Cheapest Worthwhile Cuts of Meat

**foxxyroxie** · 01-27-2010, 02:09 AM

Pork shoulder (also called Boston butt roasts) can run as low as 88 cents a pound here.... but you have to buy 2 large in a pkg.

I will crockpot one... I season with adobo seasoning (hispanic-style season 'salt') and black pepper and sliced onions. Cover to 3/4 up the side of the roast with water or beef or chicken bouillon and cook all day on low. Serve with mashed potatoes and gravy (made with juices) and vegetables.
Leftovers can be made into bbq pork sandwiches, hot roast pork sandwiches (pork on bread served with leftover mashed potatoes and gravy), pork burritos or enchiladas or even layered mexican casserole (corn tortilla pieces layered with pork, salsa/enchilada sauce and cheese -- put together and baked lasagna style).

Yumm-O !!

**Thrifty Mom** · 01-30-2010, 08:37 AM

My DH is also a meat & potatoes guy, but I try to capitalize on the few things he does eat other than slabs of meat. He will eat chili & over the years I have shifted the proportion of meat to beans. He likes meat loaf & we use the left overs to make "hash" with leftover baked potatoes. He LOVES home made scallopped potatoes with ham. I make up the scalloped potatoes in triple batches & freeze two pans. Also we make up triple batches of meatloaf & freeze two. I have finally convinced him that meatballs are just meatloaf, so now he eats those.(He is the one who makes the meatloaf mixture). Then we do eat a lot of meat & potatoes meals. I eat a lot of different veggies, whether he does or not.

I cut up roasts before I freeze them so I make just a small amount with lots of potaotes & carrotts. That way he can eat 1/2 or 3/4 of what I cook & still get just a "normal " portion. Also I cook him a steak, but he has to share some with me. Kids are all gone so it's a little easier.

**Judi Dial** · 01-30-2010, 08:51 AM

I make a chicken dish that I specifically designed to use chilcken thighs. We love it, so I think chicken thighs are worthwhile. I take the drippings and make gravy and serve it with the gravy.

Judi

**frugal-fannie** · 01-30-2010, 09:35 AM

I always shop the managers specials but also when a new sale add comes up if the meat was on sale was not purchased and not many people bought when the store over ordered you can get great sales. I have purchased whole chickens for $2-$2.50.

**Grainlady** · 02-01-2010, 10:13 AM

I'm not sure if this will help you any... I personally keep meat purchases to around $10 per week (for 2 adults), and $2 or less per pound, as a general guideline. I look for bargains in the discounted meat, managers specials, etc.

I also keep this "MEAT MATH" list in my Price Book as another guideline so I can figure how many servings I might get from a particular cut.

-Total amount per week you can budget for meat.
-Top price per pound you will normally spend.

But also the number of servings per pound by cut of meat.... A serving amount for an adult is 3-ounces, or the amount the size of a deck of cards.

So those three variables are needed to come up with what constitutes a meat "bargain" for me.

Boneless - Rolled roast, flank steak
You can expect to get 4 (3-oz.) servings per pound of meat.

Some bone - Round steak, sliced bone-in ham, pot roast, rib eye steaks.
You can expect to get 3 (3-oz.) servings per pound of meat.

Much bone - Beef brisket, short ribs, bone-in steak.
You can expect to get 2 (3-oz.) servings per pound of meat.

OR, if you are figuring how much meat per person a cut of meat will serve...

Rib meats - 3/4-1-pound per person
Bone-in - 1/3-1/2-pound per person
Boneless - 1/4-1/3-pound per person

Poultry:
* Chicken, Whole: 1 to 2 servings per pound
* Chicken Parts (bone-in, skin on): 2 to 3 servings per pound
* Chicken Breasts (boneless, skinless): 3 to 4 servings per pound
* Cornish Game hens: 1 to 2 servings per pound
* Duck, Whole: 1 servings per pound
* Goose, Whole: 1 servings per pound
* Turkey, Whole (12 pounds or less): 1 serving per pound
* Turkey, Whole(12 pounds or more): 2 servings per pound
* Turkey Parts (thighs, bone-in breasts): 2 to 3 servings per pound
* Turkey Breast (boneless): 3 to 4 servings per pound
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MEAT MISTAKES....

Although most people think of tuna as an expensive form of meat, that's not necessarily so when you do the math. The same with a can of SPAM when you figure what they cost per pound.

A 5-ounce can of tuna that costs $1.29 = $4.13 a pound (.69 a can - $2.21/pound). A serving of tuna is 1/4 c. (or about 2-ounces), so there are only 2 to 2.5 servings per can.

Because canned tuna and salmon are meats I keep in food storage, I try to purchase tuna when it's no more than .59 a can (= $1.89 a pound), and salmon when it's no more than $1.99 a 15-oz. can (= $2.12/pound).

You can off-set the price of a high-costing meat with low-costing protein in the same dish (adding eggs for making tuna patties, or boiled eggs in tuna salad, or mixing meat and beans - when you make chili). It's not possible to "stretch" meat by adding more servings of carbohydrates (noodles, pasta, etc., and a can of soup). You are not getting enough protein to equal a serving, and are consuming too many carbohydrates. A serving of pasta is 1/2-cup.

So the bottom-line is, you have to do the math, and be able to do some of your own butchering. Purchase a pork loin and cut it into pork chops yourself. Purchase whole chickens and cut your own portions. Utilize every ounce of meat - using bits and pieces for stir-fry, pizza toppings, shredded for bbq beef/pork; and all bones are used for making soup or broth.

A 1/2 c. serving of cooked beans, peas or lentils, one whole egg can replace a 1-ounce serving of meat, poultry or fish. Two ounces of peanut butter counts as 1 ounce of meat.

**cmr3399** · 02-01-2010, 12:54 PM

Thank you Grainlady.....I was always trying to figure such things out but never really seem to have the time....I too am the QUEEN of Managers Specials...I swear the see me coming....but I seem to have awsome luck lately in the great deals on meat i have been finding....I put a stop on it for a while because I wanted to try and reduc what I had in my freezers so it wouldn't go bad. But a few recent bargains I couldn't pass up..do you have any ideas about the rotation of your meat supplies...I hate to find a good cut of meat freezer burned because I simply forgot I had it.

**Grainlady** · 02-01-2010, 02:49 PM

Originally Posted by cmr3399

Thank you Grainlady.....I was always trying to figure such things out but never really seem to have the time....I too am the QUEEN of Managers Specials...I swear the see me coming....but I seem to have awsome luck lately in the great deals on meat i have been finding....I put a stop on it for a while because I wanted to try and reduc what I had in my freezers so it wouldn't go bad. But a few recent bargains I couldn't pass up..do you have any ideas about the rotation of your meat supplies...I hate to find a good cut of meat freezer burned because I simply forgot I had it.

cmr3399 - You're welcome.

I'm not much of a math. wizzard, so this was a quick guideline for me to follow because buying meat is more entailed than just price per pound.

I have to admit, my FoodSaver is the most valuable tool in the kitchen when it comes to keeping food for longer periods of time - both pantry foods and in the freezer. No freezer-burn and no changes in texture even after more than a year in the freezer.

I vacuum-seal foods in flat packages and "file" them in plastic baskets in the freezer. Last night I flipped through the beef basket and pulled out some frozen sliced roast beef from a previous meal for tonight as our "Big Meal" for the week, and also enough to make into lunch sandwiches tomorrow, and I'll toss some in the stir-fry on Wednesday.

I also cook a lot of meat before I freeze it in order to take up less space (no bones), or to portion it for use later. Example: I got 2 bone-in turkey breasts recently (99-cents a pound), bought one one week and stuck it in the freezer and got the second one the next week. I thawed and roasted them both at the same time, then sliced, portioned and vacuum-sealed it in user-friendly amounts. Refrigerated the bones and boiled them the next day and made concentrated turkey broth, which also went into the freezer.

I quick-freeze broth/soup/stew/chili in plastic containers (1/2-cup and 1-c. portions). Pop the cubes out when they are completely frozen. Stack the "cubes" and vacuum-seal them in a FoodSaver bag. Take out one (or more) and reseal the bag. This keeps the plastic storage containers in use, instead of in the freezer.

I pre-cook seasoned beef, pork or chicken for stir-fry and freeze it in vacuum-sealed bags. I can use the same pre-cooked meat in wraps for lunches or in a dinner salad. Pre-cooked taco meat, Sloppy Joe meat, spaghetti sauce, ground beef Stroganoff (sauce, no noodles), etc... All vacuum-sealed in bags.

My freezer is also pretty jam-packed and we're slowly eating our way out... I should stay away from the meat counter for the whole month (LOL).

**Shelli_wnj** · 02-01-2010, 05:17 PM

Grainlady - that is exactly what I was looking for. As usual, you are a wealth of information. thank you.

**cmr3399** · 02-02-2010, 08:07 AM

As Usual Thank You SOOOO very much GL.....I have the next few days off...I think I will sort the freezers and cook a bit.....

**NewLeaf** · 02-02-2010, 09:20 AM

The other day my dh was going to Ingles. I told him to look for Springer Mountain Farms chicken because I had 3 $1 off coupons expireing that day. He came home w/three packs of boneless chicken thighs.

Ea. pack was around 1.85 pounds/$1.29 per pound/$2.36 per pack. With the $1 off he got the packs of 6 boneless thighs for 1.36 per pack.

I chopped up one pack last night and cooked then added them to whole wheat noodles and alfredo sauce. We couldn't tell the differnce between thighs and breast meat.