Peak Choice farmers work in partnership with local butchers Mainstream Foods based near Alfreton, Derbyshire, a family firm established in 1954, run by Mr Martin Pick. Here Peak Choice beef and lamb is hung in a special maturation room to a controlled climate that maximizes taste and texture of the meat. Martin's team of highly skilled butchers have developed a system of tracking each individual cut of Peak Choice meat, thus confidently guaranteeing provenance.
Each and every piece of your Peak Choice beef and lamb has been hand trimmed to remove unwanted elements and surplus fat, leaving just the right amount to baste and flavor the meat. This skilled operation is undertaken in a purpose built butchery under strict hygiene and safety standards (HACCP, regestered UK 4313 EEC), once cut and quality graded your beef and lamb is vacuum packed immediately to seal in flavor. For more detail see "About Our Meat"
Mainstream Foods supply an extensive range of butchery products to catering establishments and retail outlets throughout Derbyshire, for more information call Martin on 01773 591177.
Ask the butcher
Q: The best beef and lamb’s really red, right?A: 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 up to four weeks, so it’s at its best when it reaches you. For more information on our maturing process see About Our Meat
Q: Is all fat bad for you?
A: No not all fat is bad, and some fat called marbling is a sign of high quality meat; it is the flecks of fat that can be seen in the meat that produce a rich succulent flavour when cooked. For roasting joints like Topside just the right amount of basting fat (fat on the outside of a roasting joint) is left on and sometimes added to create the perfect succulent roasting joint.
Q: Why does meat smell when it is taken out of a vacuum pack?
A: Immediately on removal from the vacuum packaging you may notice an aroma, this is perfectly normal and will soon disappear, it is caused by the lack of oxygen around the meat whilst in the pack.