If the bird has been sold with giblets remove them as soon as you get home, and unwrap the bird so that it can breathe. Store at the bottom of the refrigerator for not more than 2-3 days.

The more you spend on a chicken, the better it will probably taste. A frozen supermarket bird, battery-raised and fed on fishmeal until the moment of slaughter, has little chance of tasting good, however well cooked. Try and buy free-range birds. They may look scrawnier than the plump-breasted oven-ready bird but the flavour is far superior.

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Excerpt from Leiths Cookery Bible

[Leith, P., and Waldegrave, C., (2003), Leiths Cookery Bible, 3rd edition, Bloomburys, UK]

The meat should be pale pink, close-grained and firm to the touch. It should not have enlarged glands or abscesses (pigs kept too close together, reasonably enough, bite eachother). The fat should be firm and white, not oily, and without grayish tinge. There should be an even covering of fat. Try to find free-range pork; it has an excellent flavour.

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Excerpt from Leiths Cookery Bible

[Leith, P., and Waldegrave, C., (2003), Leiths Cookery Bible, 3rd edition, Bloomburys, UK]

The colour of the meat varies with the breed of lamb. The fat should be creamy white (if it is yellow it indicates old age) and it should not be oily. All the joints should be plump and compact rather than long and thin. The skin should be pliable; not hard and wrinkled. Welsh or English lamb is considered to be superior to New Zealand lamb.

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Excerpt from Leiths Cookery Bible

[Leith, P., and Waldegrave, C., (2003), Leiths Cookery Bible, 3rd edition, Bloomburys, UK]

Flesh should be pale pink, soft but not flabby, and finely grained. There should be a very little creamy white fat. Do not worry if there is a lot of gelatinous tissue around the meat as this is a natural characteristic of the very immature animal.

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Excerpt from Leiths Cookery Bible

[Leith, P., and Waldegrave, C., (2003), Leiths Cookery Bible, 3rd edition, Bloomburys, UK]

When choosing meat the general principle is to look for signs that it has come from a young animal.

• It should not be too fatty;
• The joints should be reasonably small;
• It should be of a firm texture; and
• It should not have too much gristle

(Although the expectations about the quantity of fat and gristle do depend on the particular cut of meat.)

Meat should never be slimy; it should be moist but not gelatinous (with the exception of veal) and it should not smell. Any exposed bones should be pinkish blue in colour, the paler the fat the better.

Always allow meat to breathe, so if it comes tightly wrapped up, pierce the clingfilm and refrigerate for not more than 2-3 days. Raw meat should always be stored at the bottom of the refrigerator so that no raw blood can drop onto cooked food – this can be the cause of food poisoning.

________________________________________

Excerpt from Leiths Cookery Bible

[Leith, P., and Waldegrave, C., (2003), Leiths Cookery Bible, 3rd edition, Bloomburys, UK]