To boycott Sainsbury’s for their mince packaging!!

Aldi do the same and I like it.

Got it once and never again. Utterly vile and went straight in the bin as looking at it made me feel sick. M and S or the local butcher for us now

It absolutely enrages me. I have literally stopped buying Sainsbury’s mince for this reason alone.

I really dont understand the justification. It’s widely loathed and it can’t make much difference to the sustainability profile.

I buy Taste the Difference mince from Sainsbury's, can't say I've had a problem with the changed packaging, the mince breaks up fine.

Used ASDA mince for the first time in my spaghetti bolognese last night. Firm family favourite usually but kids and DH all said it was mushy and I still have some left which is unheard of so won't buy vacuum packed mince again.

I moan about this endlessly but what really pisses me off is Aldi don't do frozen mince and there is no way you can freeze this sort of stuff and make it easily usable without spending time chopping it up and rewrapping before freezing it.

Mince is an absolute staple of many dishes so why they don't do it is a mystery to me.

They used to then stopped. And of course they kept a load of other frozen bulk meats like prawns that I don't use.

It doesn't do them any favours because I means I go to Morrisons more and Aldi lose business.

Same

It cooks perfectly fine. I hate mince dishes with 'stringy' mince. Before the stringy came out - mince was actually minced.

I hate it and won’t buy it. It doesn’t cook properly.

That's a good spot, I'll keep an eye out.

Might even see if my mum still has her old fashioned meat mincer.

Apart from not finding any major difference (see my pp) I will continue to buy vacuum-packed meat because it has a much longer shelf life. In the fridge, vacuum-sealed mince can stay fresh for up to two weeks, compared to just 3–5 days for conventionally packaged meat. When frozen, it can last for a year or more, whereas regular packaged mince typically keeps for only 3–4 months. Great for cutting down waste and also great for when I buy online from Sainsburys as I do not need to worry about use by dates!

The exact point I was going to make

I don't buy my mince in Sainsbury's because of this. I cannot stand looking at the mince vacuum packed like that- it puts me off cooking it and wanting to eat it.

Sainsbury's and any other supermarket that vacuum packs its mince need to listen to their customers on this issue.

I either buy my mince from the butcher or Ocado.

Not unreasonable I only shop at Morrisons to avoid this now. I’ve also noticed Sainsbury’s is a very over priced supermarket considering the food isn’t even that great

@daydi its definitely not just you! From the day they changed it a good while ago, the outrage was was deafening but looks like Sainsbury’s are holding firm. I remember doing a double take when I first saw it as it looked unappealing to begin with n the new packaging. Getting into it is messier and harder and then it just falls with a heavy clump into the middle of your pan splashing fat everywhere and then it’s a race against the clock to break up the densely compacted meat. Takes the fun out of cooking as well - I have a shoulder impingement and so now even more it’s much harder for me to break down and get it evenly cooking quickly. The only other convenient nearby supermarket is Asda and they’ve adopted the same for their basic mince also so looks like I’m stuck with it unfortunately.

I’ve been sending dh to the farm shop of late which is the same price (for the more expensive supermarket mince I buy) less water in it too

So do I. It comes out just like a massive burger and really hard to break up.
I won't go anywhere else though as I have a discount card for Sainsburys.

YANBU
I shop in Lidl, and they have switched to mince paste vacuum packed too. It costs more, but I now get my mince from Tesco.

Or as the late great Sean Lock called it, the 'meat nappy'.

OP YANBU. Have switched to morrisons.

I buy it in M and S now. The Sainsbury’s stuff is now vile.

I always fry the mince off first. It still turns out like mush because you have to bash it about so much in the pan. It has a really weird texture however you cook it.

My last pack of Asda mince was vacuum packed. It has a really weird texture when its cooked.

It's to reduce packaging and waste, so it's a bit 'damned if we do, damned if we don't.

Ah but it isn't. Its to reduce plastic packaging tax. They replaced recyclable plastic trays, with non recyclable film, because its reduces the tax. But the film/soft vacuum packaging is not recyclable.... do it is more waste. Its just about profit/tax.

I totally agree! You just have to cook the meat first. I usually fry the block of mince on its own — with just a tiny amount of oil — because the heat from the pan helps break it up really easily and quickly. Then, in another pan, I cook the veg (onions, carrots, celery, etc.) and either add the cooked mince back into the pan with the veg or mix the veg into the meat.
I made a Bolognese sauce the other day using this method, and my mum (Italian Nonna!) said it tasted as good as hers.
By the way, here’s a tip: add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda to the meat while it’s cooking — it helps tenderise it and break the mince down even more quickly.