Supermarket stupidity ...

[SerendipityJane]

So to lift the mood from Brexiteers dying of Coronavirus or whatever this weeks doomsaying is about, just thought I'd leave a silent scream here about a couple of annoyances from yesterday ...

Looking for a piece (well 2 actually) or braising steak. Asked at meat counter, and was shown a tray of diced steak. Had they got any undiced. No. They'd diced it all up - and then looked put out when I walked away empty handed ...

..to the bakery counter. Where I wanted a larger unsliced loaf. None on display. Asked for one. Oh no, they'd sliced them all up and put them out. Again, customer being always right, I left empty handed there too.

(I wonder when they'll start opening tins and packers "for convenience" ?)

I decided not to name the supermarket to see if others mention it, or whether they are all like that

I would say Tescos, my local one has done away with the butcher and fish monger which is a bugger as I prefer to get the weight I want , not what is in a pack esp the deli meat .

@crustycrab Sometimes it's nice to have thick slices and sometimes thin, so it's better to get a loaf you can slice at will. Hunks of bread are nice too.

This was Sainsburys

I agree Morrisons has probably the best range of meats in a supermarket, (but I'm loathe to shop there since they refurbished our local store making it inaccessible for a friend in a wheelchair).

And despite an exciting year trawling every baker for miles, the only source of anything remotely close to the multiseeded loaf is ... Sainsburys. Which they usually put out unsliced which is how I buy it.

Oh well, we have a freezer, and (touch wood) ASDA definitely do braising steak steak on a 3-4-£10 offer. So that's a walk in the woods (literally - I walk through a woods to get to our local ASDA) later this week.

Why unsliced over the same loaf sliced OP?
Do you slice the unsliced loaf in a particular way? Rip chunks off it? Hollow it out and fill it with soup or some such nonsense? Does it stay fresher for longer?
I want to know.

Why unsliced over the same loaf sliced OP?

Why not ? I like my slices that bit thicker for a start, and for a finish the rest of the loaf keeps longer, rather than ending up with a load of stale slices.

They actually bake the blessed thing on site and normally put them out whole. Only Saturday there must have been someone new in who decided that Unique Selling Points aren't really a thing these days.

I'll be dead in a few years, and spent too long being happy . There are loads of huge issues that I will never be able to fix, like climate change, or the England football team. So I'm devoting the autumn of my life to getting the smaller but more possible things the way I like them. And that includes bread and slices of dead cow.

What time did you go, OP?

Sainsbury’s have always had a blanket policy of slicing any unsold unsliced loaves in the late afternoon. Or at least since I worked there at 18! I hate it because I prefer to slice my own, but sliced loaves do sell faster, and if they don’t sell out, the sliced loaves can be collected by charities and used to feed other places (zoos, homeless charities, etc). For some reason, unsliced loaves are never taken by those places.

No idea on the braiding steak though!

Our Morrisons is awful. I usually go mid-morning - the bakery shelves are usually pretty sparse with short dated bread, rolls, etc, usually same day dates which is useless for me because I want a few days life.

Many times, I've wanted something, such as hot cross buns or scones, and can clearly see them stacked in the full trolleys behind the counter, but they deny having any fresh ones and just point to the shelves of the short dated.

Obviously, they're holding back the longer dated ones to sell the short dated, but it backfires, because I just walk away empty handed, so they lose a sale.

I saw Sainsbury on their TV documentary doing the same - they'd stacked high on lamb for Easter, but it turned into a warm day, so they were selling BBQ stuff not lamb, so they took away all the longer dated stock to try to shift the shorter dated lamb.

I fully understand the idea behind it, but if someone wants a bakery or meat product with a few days of shelf life, they're not going to buy something with just a day are they?

Sainsbury’s have always had a blanket policy of slicing any unsold unsliced loaves in the late afternoon. Or at least since I worked there at 18! I hate it because I prefer to slice my own, but sliced loaves do sell faster, and if they don’t sell out, the sliced loaves can be collected by charities and used to feed other places (zoos, homeless charities, etc). For some reason, unsliced loaves are never taken by those places.

It makes no sense to do it so early, when they have a few hours of trading left. Why not do it an hour before closing? Surely if a customer wants a sliced loaf, the staff can just slice one to order? Don't understand the logic of doing it so early in the day.

What time did you go, OP?

between 9:50 and 10:00 - same as I have done every week (except October 5th last year) for over 2 years. If you wondered whether I am the sort of person to keep all the receipts, you might feel a bit closer to the answer now

No idea on the braiding steak though!

Actually it comes into the store diced. I ferreted that out when I asked what time I would have to get there before they diced it all, and was told there was no point.

As an aside, when I paid, the little voucher machine spat out a voucher telling me that in 2019, I was that stores second biggest purchaser of oat milk. Just in case you thought you weren't being spied on by your nectar card.

Why unsliced over the same loaf sliced OP?
Sliced bread is always sliced too thin for me.

You want slices that are even thicker than the thick ready sliced? They are almost an inch thick and I would shop anywhere to avoid bread that thick.

(Bread maker is the answer, with a packet mix if you are short of time).

I had a bread maker once but the bread just sort of steamed rather than baking properly. It was too damp to toast.

I very rarely buy supermarket bread, so don't know how thick thick ready sliced is. Bakery sliced bread and prepacked 'artisan' stuff from organic supermarkets is always too thin.

(Bread maker is the answer, with a packet mix if you are short of time).

For a loaf a week ?

Anyway this is a unique loaf - and it's coated in seeds, so no so easy for a breadmaker. You'd need to stop the programme after rising and before baking to roll the seeds over it.

I had a bread maker once but the bread just sort of steamed rather than baking properly. It was too damp to toast.

You won't get a domestic over hot enough. One thing travelling teaches you.

You won't get a domestic over hot enough. Yes, I learned that from the breadmaker that subsequently spent years gathering dust in a cupboard...

It was too damp to toast.

I just toast it for longer.

Yeah, well, that sounds like a solution, Soup, but in reality it just didn't work. Really put me off breadmakers, although it was over 15 years ago and I do sometimes wonder if they've improved since.

Oh I see what the funny voucher telling me I was no 5 at buying something was about - one has to wonder why the still stock it as I thought I only had it once in a blue moon

Really put me off breadmakers, although it was over 15 years ago and I do sometimes wonder if they've improved since.

from friends who have them: No.

Depends what you like in bread though. If your view the pinnacle of the bakers art is a Mothers Pride bod standard white sandwich loaf, you are probably going to be overjoyed with a breadmaker.

If you like dabbling in various types of bread from around the world, as I used to when younger, you'd need a proper oven. And an exercise regime to match. Since I have zero intention of addressing the latter issue, the former will have to wait, and I'll enjoy my loaf-a-week .

I was fascinated a while back to be following a van that belonged to a business that installs proper stone-built pizza ovens. In the Midlands. Who'd have thought it ?

Feeling a bit silly for buying non sliced loaves now - such an easy obvious time saver when you think of it

in reality it just didn't work

Does with my breadmaker bread. Although, to be honest, it's the same with all fresh bread.

The banana bread I make takes longer to toast but that is definitely more moist. The cinnamon and raisin bread I had toasted this morning didn't take much longer at all.

Bread - people poking, squeezing and sniffing the loafs. They should be taken out and hosed down with detol (the people not the loaves).

Oh Soup, I CBA arguing about bread with you Your breadmaker bread toasts well. Good. I'm pleased for you. Mine didn't. There we are.

SerendipityJane, thanks for the insight! I like seedy, grainy breads. Guess I'll carry on with shop-bought. I am lucky enough to have some good bakeries and organic supermarkets near me.

I much prefer fresh bread unsliced. Pre-sliced is always too thin, doorsteps with far too much butter is the way to go, especially with soup. I also prefer undiced beef, so I can trim the fat off properly. Pre-diced always has too many fatty bits.

IntermittentParps, it's called having a different experience 🙄 Calm down. Maybe have some toast...

I also prefer undiced beef, so I can trim the fat off properly. Pre-diced always has too many fatty bits.

The best bit about braising steak is the fat ! Done properly you have this melt in the mouth experience that is divine.

But them I'm of an age when pork chops came with kidney which was the best bit