Tips To Stretch Your Meat Budget  – See Website Below For Even More Tips

When families cut back on the budget, the first target is usually meat.  Here are some tips to use in shopping which can give you delicious, high-quality beef, pork and chicken for a lot less money…. 

Beef and pork carcasses have four or five sections, called primals.  Butcher shops and supermarkets break these down into the pretty (and expensive) packaged cuts you see in the market.  By talking to the butcher working behind the meat counter, you can request cheaper and just as tasty cuts.  You just have to know what to ask for.   Most butchers will make these cuts at no extra charge.  Some will add a small charge to the cost of the meat.  In either case, you are still going to pay less than comparable cuts in the pretty packages out front. 

RIBEYE – very popular in Southern New Mexico.  Cut from the tender muscle over the backbone and ribs of beef (prime rib).  Ribeyes are well marbled, loaded with flavor and grill well.  Usually priced $10.99 to $12.99 per pound.  ALTERNATIVE – CHUCK EYE – virtually the same muscle as the ribeye but it is the section that extends into the chuck shoulder of the beef.   Ask the butcher to cut about a 4 inch roast off the front of the boneless chuck.  Then ask him/her to peel out the chuck eye and cut it into steaks.  Priced as low as $1.99 to $2.99 per pound.

 BEEF SHORT RIBS – great for barbequing or braising.  Comes from the cross rib, a section extending from the shoulder to the ribs.  Lots of bone and fat for $4.99 to $5.99 per pound ALTERNATIVE-FLATIRON – from the top of the shoulder blade. Delicious but not pretty with what seems to be a thick seam of gristle going down its center.  Actually, it’s not gristle but a gelatin-like substance which melts away when you cook it.

Watch for a sale on cross rib roasts then ask the butcher to carve a flatiron roast for you out of the cross rib.  Have him cut the flatiron into boneless country-style ribs.  More for your money, since there is no bone and at a cost of $1.99 to $2.99 per pound.

 GROUND BEEF – regular ground beef is so fatty that many folks pay more for the leaner version which can cost from $4.99 to $6.99 per pound.  ALTERNATIVE-BOTTOM ROUND – lean, meaty and inexpensive.  Ask your butcher (he should be “yours” by now) to grind up a bottom round roast which runs $1.99 to $2.99 per pound. 

PORK TENDERLOIN – the hog ‘filet mignon’ comes from the muscle inside the backbone runs about $5.99 to $7.99 per pound.  ALTERNATIVE – BONELESS LOIN ROAST – very tender, from a muscle near the backbone.  Your butcher can carve you an entire roast or cut it into medallions for frying, chucks for barbequeing or thin slices for stir-fried dishes.  Costs as low as $1.99 per pound 

ROASTING CHICKENS – really just large fryer chickens but priced at $1.69 to $1.89 per pound ALTENATIVE – WHOLE FRYERS for these you don’t need the butcher’s help.  Usually priced from $0.69 to $1.29 per pound. 

VEAL – meat from a male dairy calf has lighter color and a more delicate flavor than adult beef  ALTERNATIVE – BONELESS PORK SIRLOIN – a tender cut from the backbone of the hog near the hip, it’s almost the same color  and mild in flavor.  Ask your butcher to slice the pork sirloin very thin.  It makes a great substitute for veal parmesan or veal scallopini and can cost a little at $1.99 to #2.99 per pound. 

ITALIAN SAUSAGE – usually around $3.99 per pound in bulk and more if made into links. ALTERNATIVE – PORK SHOULDER BUTT – from the top portion of the front shoulder of the hog.  Well marbled but tougher than most because it is an active muscle.

Ask your butcher to grind it.  You can season it at home with Italian or breakfast sausage seasoning.  Without seasoning, substitute this for ground beef.  Cost can be as low as $0.99 per pound. 

For more information, checkout John Smith’s book “Confessions of a Butcher: Eating steak on a Hamburger Budget and Save $$$ or his website http://confessionsofabutchter.com