Meat can take a big chunk right out of the grocery budget, but unless your are vegetarian or vegan, chances are that you want to have at least some meat in your diet.
The type of meat you choose and how you buy your meat, as well as the way you prepare or cook it can save you money in this area. You don’t have to be resolved to tough fatty cuts of meat, either. Just use the following tips to save money on your meat purcahses.
Tougher cuts of meat cost less money. But you can have delicious, tender meals from tougher cuts and not even realize that you bought a tougher cut. Being able to cut meat like butter has a lot to do with the cooking methods that you choose.
For tougher cuts of meat, choose a cooking method that uses moist heat instead of dry heat. This will make the meat more tender and juicy. You’ll also want to use a slower cooking method. For tougher meat cuts, choose braising, boiling, or my favorite, slow cooking.
When you choose your meat, remember that the least amount of labor done to the meat means the lower the cost. So, avoid conveniently precut meat as much as possible and get whole meat as much as possible. A little known fact: you can often ask the butcher at your local supermarket to take a cut of meat and ground it for hamburger, for example, without any additional charge. Buy a whole chicken or turkey instead of just boneless breasts.
Buying in bulk can help defer some of your meat cost. There are the warehouse stores, of course, but you can also purchase your meat right off of the cow. You can buy a cow or half a cow from a local farmer who will also cut and package the meat. Obviously, with this kind of purchase you will need freezer space or a few friends to split the bounty.
You can read more blog posts by Mary Ann Romans here!
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