Fresh meat is easy to recognise once you know what to look for.
1. Colour Fresh mutton is a bright, light red. Dull grey or brown patches mean the meat has been sitting out.
2. Smell Good mutton smells clean and slightly milky. A sour or ammonia smell is a clear warning sign.
3. Texture Press the meat gently. It should spring back. If your fingerprint stays, the meat is old.
4. Fat colour Fresh goat fat is white to creamy white, never yellow and never sticky.
5. Moisture Meat should be moist but not sitting in liquid. Pooled water means it was frozen and thawed.
At our shop every animal is slaughtered the same morning, so what you take home was never frozen.