Sainsburys beef mince...

[Georgyporky]

.... the new vacuum packaging is awful. The meat is reduced to a sludge that is difficult to break up when cooking.
I got a refund, & Customer Services said they'd had a lot of complaints.
I suggest we all boycott it.
More info here :-
Sainsbury's defends vac-pack mince after complaints - BBC News

I think it's great and have written to them to say so.

I didn't understand why there were so many threads about this until I got my last Sainsbury's delivery! Very strange, it's like paste.

It was easier to make burgers with, though - pick up and handful & slap it in the pan, it's already squashed together. Doesn't make any difference to the flavour, so I don't mind it. Uses a bit less plastic. But it does look weird, YANBU.

I used some the other day and it was fine. I can't see a problem.

They are including a leaflet about it with the shopping. Used it for chilli and it was just the same.

It's awful, the texture is all wrong and I found it hard to cook in a frying pan as it doesn't break down like normal mince. That's after struggling to open the pack. We'll not be buying any more from Sainsbury. Glad to see lots of others hate it too!

Is it like the Hello Fresh mince? That's really dense and seems ground rather than minced. It's really hard to break up!

Not seen this but I get the stuff with the higher fat content. Wonder if that makes a difference?

I used it to make Bolognese last week and didn't notice much of a difference breaking it up when browning- maybe slightly more effort.

I was put off that it’s a bit browner in the new packaging but found it fine to cook with. We have the 3% if that makes a difference. It’s now very similar to how Hello Fresh mince is packaged. I’m all for saving more packaging.

I've had some. Its fine. Might have to take a bit more time to break it down but if it uses less packaging hopefully other retailers will follow and help reduce packaging generally. But of a Daily Mail campaign around the mince today I think.

The look is enough to put me off. I definitely won't be buying that.

I have no issue with it. Food tasted the same.

I’ve used it. It’s fine.

The uproar it has created demonstrates exactly why the planet is fucked. Even the smallest change to people’s norms, in this case to reduce excessive plastic waste, demonstrates that people don’t realise or aren’t interested in changing anything that has even the tiniest impact on their lives.

Reading how some posters on here cook, the exact texture of the mince used is really not the worst of problems. Most of the chilli con carne/ spaghetti bolognese/ shepherd's pie recipes are so depressing.

I had this delivered and put it in the freezer. Defrosted and used yesterday. Agree I felt doubtful about it but was reassured by the message on the packet saying it was the same as before. I put it in the pan with onions etc to brown and it seemed okay. Half is awaiting us today in the fridge. Would prefer the look of the usual packaging and was only concerned that the “tight” vacuum fitting could cause some leakage of plastic into the meat.

I'm autistic so I don't cope well with change. I also have serious food issues as a result which means if it doesn't look the way it 'should' I am not eating it.

A significant change will be made though as I am likely to use a butcher over Sainsbury's for mince, which means even less plastic waste.

Maybe if the stores haven't all closed their meat counters...

If you use a mince masher (which we did before anyway) it breaks up easily enough. I'm really pleased about the reduction in plastic waste (we couldn't recycle the old style containers).

This is how farmers pack their meat with no issue. So is it just shit meat?

won't be buying this again. There might be other ways to make this plastic packaging more sustainable? Is vacuuming the only answer?

Waitrose don't use plastic trays for their mince.. it's just in a plastic wrapper, not vacuum packed.

I agree, although first time I saw it (with hello fresh) I was a bit not sure, but its still the same thing in less packaging

I thought it looked awful and because of that, I wouldn't buy it.

However, I stopped buying supermarket meat some years ago and have cultivated my local butcher ever since. The difference in quality is noticeable.

It's disgusting.
I got it last week for lasagne and it was impossible to break and didn't cook properly as of large chunks.

I've used it. It's fine. I always use Stainless Steel Coil Whisk Beater like this to break mince whilst frying it

Honestly, the fuss! It's the same meat in different packaging. How can people get in such a tizz about it?