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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To b shocked by the price of meat a tthe butchers?

116 replies

LyraSilvertongue · 06/02/2008 16:28

I bought:

Two sirloin steaks

Two (individual) chicken and mushroom pies

Eight thin slices of salami.

It came to more than £19.

And they wonder why people go to supermarkets for their meat. I'd love to buy good quality meat all the time but at that price we'd hardly ever eat it.

OP posts:
Original poster
LyraSilvertongue · 06/02/2008 17:35

It's not that it should be cheap, it's that is is cheap in the supermarkets and more than double the price in a butchers. That's what shocked me.

OP posts:
Original poster
LyraSilvertongue · 06/02/2008 17:40

It does seem that as supermarket meat has got cheaper, meat from butchers has rocketed in price.
My mum always bought our family's meat from the butcher's when I was growing up. I doubt she cpuld have done this at today's prices. We weren't poor but we were far from rich.

OP posts:
MarmiteMe · 06/02/2008 17:41

Chrikey, that's a lot.
The butcher in my town charges similar prices which is why Tesco is my best friend.

pointydog · 06/02/2008 17:54

people used to buy cheap cuts of meat, which you can still buy, and cook it in recipes that would make it reasonably tender. That's how it was more affordable.

cornsilk · 06/02/2008 17:54

Since I've started buying from the butchers instead of the supermarket we eat less meat, which is probably better for us anyway.
( Dh still returns from Tescos with big packs of cheap meat when he gets the chance though)

jo25 · 06/02/2008 18:14

That does seem alot, We don't go to any supermarkets and i buy our meat for the month from local butchers There are 3 of us and we probably eat meat 2-3 times a week and our butchers bill is around £50 per month. I have to say though that our greengrocers bill is around £25 a month and milk is £24 a month and we still save around £175 a month on supermarket bills, if not more.

2shoes · 06/02/2008 18:54

we pay about £40 for 4 joints and various other bits of meat like mince a month. it comes from a freind who's brother is a butcher. and it is sooooooo much better than supermarket meat.

Lizzylou · 06/02/2008 18:57

We buy our meat from the local butchers, they are also local farmers and we see their sheep and cows in the fields around our house, so we know how free range the meat is.

The meat is fab, we know where it comes from BUT, it is very expensive and means we are mainly vegetarian!

Having a conscience is very expensive (at least it tastes good tho!).

Lizzylou · 06/02/2008 19:00

Last time I bought meat from local butchers(at the weekend) I bought a 4lb chicken and 2 rump steaks (roll on payday for the fillet steaks) and that came to £12.50.

soontobealone · 06/02/2008 19:10

how can you tell if it's a good or bad butcher?

cornsilk · 06/02/2008 19:11

You can tell it's good by the taste of the meat.

MsSparkle · 06/02/2008 19:18

I don't like it when some people moan about paying for quality meat at the butchers but will quite happily spend £10 for one meal (for the family) at McDonalds or KFC etc.

If say you spent £8 on a good quality chicken plus about £2 for the veg, that's £10 for a roast for one meal. Plus you might have some chicken left to do something else with. £10 and you've fed your family with a good meal.

The price you pay for quality meat is a fair one compared to what you pay at fast food places and for what your actually getting.

tjacksonpfc · 06/02/2008 19:21

we buy a family pack from our butcher whoch consists of 4 big pork chops 8 lamb chops 4 burgers 2lb mince a 3lb chicken 2lb chipolata sausages for £14 and it is worth every penny much rather buy from him than tesco.

cazboldy · 06/02/2008 19:21

also supermarket meat has a lot of added water and other nasties! yuk!

IndigoMoon · 06/02/2008 19:21

i always get our meat from the local butchers but his prices are good.

today i got

three chicken breasts (one will feed me, dh, dd (4) ds (1) but we have a friend coming tomorrow

8 sausages

6 rashers of back bacon

a joint of gammon

came to £11.97

Original poster
LyraSilvertongue · 06/02/2008 19:21

tjackson, that's actually good value and I'd happily pay that for so much meat.

OP posts:
cazboldy · 06/02/2008 19:22

tjacksonpfc - that sounds like a good bargain

Original poster
LyraSilvertongue · 06/02/2008 19:23

Maybe i need to find a less outrageously priced butcher. But the expensive one is just round the corner...

OP posts:
MsHighwater · 06/02/2008 19:33

I will now only buy meat from the supermarket if I'm stuck. The price at the butcher is, for many things, a bit more expensive but I consider it more than worth it for the improvement in quality.

Also, as far as value for money goes, think of this. You can buy 3 steaks at the butcher where the supermarket might only have packs of 4. Same goes for sausages, bacon, chicken breasts, etc. You can buy just what you want and what you know you will use. You can even ask for pieces of meat just the size you want (so you can get a small one for the dc, for example).That means less wastage.

I recently bought haddock from the supermarket (cos I was stuck and the fish shop wasn't open). All the packs were identical in weight so that they were identical in price. This meant a real hotch potch of bits of fish that were difficult to distribute sensibly once cooked. The skin was left on, too, which I hate. The following week, I bought haddock from the fish shop. I was able to choose which fillets I bought, took it home in less packaging and ate it with no skin to contend with and the flavour was much, much better.

It really is worth getting used to eating (and paying for) better quality food.

MsHighwater · 06/02/2008 19:36

Just seen this.

If that's what supermarkets are doing, I just don't want to be any part of it. We really do need to rethink our assumption that food should be cheap!

Original poster
LyraSilvertongue · 06/02/2008 22:05

So I am being unreasonable then?

OP posts:
MsHighwater · 06/02/2008 22:38

I wouldn't say that. It's bound to be shocking when you are reminded of the cost of good quality food. Supermarkets are good at seducing us into believing that they offer more choice and better quality when it isn't really the case.

If you can, why not look around at other butchers and consider farm shops and farmer's markets if there are any near you. You might find more palatable prices without having to sacrifice quality. Look at other cuts of meat and ask for advice from the butcher about how to prepare them.

Happy shopping.

pooka · 06/02/2008 22:42

Oh I bought some lovely lovely beef shin for a stew to feed probably 8 people (was cooking in bulk to freeze) and it cost £3.20. Cooked the stew for about 5 hours on a very low heat and it was delicious - really beautifully tender.

Scramble · 06/02/2008 22:49

Now that I have a grip on my budget and my menu planning I know how much I can spend and I want to spend more on good quality food.

I think for to long we have been under valuing food and expecting to pay pennies for our meat and other food. OK some places are overpriced, but agree shop around and choose your cuts and portion sizes carefully.

I need to get back to real food!

BigBadMouse · 06/02/2008 23:06

We only buy our meat from the local butcher as there is much more choice and what is there is always good quality (decent marbling in the meat etc). They will cut it how I like and let me pick and choose as I wish.

For four of us we spend no more than £60 a month on meat from our butchers (DH and DD2 eat a lot!). We have cut down on the amount of meat we eat and feel a lot better for it (which surprised me as I thought we wouldn't feel better - just more hungry). We also bulk out meat meals with pulses etc and actually find there is more taste to the food as a result.

We gave up on supermarket meat a long time ago - got fed up paying £4.50 for a joint of meat with no taste when we could get a lovely flavour from the butcher's alternative at £5 (plus far better service).

I think some butchers are over-priced, once you find the right one for you I think you avoid supermarket meat as much as possible as see it for the poor value it really is.