Supermarket meat moan

[hendopig]

Moan coming up!

Either something's changed or I've suddenly become a food snob?

I shop in Sainsburys normally and noticed a few months ago that there was so much liquid coming out of chicken breasts when I cooked them, it really put me off.

Anyway, around that time, I walked past our butchers in town and they has 5lb of chicken breasts for £14.99. I wasn't sure if this was good value or not as I'm not very good with lbs and oz's. I bought them anyway and ended up with 10 big, thick skinless chicken breasts (worked it out after, just after 2kg.)

They were pretty clean and didn't need much prep, I was also pleased that they came out of the oven the same size they went in; very little liquid had come out. Also, they still had the mini fillet attached which supermarkets now sell separately. I now buy all my chicken breasts in the butchers.

I'd love to buy all my meat in the butchers but I've got a couple of factors that stop me.

1: my freezer is full and you don't tend to get use by dates in butchers - everything says use within 2 days but I wouldn't be able to

2: my butcher is so miserable and moody! I am too worried to ask him the fat percentage in his extra lean mince! (Yes I know this is pathetic but it is what it is)

3: unless there is an offer on, you don't know how much it will cost until they've got it on the scale, by which point i would be to embarrassed to say no thank you (again, I need to man up but I find it nerve wracking)

Anyway, I got up this morning. Got my 'be good to yourself' bacon medallions out the fridge, cut the extra bits of fat off that we're still there and slapped them in my new non stick pan. This was what happened :








Lots of skanky white stuff and watery stuff. At that point I just wanted to chuck it in the bin. This has basically made me think again about the meat I eat and what happens to it during the butchering / packaging process.

Not sure where I'm going with this at the moment but just wondered if anyone has noticed what I have?

I feel like writing to sainsburys but think they're pretty sick of me complaining (i get my shopping delivered and some of the stuff they send me is awful!) my pink lady apples and nectarines last week:

















I complain to them about it because I know they can do better and shouldn't be delivering things that people won't eat.

Anyway, moan over I think!

 

[Liverbird52]

I say moan away and I a great believer in complaining, the more customers complaing eventualty they will get the message.

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[hendopig]

I say moan away and I a great believer in complaining, the more customers complaing eventualty they will get the message.

Sent from my GT-I9305 using MiniMins.com mobile app

Yes I see what you mean. I worry they think I'm making it up though to try and get money off!

 

[hendopig]

The fruit is why when I do an online shopping with any company I don't get them to pick my fruit and veg.I go and get my own they just bring the other things.

Also look at the added ingredients.I think one of them is water so you will get water from them.Also check the same when buying chicken.

Don't be afraid of your butcher even if he is miserable.If I buy from butchers I always say I would like a £5 piece of beef or £5 worth of mince.

I usually get all my meat/chicken from Sainsburys as I don't buy the cheap stuff then most times it is fine.

I think I might have to start getting my own fruit and veg. Online shopping is so convenient for me but then becomes inconvenient when I either have to take stuff back or buy extra that is manky when it arrives.

I think I definitely need to to braver with the butcher ha ha!

I had to buy some chicken in sainsburys last week for a last minute BBQ guest and where I'd normally buy either the 3 packs for £10 or 2 packs for £12 I bought free range organic. It cost me £6.57 for 2 chicken breasts though! My aunt enjoyed them very much but it pained me a bit spending that much. Still, you get what you pay for don't you. Not sure I could afford to keep that up though.

 

[SlimmingKitchen]

My hubby's friend is a butcher and gets our meat for us now. Its brilliant and the chicken and bacon is so much nicer than in the supermarkets.
The chicken breasts are huge and no white stuff comes out the bacon like on your pic.

I'd love to get more meat from him but I'm no good with weights and sizes either.

If I was you Hun I'd send a complaint about those products you were given as they are appalling. I wouldn't even feed that fruit to the Guinea pigs I used to have lol. xxx

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[Happy Holidays]

I'm a great believer in telling people if something is wrong, if you don't tell them they don't know. The way you say it also depends on the outcome you'll get.

With the butcher you could drop the fat content into conversation, say 'oh your mince looks lovely, what's the fat content?' just like you're chatting on.

 

[AnnaFaraday]

Yes I see what you mean. I worry they think I'm making it up though to try and get money off!

Who cares what they think? They are a company making money from you, not your new best friend. (tried to add a smiley in there, but not sure it worked!)

 

[AnnaFaraday]

I have never done online grocery shopping, but a friend of mine uses Ocado and says that they are brilliant. She never has to return anything or complain about anything, and she always gets what she ordered. Yes, they might be a bit more expensive but she says in the long run it it is worth it for the quality.

As far as meat is concerned, yes you do get what you pay for. I have found that cheap meat is usually cheap for a good reason, and often a false economy.

 

[hendopig]

Hi all

Thanks for the responses!

I'm biting the bullet and going to the butchers tomorrow with a mission! Wish me luck.

I keep thinking about getting Ocado, I think definitely worth a go. Sometimes I get offers from them about lower price delivery.

Watch this space!

 

[Happy Holidays]

Yay, let us know how you get on.

 

[Nanny Doreen]

Can you ring Sainsbury Customercomplaints dept?

I shop quite a lot at Tesco. I bought 2 packs of tomatoes 1kg in a pack. When I got homeI undid one of the packages and weighed what was soft and it was 750g. 3/4 of them soft. I phoned Tesco CS dept and told them. They gave me the money back which was £2. plus £5 for inconvenience. It came 2 days later on a card, like a debit card, and I could spend as much or as little off it as I wanted.

I know I may not have a lot of tomatoes left for that day, but they did given me the money for my inconveniece too.

That is not the only time I have complained but generally I don`t have a problem.

Morrisons is quite good for meat.

 

[*Emsie*]

I like the meat I get from Aldi and Lidl, chicken I'm still a bit wary of but we had a lovely chicken from Lidl last week.

 

[Maverick]

We buy our chicken from Bookers Cash & Carry. They have a proper butchery department and the chicken is amazing, real full plump breasts, no fat on them and they don't shrink at all. Can buy 18 breasts for £20, much better value than a supermarket. Only problem is that you need to be a corporate or charity to get membership. Bf acquired a card from his work but I'm hoping my boss will register so I can get a card and not need bf with me every time!

 

[hendopig]

Hi all

I don't have an Aldi or Lidl near me really. Sometimes I do pop into Lidl from time to time but it's in a place I don't really visit very often. I like their meat offers and normally end up coming home with a couple of packs of what's on offer and a load of veg. My friend at work does her shopping at Lidl and told me all of their meat is British which is good to know.

I went to a place called Malpass Markets in Brighton on Saturday and got some amazing bargains (but excellent quality). 5kgs of chicken breasts for £20. This was 22 fillets, have tried some and they don't shrink and didn't seem to leak any water / other nasties. Got a boned lamb leg for £10 and 10 boneless lamb chump chops for £10. Still to eat the lamb leg but everything else was lovely am going back with my friend soon. Could have bought a lot more e.g. A whole beef fillet but restricted with freezer storage. My friend I am going with has 5 dogs and they are all fed a special raw meat diet (which I'd never heard of but is quite common apparently!) so hoping she finds it good value. Also going to take my Inlaws there as they always spend a fortune on meat.

I'd love to be a member of a cash and carry. I see lots of things about Costco although our nearest one is Croydon which is about an hour away. My OH has a limited company so we might be able to join? There is a Bookers in Brighton so not too far to travel. Hmmmm might have to research this?

 

[hendopig]

I thought Tesco's meat was British.Hoping this is a one off Tesco pork chops labelled as British probably came from the Netherlands, tests have revealed. The pork chops in a pack bearing the Red Tractor logo were highly unlikely to have come from the UK.

Wow I can't believe it! You can't trust anybody can you? After all the song and dance Tesco made doing adverts on the radio saying sorry after horse meat thing and saying all the things they're putting in place to make them trustworthy.

 

[AnnaFaraday]

Supermarkets like Tesco drive a very hard bargain with their suppliers - they can do this because they are so huge.

Their customers want cheaper and cheaper meat, Tesco wants a profit.

This puts pressure on the suppliers and some might cut corners. They shouldn't, but it's not hard to see why it happens.

It also puts enormous pressure on farmers, especially smaller ones. Remember the fuss earlier this year when farmers were actually being paid less per litre for their milk than it cost to produce?

The problem is that most people just don't really care. Their only interest is in how cheaply they can buy something, and never think of what the real cost is.