Best bang for your buck on meats

I can get uncut pork loin slabs for $2/# and chicken breasts for 99 cents/#. Both are excellent high protein/low fat meat sources.

Lillymoo01 wrote: »

Cbean08 wrote: »

Chicken thighs! Considerably less expensive than chicken breasts and still high protein. A lot of people think they taste better too.

If you know how to take apart a bird, you can buy a whole chicken/turkey and de-bone it yourself.

If you are local to farms, you can see if a local farm has a butcher on site who will sell you the meat at a wholesale cost.

When you do buy in bulk, freeze what you don't use and de frost when you're ready to eat it.

In Australia, it is the other way around and thighs are more expensive than the breast!

True. I was blaming to chefs, they've cause lamb shanks to go up as well..... But my husband said it's to do with filleting. It's one cut to get breast of a bone, and two cuts and more skill to fillet a thigh. He worked in a chicken processing factory at one point.

my weekly meat purchases are determined by what is on sale when i shop around - i've previously bought in bulk and frozen (through like sam's club) - but in the long run is discovered i preferred my meat a bit fresher (although I tended to forget about stuff in the freezer)

watts6151 wrote: »

Some of my staples are
Turkey and beef mince, I usually buy
In bulk, separate into the portion size and freeze

I buy in bulk, cook in bulk, and freeze a few meals so I don't have to cook as much.

I buy meat from sams club, portion it out and put in the freezer.

Costco and Sam's have already cooked rotisseries chickens for $5 here (St. Louis MO).

My daughter gets off work at 8 AM and heads to our local limited-choice grocery store, as they put out the meats first thing that must sell that day for 1/2 price! (I just freeze what I'm not going to cook that day.) Whole chicken, chicken thights, and leg quarters are almost always a good buy, even at full price. Beef is just too expensive for me anytime, plus I don't eat it anyways, per my doctor's advice. Ground turkey is great for anything you might use ground beef for, and has the added benefit that it doesn't cook down as much as beef. Tuna is also very versatile.

Buy on sale. Also, some stores have quantity discounts. My local store, for example, sells ground beef cheaper by the tube (10 lb.). That is how they get it, I think.

Beef I can usually get steaks or roasts at $3 per lb. and ground beef at $2.50 per lb. Sometimes at less, such as a sale this week for $1.88/lb. ground beef (but a limit of 4 lb.).

Pork and chicken are much cheaper, but that may vary by region. I can get pork cuts like bacon ends and pieces or other cutlets in boxes of 5 lb. for $8-$12. And usually can get fresh cuts of pork at $1-$2 per lb. on sale.

Chicken is often even less. Hind quarters are usually cheapest and sometimes 29 cents per lb.

If you have a freezer, use sales throughout the year. Turkey and ham sales at Nov and Dec., fish around lent (I get frozen pollock cheap then), pork and beef around grilling holidays - Memorial day, Independence day, Labor day.

Lastly, if you have equipment, time, land access, and knowledge; you can hunt or fish. Be careful because locker fees can be expensive. This really only works for big game if you skin and bone it yourself. I am hoping to get my garage clean enough this year to be willing to do that myself (for deer). Of course, squirrel and rabbit (and fish); I just take care of in my kitchen after leaving certain parts in the field anyway.

Ok, one more... may or may not be worth it. Depends on various factors: Buy an animal or part of an animal and butchering fees. I bought 1/4 cow recently and butcher fees, and it was cheaper than higher end steaks, but not cheaper than hamburger and cheap cuts. It was a good deal for the cuts I got, but not if I was looking to save money and buy mostly hamburger.