butcher vs supermarket meats

THE BEEF differences  a lot of customers are confused about butcher and supermarket meat weel i can tell you their is a huge difference and why that is prepare to become knowledgeable like your local butcher

 first of all the main difference is the quality of the product beef from the supermarket is generally  a lot older and has not had time to rest ie 10 to 14 days so basically this is the main reason the product is tough  and most are generally from feedlot so small areas and a lot of beef are stressed from birth to slaughter is also another reason

also in my journey as a butcher  i have heard a lot of customers complain about the water coming out if steaks bought from the supermarket the reason for this as it was killed yesterday and on your plate today they snap freeze it in water baths so when they get distuputuide around the country they get sliced up frozen on a machine they cryvaced in those plastic trays so think about all the wet moister that has now been created its got no where to go except into the meat so for the super markets its all about the volume not quality

now for your local butcher its completely different when we order a cow in we let it hang for 10 to 14 days for the enzymes to break down some butcher also practice cryac for a further 10 to 14 days this is called wet ageing then we slice for the cabinet hence why you steak will be so tender and no water its all about ageing the beef with the correct procedure is place 

we also know where the cow has come from and know that the cow has not been stressed as it been on a farm raised then to the slaughter house we as butcher generally like to find farmer closer to the abattoir as this also crates less stress on the animal and further enhances the tenderness of the product so therefore the  added benefits are we can speak  directly with the farmer and  know what it has been raised on and finished on 

in a  general rule of thumb most butchers will order cows 12 to 15 months old and with a live weight of  around 500kg to give us a carcass of 200 to 220 kg there is a lot more involved in this as it comes down to breeds 

see my breeds of cow blog 

i have found if you follow the aging process you can have any breed of cow tender for those luckily enough to have land and a cool room on property.

i have found the same process can be added to lambs see the lam blogs for this