Choosing Meat Cuts the Right Way

Unfortunately, selecting meat can be a difficult task for most consumers. You can’t know for certain that the meat you buy in store comes from a high-quality source. That is, unless you know what to look for! When trying to find a quality meat selection, adhere to the following:

• Look for signs of fat, or “marbling”. These add to taste.
• Cold meat should be firm to the touch.
• Make sure your meat cuts received good treatment.
• Ask your butcher for advice, and establish a repertoire with them.
• “Less but more” makes sense.

With that in mind, we’ve have laid out the basics of choosing meat for quality.

Selecting Meat via Fat Level

Marbling is an important aspect when selecting meat. Marbling refers to the traces of fat that give the meat a deeper, more satisfying taste. When checking your meat selection, feel and squeeze it in the display. Cold fat is hard, so it should feel firm to touch.

Meat cuts with a fatty coating help the meat keep its juices contained. This contributes to improved taste. Older animals will have more yellow fat. They can be less tender, but are often deeper and more mature in taste.

Your Meat Cuts Need Tenderising

You consume meat from veal, lamb, pork, and poultry directly. Beef, though, needs to tenderise of the course of a week or two. When choosing meat, tenderisation is an important factor. It helps to develop an excellent taste, and loses considerable liquid. This is one reason why tenderised meat is more expensive.

Keep this liquid in mind, because when you are selecting meat, pricing can be deceptive! The difference in price is actually worth the money, since you’re not paying for the water. Water which would disappear anways when cooking the meat.

How Was Your Meat Selection Fed?

Animals that graze properly grow meat and fat in natural proportions. Animals that have eaten green grass usually have tastier meat, with a lot of marbling! Do what you can to find out the feed fiven to your meat selection.

The feed given to animals can significantly affect their taste and texture. For example, cows fed off grain straw and those fed off green grass will have very different tasting meat cuts.

Were the Animals Well Treated?

Leaving taste, texture, price, and all that aside, every animal deserves a good life. Luckily for the meat lovers, there is a strong connection between happy animals and good quality meat. Keep this in mind when choosing meat.

Quality and Quantity are not Mutually Exclusive

Just because you buy cheaper meat, doesn’t mean you’re getting more of it! More than likely, you’re just paying for the added saltwater. You’re better off selecting meat that is smaller, but nicer and tastier. You’ll also avoid losing the weight of those meat cuts into the pool of liquid on the pan!

When it comes to chicken, learn that your meat selection should be the whole chicken! You will get value for money, better pieces, and more meat!

Have a question or query? Contact Us Today!

Buying Meat Products from Your Local Butcher Shop

We live in a world where one can buy everything they need. This includes cleaning products to all types of meat, from our local grocery store. With this convenience, we sometimes, unfortunately, lose quality. For this reason, it is important to have a great local butcher shop to buy your meat products from. With this said, how do you find a great local butcher shop that supplies the best types of meat?

Find a local butcher shop you can trust that supplies the best types of meat.

How To Find A Good Local Butcher Shop

To find a good local butcher, ask people in your area for referrals! A good place to start is with your neighbours and community groups. Use online platforms such as Facebook or Google Reviews to check out the referrals. Ask specifically for local butcher shops who sell the types of meat products you’re looking for. This way, you can get the most accurate referral!

Be aware of the reviews people are giving – if the primary selling point is the low price of the meat, be careful. The price of meat can sometimes be an indicator of poor quality meat products. Eg, the type of meat you’re looking at is typically quite expensive. But, this local butcher shop’s price seems too good to be true. In truth, it probably is!

Try Your Local Butcher Shop’s Meat Products

Assemble a list of local butcher shop referrals for the types of meat products you want to buy. Then, go around and try them out! When you first visit, have a chat with the butcher themselves. Be sure to hint that you’re looking to become a long-term customer. Explain what types of meat products you are looking for and allow them to guide you.

It is important to let your local butcher shop know if the quality of their meat product has let you down. If you have made your expectations clear and they do not live up to them, tell the butcher so! A good businessperson will want to know the areas they can improve in. If they respond negatively, move on to the next local butcher shop and begin the process again.

Ask Your Local Butcher Shops Questions About Their Meat Products

Any local butcher shop worth frequently can answer any and every question about the types of meat products they sell. Ask questions such as:

· Is this meat farmed locally?

· Does the meat come from an organic source?

· Is this meat free-range?

· Do they make their own sausages?

· Is the bacon smoked in-house?

· Do they offer unsmoked options?

· Can I buy in bulk?

Asking these types of questions will give your local butcher shop insight. They can figure out the types of meat products you are looking for, and how they can best serve you.

Sometimes, they cannot answer reasonable questions like where the meat comes from. If so, this butcher shop probably doesn’t know enough about their meat products, and it may be time to move on!

Allow your local butcher to teach and guide you in fields you are not an expert in. For example, bright red beef is not as tasty as a darker red, matured beef. Tell your butcher what you are looking for and let them guide you to the types of meat products you should buy.

Tip Top Meat Products – Your Preferred Supplier

Tip Top Meat is an online meat supplier that offers high quality meat products and delivery! As a leading meat supplier in South Africa, Tip Top Meat guarantees the quality of their meat products. They also provide top quality customer service to match!

Have a question or query? Contact Us Today!

Tips to Consider Before You Buy Chicken

Chicken cuts are a highly popular meat nowadays. This holds especially true in South Africa, where it is widely considered to be the staple meat. But, before you buy a chicken cut or any kind of poultry meat, it pays to be careful!

You need to take the right precautions if you want to make sure you buy chicken of good quality. Once bought, that quality chicken also needs both adequate storage and cooking. Here, we’ll examine the best ways to do all these things before eating your next meal.Chicken cuts are a highly popular meat nowadays. This holds especially true in South Africa, where it is widely considered to be the staple meat. But, before you buy a chicken cut or any kind of poultry meat, it pays to be careful!

Ensure You Buy Quality Chicken Cuts

When buying chicken cuts, or the whole chicken, there are a few precautions to be aware of. These will be a long way towards ensuring that you get the best chicken cut for your money.

When buying poultry meat, be sure to smell it. You can typically smell if it’s “off” or not, as good quality chicken will have very little or no smell at all.

Before you buy the chicken, also be sure to check the skin, flesh, and bones. Ideally, they should have no damage. Damaged chicken or chicken cuts may be a sign of mishandling.

A specific chicken cut will have different visual characteristics from another one. Keep an eye out for these on the poultry meat you’re considering. Chicken breasts, for example, should be plump with pale-pink flesh and very little fat. Chicken thighs, though, have darker meat. They also have dark pink flesh, and a small amount of white fat.

Whole Chicken and Chicken Cut Storage

After you buy chicken, it’s usually best to store it in its original packaging or container. Otherwise, you can store it in a shallow container, but be sure to keep it completely covered. This allows your quality chicken to remain such while refridgerating or freezing it.

If refridgerating, store the chicken or chicken cuts in the coldest part of your fridge for 2 days at the most. If freezing, be sure to keep the chicken or chicken cut in its original packaging, for up to 2 months at the most.

Precautions for Cooking Poultry Meat

Before you cook poultry meat, there are several precautions that you should follow. Quality chicken only remains that way if following the due diligence required.

After you buy chicken, store it, and prepare to cook it, thaw it completely before cooking. To defrost frozen chicken cuts, place them on a large plate in their packaging. Put the plate in the fridge to defrost, this will take anywhere from 10-12 hours.

Be sure not to refreeze the chicken after it has thawed. A whole chicken or chicken cut can degrade in quality due to lost moisture this way. You can tell if a chicken is completely thawed by ensuring that it contains no ice crystals. The legs and thighs of your poultry meat should also be flexible.

Wait for your chicken to be completely defrosted. Then, be sure to cook it according to your chosen recipe as soon as possible.

Have a question or query? Contact Us Today!

Choosing Meat Cuts the Right Way

Unfortunately, selecting meat can be a difficult task for most consumers. You can’t know for certain that the meat you buy in store comes from a high-quality source. That is, unless you know what to look for! When trying to find a quality meat selection, adhere to the following:

• Look for signs of fat, or “marbling”. These add to taste.
• Cold meat should be firm to the touch.
• Make sure your meat cuts received good treatment.
• Ask your butcher for advice, and establish a repertoire with them.
• “Less but more” makes sense.

With that in mind, we’ve have laid out the basics of choosing meat for quality.

Selecting Meat via Fat Level

Marbling is an important aspect when selecting meat. Marbling refers to the traces of fat that give the meat a deeper, more satisfying taste. When checking your meat selection, feel and squeeze it in the display. Cold fat is hard, so it should feel firm to touch.

Meat cuts with a fatty coating help the meat keep its juices contained. This contributes to improved taste. Older animals will have more yellow fat. They can be less tender, but are often deeper and more mature in taste.

Your Meat Cuts Need Tenderising

You consume meat from veal, lamb, pork, and poultry directly. Beef, though, needs to tenderise of the course of a week or two. When choosing meat, tenderisation is an important factor. It helps to develop an excellent taste, and loses considerable liquid. This is one reason why tenderised meat is more expensive.

Keep this liquid in mind, because when you are selecting meat, pricing can be deceptive! The difference in price is actually worth the money, since you’re not paying for the water. Water which would disappear anyway when cooking the meat.

How Was Your Meat Selection Fed?

Animals that graze properly grow meat and fat in natural proportions. Animals that have eaten green grass usually have tastier meat, with a lot of marbling! Do what you can to find out the feed given to your meat selection.

The feed given to animals can significantly affect their taste and texture. For example, cows fed off grain straw and those fed off green grass will have very different tasting meat cuts.

Were the Animals Well Treated?

Leaving taste, texture, price, and all that aside, every animal deserves a decent life. Luckily for the meat lovers, there is a strong connection between happy animals and good quality meat. Keep this in mind when choosing meat.

Quality and Quantity are not Mutually Exclusive

Just because you buy cheaper meat, doesn’t mean you’re getting more of it! More than likely, you’re just paying for the added saltwater. You’re better off selecting meat that is smaller, but nicer and tastier. You’ll also avoid losing the weight of those meat cuts into the pool of liquid on the pan!

When it comes to chicken, learn that your meat selection should be the whole chicken! You will get value for money, better pieces, and more meat!

Tip Top Meat offers meat of excellent quality meat at reasonable prices. Check out our products here.