How Much???

[Lazy-Ferret]

Today, we decided that as we were passing, we would call in at Costco and pick up a few odds and Sods... That was a bad Idea, as half the UK had decided to do the same thing.... one of the workers told us, they had had 520 people enter the store by 9:15... they open at 9:00 to shop, but the checkouts don't open till 10!!!

So, having endured the closest thing to hell I ever want to be, with people everywhere (I don't do crowds), and half of them deciding to stop at the end of every isle, blocking it off with their trolleys while they exchange pleasantries, we finally make it to the checkout.

Standing at the checkout, the guy in front of us, only has one item...

Now, as I presume most people do, when standing in a supermarket queue, I can't help but look at what other people have bought, which can always conjure up amusing scenarios, especially in Costco, as people buy things in Bulk. You see things like a trolley full of Spam and a mega pack of toilet rolls, another will have 8 crates of beer, and 8 cans of Diet Coke, or the one on another checkout today, without going into too much detail, a lady had 4 crates with 24 boxes in each crate of ladies sanitary products... they were all different grades???? That's 1152 individual items!! But she did have a giant bottle of Orange Juice, and a couple of bottles of wine to go with them!!!

Anyway, I decided that the best thing to do was to concentrate on our checkout, so I looked over at the guy in fronts item... A nice juicy cut of Steak... I looked at it, and thought, wow, that would last our ever hungry ferret kitts, Sherbet and Toffee, a couple of days, I wonder how much they would like something like that as a Christmas diner....

Now I do have to say, Costco meat is very good, they trim it properly, and if is not something they are considerably cheaper than the likes of Tesco, then they are similar in price, but the quality is far superior.

So, I am surreptitiously checking out the guy in front's meat... Ooo errr... "Stop your tittering!!"... Then for some reason the price of it caught my eye....

Now I know steak is an expensive cut, but... £51.20 for a lump of steak that was nowhere near the size of the pork joint we often buy... Ouch

I guess Sherbet and Toffee won't be getting that from Santa!

[jims-terrano]

I just can’t think of anything witty to say back to you Clive. So tv chefs will tell you that the cheaper cuts are often the tastiest if cooked correctly. Personally I often think that the company can make a meal. We are tending to eat less meat these days too.

[solarman216]

We feed our two jacks on raw red meat stewing steak or similar cost around £1 to £1.25 per day plus a few bits extra like bones, rice, potato etc, Rick

[Lazy-Ferret]

I definitely agree about the company..

I must admit I am a "meat and two veg" kind of person, but I prefer Chicken, Turkey and Pork the best, never really been a Steak or Beef man.

I am afraid the ferrets get what ever Mr Tesco's has reduced, as their meat treats. Last week it was 2 x 500g Aberdeen Angus Mince for 35p a packet... A couple of weeks ago, Suz got several packs of Stewing steak for about 25p a packet, and while we put most of them in the freezer for us, the ferrets went mad for it, so we let them have one of the packets. Normally it is Chicken for them though, as the bones help clean their teeth.

[jims-terrano]

There is actually specialist pet food suppliers and often small businesses. We buy all kinds of food for our dog and all of it raw, he was very slim but he was from working kennels so a working lab is not a flabby thing like the labs bred for showing which to be honest has become that’s what a lab should look like. A few months after starting to feed him on a mixture of raw food which mostly comes frozen his coat was really nice and he’d put just a touch of weight on to mostly cover his ribs but he’s still slim and remained slim. We had another lab who sadly passed early this year. She had a lot of problems caused by alergies, feeding raw made a huge difference to her too. So our remaining lab gets fish often salmon, he loves salmon heads. Rabbit including fur. Chicken feet. Pigs feet as well as more recognisable meats but all raw. The food is pretty disgusting really to me looks and smells bad but the dog loves it all.
So back to point yes both humans and animals don’t need to eat the most expensive meat and I do wonder if sometimes people buy for vanity’s sake if you know what I mean and as such retailers are quite happy to maybe accommodate by inflating prices because it must be better if it costs a lot.

[Wallace]

I know a chef who has gone to Costco as a full time butcher, and he always raves about the meat quality. He also told me about some of the wastage and the cost was eye watering but probably a small percentage in comparison to the meat turnover.

I had quite a good piece of steak from Tesco last weekend, it was under £3, cooked up well and definitely on par with meat served up in chain steak houses I have eaten in. As a treat we sometimes visit the Windsor Farm Shop and get some meat form the Queens farm, surprisingly some meat is very reasonably priced but others open your eyes a bit!

[Lazy-Ferret]

We also order the ferrets stuff from a company that delivers it frozen for their regular food. As you say, feeding a good balanced raw diet works wonders for their health.

I have never bought into the idea that just because you pay more, it must be better, I have had friends who would only buy from M&S, or such like, often paying twice the price for even things like baked beans, and nothing seemed to taste any better for the price hike. What really brought it home to me, was when I worked on the farm that had the M&S contract for Sweetcorn and Potatoes, In the morning they packed the stuff for M&S, then once the order was filled, it was Tesco's turn, then after that, any remaining were packed to go off to general market... the only difference was the stickers put on the front, and sometimes the colour of the tray, Ohhh. and of course the Price sticker, which was scary...

Good to hear about Costco, as I said, we have noticed that it has a lot less fat on most of their cuts.

[jims-terrano]

I definitely believe that some things are better quality and for that you have to pay a little more but as said everything.

As for the fat in meats chefs will often tell you that the fats contain a lot of the flavour. Mind you the same chefs will also advocate eating parts of the animals that are simply just grim, i can only add what is the difference between eating one part of an animal and another part.

I think a little of what you fancy but not in excess is the key.

[Lazy-Ferret]

Originally Posted by jims-terrano

I definitely believe that some things are better quality and for that you have to pay a little more but as said everything.

As for the fat in meats chefs will often tell you that the fats contain a lot of the flavour. Mind you the same chefs will also advocate eating parts of the animals that are simply just grim, i can only add what is the difference between eating one part of an animal and another part.

I think a little of what you fancy but not in excess is the key.

I hope that only applies to food though..

[jims-terrano]

Originally Posted by Lazy-Ferret

I hope that only applies to food though..

Rather depends if your wife reads this thread

[Lazy-Ferret]

Originally Posted by jims-terrano

Rather depends if your wife reads this thread

I only check the forum when she is in the Kitchen where she belongs... That's done it... Actually, I take it all back, I have to be super good until tomorrow afternoon..