Hi guys and gals. Those that follow our facebook and Instagram accounts will know that this week we’ve been working with Rose Cottage Small Holding in Ash. We received 3 beautiful large black pigs to butcher and package. This is part of a bigger project we are working on with them and that is The Guildford and Woking Food Assembly. This is an Award-winning food community bringing you the best produce from your local farmers and foodmakers. You can order online and collect from an assembly location once a week. We will be helping Rose Cottage offer a full selection of Rare and Traditional Breed meats alongside their homegrown pork! This is due to go live around mid March so keep and eye out!

Wow what a great busy week, great to see so many new customers along with our loyal regulars in the shop this week and today (Saturday) being the busiest day of the week we only used 3 plastic carrier bags! We are making huge efforts at JL Butchers to reduce our plastic waste, we have introduced new paper bags and paper wrapping and next week we will be taking delivery of some 100% degradable bags suitable for our marinated products. Please feel free to bring in your own bags and containers to take your produce home in if you wish.

Looking forward to another busy week next week with Valentine’s Day. Don’t forget we will be closing early Wednesday and won’t be open late this Thursday as it’s James’ Birthday. Have a great week and look forward to meeting more of you in the shop.

You’ll notice in our shop our beef is a lot darker in colour than what you might find in your supermarket. This is because we age our beef for a minimum of 14 days but more often than not in excess of 30 days. Why do we do this we hear you ask. Well…

The process changes beef by two means. Firstly, moisture is evaporated from the meat. The resulting process creates a greater concentration of beef flavour and taste. Secondly, the beef’s natural enzymes break down the connective tissue in the meat, which leads to more tender beef.

The process of dry-aging usually also promotes growth of certain fungal (mold) species on the external surface of the meat. This does not cause spoilage, but rather forms an external “crust” on the meat’s surface, which is trimmed off when the meat is prepared for cooking. These fungal species complement the natural enzymes in the beef by helping to tenderize and increase the flavor of the meat. The genus Thamnidium, in particular, is known to produce collagenolytic enzymes which greatly contribute to the tenderness and flavour of dry-aged meat.

Had a busy morning packing boxes full of some fantastic meat today. Some stunning looking Rib Eyes and T-Bones heading to Telford, Briskets and Ribs to Bury St Edmonds and Lamb Rumps to Rochester along with lots of other goodies! Delivery is free locally and from as little as £10 anywhere in the UK just send us a message via our contact page.

We’ve created a new Pie for the shop and we can’t wait for you to try it. Proper pulled pork, pork shoulder rubbed in Angus and Oink Sweet Bones & Butts Rub, smoked over apple and cherry wood for 6hrs and then tossed in BBQ Sauce and filled into shortcrust pastry cases. These pies are packed with flavour and would go great with a homemade coleslaw and corn on the cob!