When it makes your meat juicy, moist and full of flavour. Nowadays we’re all a bit more health conscious than we used to be, and most meat that’s sold in the supermarkets is trimmed very lean.
Lean is no bad thing, but what great butchers know is that a little fat goes a long way. It’s the reason British beef and lamb is so good. Bred outside, the animals develop a good fat covering to keep them warm and, in turn, this makes the meat really juicy. Leave some of this on when you cook – even if you don’t eat it – and your meat will have a fuller flavour and a lovely soft texture.
The same applies with marbling. Lots of people look for the leanest cut on the shelf, but that won’t necessarily be the nicest to eat. Marbling is the seams and flecks of firm, creamy white fat you see in meat – to master butchers it’s the mark of a really premium cut, and for amazing flavour we really recommend it.
What happens is, when you cook the meat, the marbling melts, naturally basting it from the inside out.
picture of marbling within the meat - natural basting
When you order from us, our butchers will prepare your meat with the perfect amount of fat remaining. But if for any reason you’d like any more or less, just visit our Contact us page and let us know. We’ll trim it just the way you like it.
Not necessarily. When meat is first cut from the carcass, it’s a purplish-red colour because it hasn’t been exposed to oxygen. It’s the meat’s reaction with the oxygen that turns it bright red. Red’s good for beef and lamb, but what lots of people don’t realise is that slightly browner meat will often have a better taste and flavour.
The brown colour comes from being exposed to oxygen for longer and it’s one of the signs of a well-aged piece of beef or lamb. Far from meaning the meat is going off, this colour is a natural part of the meat maturing – something that releases wonderful flavours and really tenderises the flesh. Our beef and lamb is matured for four weeks, so it’s at its best when it reaches you. For more information on our maturing process just click here.
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