint and packs of their pork belly (from which they remove the skin for some reason). The pork quality is fine but is hopeless for making crackling, even if I dehydrate for a day or two first.

So I'm clearly hypocritical to a degree. But if I serve someone a roast chicken, then it will be either from my neighbour or from my butcher. Interestingly he says that he can no longer get good quality free range chicken locally. He buys Sutton Hoo mainly and from another farm I forget the name of in Essex. He charges £12 kg for his whole chickens. Uses the same meat for his prepared meats (and either I or the Poet Inn get the chicken carcasses for stock. They usually get in first as they are only 300 yards away.
 
Yes. I agree that is what they state :whistle:. I actually buy the 10 packs of chicken breasts from Lidl or Aldi and use them for casserole dishes as they are about half the price of Waitrose. I also buy their farmwashed pork occasionally - the last time was when I first started making sausages and needed to practice on something, so I used Lidl loin joint and packs of their pork belly (from which they remove the skin for some reason). The pork quality is fine but is hopeless for making crackling, even if I dehydrate for a day or two first.

So I'm clearly hypocritical to a degree. But if I serve someone a roast chicken, then it will be either from my neighbour or from my butcher. Interestingly he says that he can no longer get good quality free range chicken locally. He buys Sutton Hoo mainly and from another farm I forget the name of in Essex. He charges £12 kg for his whole chickens. Uses the same meat for his prepared meats (and either I or the Poet Inn get the chicken carcasses for stock. They usually get in first as they are only 300 yards away.
Re pork crackling, we get our belly pork joints (not strips) from Lidl, and we find the quality very good. Roasting it in the oven has always been very variable, with about a 40% success rate. We have tried everything - leaving it in the fridge to dehydrate, pouring boiling water over it, smearing it with oil and salt, all to no avail. Until we got an air fryer. Now I cut the rind from the joint, sprinkle with salt, and cook it in the fryer for about 30 minutes at 200C. Never had a failure yet. Lovely dry crackling with no leathery bits. We did try to cook the joint itself in the fryer but it dried out - much better to cook for longer in the oven.
 
^^ I agree. It always works if the crackling is cooked separately, and can be done in the oven at the same time as the pork. No air fryer needed. We don't have an air fryer because I am always doing quite large quantities, but I would try your method if I did have one.

But.....leaving the skin on helps to baste the meat. If I do this with a premium joint of rare breed pig, where the meat has not sat in plastic for weeks in an industrial chiller, then the crackling will cook perfectly on the joint and be much better for guest presentation.
 
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