Meat-buying tips for your next barbecue
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Yahoo! Finance offers some tips on "Slicing the costs of a backyard barbecue".
- Choose an equally good, but less popular, cut.
- Buy a larger section, and do some of the cutting yourself. (Bulk buying for meat lovers.)
- Buy seasonally, when supply is up and demand is down, and freeze.
- Want good taste and a good bargain? Buy what’s fresh, cheap and plentiful.
“My advice would be to not plan the menu and buy the product,” says Peter Vaillancourt, instructor with Johnson & Wales, a culinary arts and food service school. Instead, “Check out the meat, the price, then plan the menu.”
Many times, you can get the same cut, or something as good, just by learning where on the animal a particular piece originates. One example: Blade-end pork chops run about $1.99 per pound, says Vaillancourt. A popular pork item known as “country-style spareribs” runs about $3.99 per pound. It’s the same meat, cut differently.
“Every time you touch meat with a knife, you change its name and its price,” he says.
I just got back from bargain hunting at the supermarket.
My husband gets a kick out of me because I make a game out of planning bargain meals.
The object is to make the best meal, for as little money possible, while still using all name brands.
I’ve brought in meals for under 7 bucks that produced leftovers!
Great blog here
Another good way to save is to buy quality meat at a wholesaler like Sam’s or CostCo, then freeze it until you are ready to use it.