[Closed] Why has it taken me so long? Buying whole chickens as opposed to fillets.

beer by the barrel is also cheaper...... 8)

If you buy the chicken live you can have dinner [i]and[/i] a date.

So - what other money-saving things can I do with my cooking?

Use the chicken carcass to make stock, that and some remaining bits of meat will make a nice risotto.

Buy breast of lamb and roll and stuff it yourself. It costs less/Kg than Rolled breast that has been packed out with bread.

Never skimp on egg quality.

Replant "living herb" pots into large pots with good compost and you can keep them going much longer and harvest herbs as and when you need from the kitchen window-ledge.

Freeze stock in sandwich bags in pyrex jugs. Once frozen remove from jug and stack in freezer.

So - what other money-saving things can I do with my cooking?

Find a good local butcher and greengrocer. Normally a lot cheaper and better than the supermarket.

Use the chicken carcass to make stock

Use road kill / poach / steal / go cannibal.

I used to buy those "3 for £10" boxes of Meat from the Supermarket, but frankly they're not great value, even for £3.30 or whatever, it's usually cheapear to buy the packs not on offer.

Even that's worse than finding a decent butcher though, even though mine seems to fancy themselves as a bit corn-fed artisan and all that, they sell a huge bag of good quality basic meat for £20 or something, it's a months worth for us and takes up a shelf in the freezer.

Find a good local butcher and greengrocer. Normally a lot cheaper and better than the supermarket.

meat from butchers is never any better than from supermarkets.

You're doing it wrong.

Buy your meat in bulk from Costco.

Their whole angus rib-eyes can be cut into your favourite portion size and frozen for future use.

Same for the mince - comes in a 2.5kg slab, portion up into 500s for cooking with later.

Their pork is quite tasty too.

One of our favourite recipes is whole poached chicken with star anise, soy, ginger spring onions etc.

you use a little of the cooking liquid as a sauce then save the rest and make the most amazing noodle soups etc,

4 x chicken and leek pies.

they better be proper pies not pastry on top fakes 🙂

In my experience this hasn't been the case

This is one of those things like paying bike mechanics with hobnobs. It doesn’t actually exist/is the case.

You're doing it wrong.

The best quality meat comes from the chef at the school my wife works at - he buys it wholesale then sells it on to staff. Around the same price as supermarkets but it is nicer. Unfortunately it is only an occasional service so we can't rely on it.

One of our favourite recipes is whole poached chicken with star anise, soy, ginger spring onions etc.

they better be proper pies not pastry on top fakes

meat from butchers is never any better than from supermarkets.

You're doing it wrong.

+1

The meat from our local butcher's is noticeably better than from Sainsburys, especially the beef mince and the bacon.... Ooo the bacon!

Try a different butcher?

We buy whole chickens often and eat them roasted which does for two meals then we make a deliberately half-arsed attempt at carving so there's loads of meat left on the carcass which we then boil up for soup. Yellow lentils, carrots, salt and pepper is enough - cheap meal.

meat from butchers is never any better than from supermarkets.

Have to agree, I've bought very fancy stuff from Farm Shops that cost 5x what it would in Sains and I buy more normal stuff from the Butchers and it's all much of a muchness - for me, any extra quality, especially in Chicken is stops at the perception level.

I think it should be noted that not all butchers are equal much as not all LBS are too.

Oh and buying thighs or quarters is a good money saver too. Roast them in a dish with something spicy poured all over - lovely. Remove skin though if adding sauce, imo.

including the renowned 'Elite Meat' in Starbeck

very fancy stuff from Farm Shops that cost 5x what it would in Sains

This is where you are going wrong.

just a proper, local butcher, not some "Artisan" nonsense.

ess - for me, any extra quality, especially in Chicken is stops at the perception level.

With chicken I would probably agree. However, with beef, pork and lamb totally disagree.

just a proper, local butcher, not some "Artisan" nonsense.

Our greengrocers is much better quality than the supermarket, veg prices are too variable depending on season to bother checking prices though, works out cheaper overall because you don't buy crap at the same time.

Butcher is usually the opposite, at least 20% more than supermarket prices, quality is better though.

Costco I avoid, it's either variable quality, or not UK sourced.

That is precisely what Elite Meat is - a simple butchers' shop.

From their website:

from native breed, free range Cattle, dry-aged in our himalayan salt block chamber for a minimum of 14 days

himalayan salt block chamber 😀

LOL - they must have moved on from when I last used them about 5 years ago and had some painfully chewy legs of lamb.

Speaking of lamb, shoulder is way cheaper than leg. Stud it with garlic and rosemary, brown in a frying pan, then place on top of a tin of prepared potato and onion slices. Pour over chicken stock, cover with foil and roast for 5 hours on a very low heat. When the meat is resting, turn the oven right up to brown the potato mixture. If there's any liquid left, I usually spoon it off to use for gravy.

I feel sorry for those who butchers can't beat their supermarket in quality. Mines is noticeably better in both flavour and texture, more expensive but not by much. Same goes for greengrocers.

Costco I avoid, it's either variable quality, or not UK sourced.

The beef they butcher/portion themselves onsite is definitely UK sourced. Maybe the case for prepackaged stuff.

The beef they butcher/portion themselves onsite is definitely UK sourced. Maybe the case for prepackaged stuff.

Their whole angus rib-eyes can be cut into your favourite portion size and frozen for future use.

Same for the mince - comes in a 2.5kg slab, portion up into 500s for cooking with later.

Their pork is quite tasty too.

I found the steaks/beef cuts aren’t that much better value than from the supermarket, the advantage of the supermarket being you don’t have to have a freezer the size of the QE II.

The mince is decent though, we also buy bulk chicken thighs for not much, and the salt and pepper belly pork is lush!

And the dog got to have the skin

WHAT?!

And the dog got to have the skin
WHAT?!

He's definitely doing it wrong!
Who has the oysters? the parsons nose?

Who has the oysters?

Cooks treat!

minimum of 14 days

There's the Elite mistake, the supermarket better stuff is 28 day matured. You need to find a better butcher.

Done properly, aged beef will be more expensive from the butcher than supermarket. Elite are just cashing in on this with an inferior product.

bearnecessities - Member
If you buy the chicken live you can have dinner and a date

how much does a live chicken cost?

Who has the oysters? the parsons nose?

Me, me, me!

I eat the legs and wings. The wife and the dogs get the breast meat.

it's not that hard to portion up a chicken and get breast, thighs, legs and wings leaving a carcass for scraps and stock

I used to do the whole chicken thing, noe mostly a pack of thighs and pop in the oven

cleaner, and tasty too

All the butchers near me are significantly more expensive than supermarkets. Usually better meat though.

The most well known butcher has expanded and is going corporate. The queue goes out the door and staff still try and sell loyalty cards to customers and spend minutes putting every product you buy through a ridiculous individual packaging process. It winds me up so I refuse to use them now.

it's not that hard to portion up a chicken and get breast, thighs, legs and wings leaving a carcass for scraps and stock

That's a very wasteful way. The best way leaves only a backbone and you cut through the joint at the thighs.

 

That's a very wasteful way

Eh?

He is using, litterally, the whole bird. How is that wasteful?

I'm sure i'm missing the point of this thread, but surely the point of buying just fillets is you've paid someone to get rid of the unwanted bits of chicken for you. Life is too short to be messing around with random bits of chicken.

surely the point of buying just fillets is you've paid someone to get rid of the unwanted bits of chicken for you. Life is too short to be messing around with random bits of chicken.

He is using, litterally, the whole bird. How is that wasteful?

Look at how much meat is left behind on the carcass.

[IMG] [/IMG]

Freeze stock in sandwich bags

Stock rocks

leaving a carcass for scraps and stock

scraps and stuff go great in stir fry. And the carcass for stock. No wastage here.

I have three tips to save a ton of cash and make better food.

Make all food from scratch where you can don't by anything pre-made if you can avoid it.
Find your local massive Indian/Turkish/middle eastern/whatever supermarket and shop for veggies, herbs, spices, olives, canned goods etc there. Usually enormously cheaper and better quality as well as available in bulk. I use Korea foods near me and its way, way better for almost everything.

Check out the proper markets (not those poncy farmer's markets). I go to Kempton Park twice a month to the travelling butchers, excellent meat about 1/2 what the supermarket charges + you can buy all manner of other crap while you're there.

Make all food from scratch where you can don't by anything pre-made if you can avoid it.

I haven't had a whole roast chicken in a couple of months now. I usually butterfly them, cooks quicker

I prefer to cook them more slowly. Gives me more wine time.

Even if your butcher is 20% more expensive like for like:

You can buy exactly as much as you need (most supermarkets being 90% pre-packaged meat and a never present meat counter)

You can buy cheaper cuts. Stuff like cheek, shin, etc is super delish in a casserole, costs nothing. Non existant at most supermarkets.

You get more variety. Try getting hold of game/veal/offal at your average sainsbury's.

There is less packaging and a good chance that a lot of it is probably local or at least alot more local than the supermarket.

Cheap meat is cheap for a reason, I'd rather go without than eat questionable quality meat.

It depends heavily on the butcher.

There are plenty of places that sell stuff the same or worse than supermarkets. What you are arguing for is good butchers, which are by definition good of course.

Replant "living herb" pots into large pots with good compost and you can keep them going much longer and harvest herbs as and when you need from the kitchen window-ledge.

Better yet, buy your herbs from a garden centre/nursery and plant them up. A little bit more money but much better quality plant that can last for years with relatively little care and attention.

I cooked up a whole chicken yesterday, meat off, then boiled up the carcas for stock. Just rehated some meaf and made gravy with said stock...really is v nice.

Jools - my friends go to kempton, they buy plants there. I bought a jack wills blanket there last year, it was only a tenner.

tomhoward - Member
That's a very wasteful way
Eh?

He is using, litterally, the whole bird. How is that wasteful?

Apart from the fact that he didn't seem very competent with the knife that didn't seem very sharp . He didn't get the oysters when he took the legs off and he would have got more meat from the breast if he had taken the wishbone out first .He also didn't keep the knife close to the carcass when taking off the breasts . I could do that and leave virtually no meat on the carcass at all .

Not his greatest fan but you can tell that he knows what he's doing and that he has a sharp knife . I would take the wishbone out but he cut through it which has the same result . And no flesh left on the carcass .

Better yet, buy your herbs from a garden centre/nursery and plant them up. A little bit more money but much better quality plant that can last for years with relatively little care and attention.

Unless it's basil, in which case the slugs will make it disappear in a day or two.

My butcher does fillet tail for about 15 quid a kilo. Which is nice 🙂