coldmeat.co.uk – what types of cold meats are there, any

coldmeat.co.uk – what types of cold meats are there, any historical
Information?

Cold meats are a popular dish throughout the UK, these can include lunch meats, luncheon meats, sandwich meats, sliced meats and deli meats. Cold meat comes in numerous varieties and can be bought freshly sliced from a joint, pre-packed or even tinned depending on the type required. For meat to used straight from a joint of meat, the joint must first cool or be chilled for it then to become cold meat. Cold meat is a traditional meal on sandwiches, in salads or often served with potatoes or chips. There are many types, in the UK traditional types are one such as ham, beef, chicken or turkey. Outside the UK cold meats such as chorizo and pratik are produced.
Cold meat is often an ideal meal for when meat is left over from a joint which has often been used for a roast dinner. For example in the UK, turkey is the traditional meat to have at Christmas time. A large bird is often cooked which provides more meat than required for just the Christmas lunch, due to this, many families use the left over turkey as cold meat and use it for sandwiches, salads and even curries.
The tinned meat which on sale often holds a rather long sell by date and this provides the evidence that meat has often preserved in some way, this may mean adding jelly or using some type of pickle. Many people prefer to buy fresh cold meat over a counter or meat which has been freshly cut and then packed.
Cold ham is one of the most popular cold meats within the UK; this can be bought in the form of being fresh or within a tin. Meat counters within large supermarkets often sell cold ham over the counter which has been sliced from large joints, there are many different types including smoked ham and honey roasted ham. Another form of buying ham, and other similar cold meats, is purchasing the products in a vacuum pack. The vacuum pack is sealed and holds the good, this type of packaging helps freshly sliced ham to last longer. Although with many cold meats, the price of the goods tends to dictate the quality, i.e. the more paid the better the quality; this may not be in this case in every situation. One problem which is spoken about concerning cold meats which are vacuumed packed is that the cheaper products available often are associated as appearing similar to plastic. Water and other harmless substances have often been injected into the meat in order to expand it, reduce the meat content and therefore enable a cheaper price to be set. This technique has enabled supermarkets to offer cold meats at a much lower cost than previously, although many peoples view is that the quality is substituted. Due to this, anybody wishing to buy premium high quality cold meats should be advised to either buy a joint of meat, cook this and allow to cool, or to buy the cold meat from a fresh cold meat counter within a supermarket or butchers shop.