why is butcher's meat better?

[crisgal]

we treated ourselves to a lovely fillet of beef from a local butcher today.
I cut it into thick steaks, and pan fried with just a little seasoning.
There was quite a lot of marbling, whuch just melted away.
They were the the most delicious, tender fillets I've ever tasted (despite the fact that i did overcook a tiny bit)
The last time we did this, we got them from the supermarket and were so disappointed with them.
Why do they taste so good from the butcher? It shouldn't make that much difference, surely? They were both the same cut from the same type of animal!

[crisgal]

ooh, cowtipper - you have your own beef then?

[Cowtipper]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_tipping
Its like going snipe hunting.

[askyourgran]

I go to our butcher's shop on Friday, on Saturday morning they queue up the main street and its worst on bank holidays. When my daughter comes up for the weekend I have to buy pork sausage and tomato sausage for them to take home. They love it.

[Cowtipper]

I take one or two deer a year and split a year old beef with family. The rest of the cows on the farm are commercial. The family down the road does free range chickens so I get those from them (prepared-not stolen). The only meat I buy is fish unless I'm on the road.

[RATTER15]

Ive been reading that link, it appears that cowtipping is pretty near impossible anyway. More of a myth.

[DTCwordfan]

CT - why do Texans eat road-kill armadillo?

"They think its oysters on the half shell"

Your last contribution reads like a road-kill message.

Night!!! (once and for all)

[hc4361]

Cowtipping is impossible. http://www.timesonlin.../uk/article586737.ece

[crisgal]

i've never had venison :(

[mccfluff]

why would you want too?

[Cowtipper]

It is a myth. That doesn't mean you don't go cowtipping.

[hc4361]

Venison is fantastic meat. Full of flavour, protein and less saturated fat than beef.
It is just as good farmed as wild, and there is plenty of farmed venison available, for those sensitive souls.
Give it a try!

[Cowtipper]

Deer is leaner and a little finer grained. Half of ours you can't tell that much from the cows because they eat so much corn in my opinion. Down in West Texas they taste more like mesquite beans and it gives more flavor I think.

[crisgal]

I will!

[Carakeel]

hc4361, I'm afraid you are mistaken there. One of Morrison's head butchers is a friend of mine. Our Morrisons regularly has skirting. Morrisons does hang meat for 2-3 weeks now and I have never had any problems with the ribeye I get. However, sadly our local butcher is not great and I find a lot of his meat not only badly cut but also not hung long enough. When I was living in Germany I always bought from the butcher, and the meat was fantastic. When I lived in France, I bought directly from the farmer and it too was delicious. In the end though, wherever you get your meat, you do have to know what you are looking at and know how to cook it properly. I loved buying from the farm in France, as I could see for myself that the animals were well cared for and not filled with all sorts of chemicals. But that was a long time ago.

[Cowtipper]

Darn things are a menace around here. I can take up to five a year, plus five for the wife if she bothers to go kill them, plus every one I catch eating my fruit trees. Most of the people around here just hunt them with car bumpers in the night.

[Carakeel]

Oh and thank you ratter darling for the compliments! I guess steak is in order again then ... lol