Value meat vs normal meat

[HumptyDumpty2]

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between Value meat and the normal meat? I know it prob has more water in but is there any other change?

Also does anyone know what meat without the red tractor symbol means?

Tia!

AFAIK value as in tesco the livestock isnt kept in RSPCA standard environments.. Sainsbos basic is RSPCA standards but im not sure tesco is. I think the tractor relates to British based produce (and so livestock raised to British enforcements)

Oh and value meat of all kinds os said to
Be pumped full of antibiotics and water but thats inly what ive heard on the tv!

Value stuff will have more water, as you say. The animals from whom the meat came will not have been as well cared-for (cattle and pigs reared indoors, for example, rather than outdoors where they can act more naturally) and, in the case of beef, won't have "hung" for as long.

I once bought tesco value bacon pieces for a dried pea & ham soup recipe I have done 100's of time before & the soup somehow fermented or something and started giving off this really odd sulphurous smell. it was revolting & i will never buy cheap meat ever ever again... we now eat veggie for at least half our meals instead!

Rahter than value meat, I'd use cheaper cuts Yes they take care and time, but they are delish.

Thank you

I've always been wary of buying it, I heard something about hormone injections too but after seeing the red tractor on morrison's savers meat I wondered what the difference was.

I'll stick to normal! Although I should really find a butcher...

I bought some value meat recently on a 'feed your family for a fiver' type kick; the bacon was grey, watery and flabby (like cutting wet cardboard), the chicken was very pale and bloodless, the mince was 25% fat according to the pack (I usually buy the extra lean which is 5% fat, so I fried the mince and then strained off the fat) and the sausages were beyond disgusting - like pale pink paste. So I've concluded I'm very lucky not to have to buy value meat and think if I really was sticking to a fiver per night I'd use more pulses/veg/carbs, and just buy half as much good quality meat.

I try to use cheaper cuts when possible, was just curious why one was so much cheaper

Oh my goodness that bacon story has definitely put me off even thinking about it!!!!!!!

I use value bacon and its absolutely fine!

Cheap mince is a bit yuk as theres more fat in it.

Agree with whoever said buy cheaper cuts that need longer cooking but are very tasty.

Oh and look for reduced packs, ive got lots in my freezer that are worth much more than I got them for.

Sometimes they put 'Value' brand on things like Stewing Steak which are perfectly fine but are cheaper cuts to start with. Value chicken, by contrast, is from overseas where the standards are lower than the UK, pumped full of water and generally horrible

Cheap cuts is different from 'value' branded stuff. I love cheap cuts but always buy British meat, ideally outdoor reared if pork and free range if chicken, which value branded meat won't be.

I find it's not really cost effective to buy value meat. It may be cheaper, but it cooks down so much that it would actually probably work out cheaper to buy non value. I have used value mince in the past and had to drain so much fat off, compared to hardly any from the non value mince.

Thanks for the comments mumsnet can be so useful!

If you are buying cheap bacon - stick with British, we have higher minimum welfare standards for the pigs than the rest of Europe and it really does make a difference. Pig's in the UK are not reared in cages like the rest of Europe, this makes British pork products more expensive but oh so worth it.

My general strategy when it comes to meat is to buy good stuff but eat a lot less of it rather than buy rubbish meat and eat it daily. We go veggie several days per week so we can enjoy decent meat on the others.

Polish pork

Vile. Please don't buy cheap meat if you have any kind of conscience.

to that link, poor animals. I'm glad we don't buy cheap meat!

Also, if you are bothered about chemicals then remember that cheap bacon and sausages are often dyed pink in cheap processes. The stuff we get from our butcher varies between pink, grey and greenish, as the colour produced by the curing process is shown!

However, if you don't have a local, reasonable butcher near you then it is hard.

Thanks - I didn't know that about the bacon and sausages, DH buys cheap bacon because he has it so much but I will start getting better bacon! I can't do cheap sausages, the texture makes me gip!

I'm looking for a butcher, the one near us doesn't sell cheap cuts of meat for some strange reason, so I'm still looking for a trusted one near

where are you humpty?

Leeds, not too far from city centre

Don't know leeds very well but there are a few butchers in the towns around it. Have you tried farmers choice?

No..what is it?