Sainsbury's vacuum packed mince.

[Toddlerteaplease]

Omg what the hell were they thinking.
Just tried making bolognaise with it. It's direct separate in the same way, and is just big lumps. 😬

Lidl have started doing this too, and I hate it. I only tend to buy mince to make a chilli con with, and the texture is just wrong now.

I've found it the same... except for the most recent pack! My ragu sauce for my lasagne wasn't what it should have been. Bits of it did lump together.

It's gross

Not noticed an issue at all and even if there was one- less plastic to help a burning planet V breaking up mince with a spoon. I despair!

Grim. I've stopped buying it.

But it much harder to break up for people with hand/wrist issues, it doesn't break down into the same texture either

The pack of mince I buy once or twice a month is a drop in the ocean - I would take my own container but there's no local butcher now and even if there was it is more expensive

It just feels a bit like they've said "this reduces plastic, you've no choice, it's better for the environment" while everyone is still off flying without a care..

But it is still in plastic, @Marscapn3 - and it doesn't look like a lot less plastic either. And it ruins the texture of the meat, which is also wasteful of the planet's resources, if people can't eat it.

Also people with hand and wrist issues and other disabilities that make using this mince harder do exist and it is a bit ableist to dismiss their struggles so glibly.

It's more non-recyclable single use plastic than before.

“Sainsbury's has announced it is swapping traditional, plastic tray packaging for a new vacuum-packed alternative across its beef mince range, saving 450 tonnes of plastic annually. A supermarket-first, the new packaging will result in a minimum 55% reduction in plastic per product.“

It is far better to reduce plastic in the first place then making a big carbon footprint from collecting and recycling plastic.

Well - I suppose it is saving Sainsbury’s plastic as customers who think the mince now tastes vile and like cotton wool, buy elsewhere.

And who cares about people with disabilities who can’t use it, eh?

I scrunched up my receipt the other day, chucked it in the bag out of habit, then couldn't find it amongst all the food. Then was trapped like a felon inside the basket checkout area while my DS (4) ducked under the barrier and ran out of the shop.

Thanks Sainsbury's, you dicks!

It isn’t going to impact taste. It’s the same mince just in a different packaging. If you can’t break up mince how are you cooking at all? Stirring sauce, lifting pasta saucepans, chopping, grating cheese…

I just rammed the gate and let the alarm go off but I Def won't be back

I have tried it, @Marscapn3, and it did not taste anything like the same mince in the previous packaging, which we had used happily for years. And the texture was nasty too - like cotton wool. It is a vastly inferior product now.

And I was referring to other posters’ difficulties cooking with this mince - are you going to sneer at their problems too?

Is it ground beef as opposed to minced beef? I’m used to ground beef because we bought our food in US military commissary’s for years.

This is what we use now to break it up.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/GoodCook-Profreshionals-Meat-Chopper/1633079107?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=3582&gclsrc=aw.ds&adid=222222222771633079107_117755028669_12420145346&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=501107745824&wl4=pla-394283752452&wl5=9029029&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=1633079107&veh=sem_LIA&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADmfBIpySin9TzA8Asm5UdiZ02--t&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoeCohpiLhwMVyw-tBh2VZw1pEAQYBCABEgJdwfD_BwE

Not sneering asking questions which are perfectly reasonable. How can mince be like cotton wool?😳

It’s the only way I can describe the texture, @Marscapn3 - it is as if the meat lost all substance, but was just a mass of soft fibres with no taste. That is how it felt in my mouth, and it is not an experience I am willing to repeat.

As someone who struggles with some day to day activities (thanks, long covid), I am afraid that your question about how people who can’t break up this mince do any cooking at all, did seem pretty sneery - apologies if that is not how you intended it to come across. People may already be using preprepared ingredients like chopped onions and grated cheese, so they can still produce a home cooked meal for their family, because that means they can cope with cooking the mince - until Sainsbury’s change the packaging and ramp up the difficulty for them.

sainsburys vacuum packed mince is disgusting its wet and slimy. Couldn’t bare to look at it so threw it away put me off mince for a while till I tried the M&S brand…there was huge comparison was delicious

Co-op mince is vacuum packed now too.

I buy Quorn now.

God I loathe it. It’s made me so unreasonably angry. I am only slightly exaggerating when I say it was the worst thing that happened to me last year. I really hope they lose market share to Tesco.

Classic example of companies ignoring what their customers want.

A truly disgusting product. Come on Sainsbury's listen to your customers.

It's shit.

I buy my meat from Morrisons now, it's always very nice and the mince isn't vacuum packed.

Between all their product changes and treating customers like we're all shoplifters, Sainsburys seem intent on driving people away

Stopped buying it straight away. Just buy frozen now.

I get my mince from Tesco now.