Six Butcher Secrets to Save on Meat
When I think of frugality and meat – especially in the US, but increasingly in regions like Europe – the first thing that comes to mind is people’s devotion to tenderness. This is generally the Holy Grail quality that people look for in meat. In my opinion, this is the opposite approach to quantifying the quality of meat.
This post was originally published on Credit.com .
What you really need to focus on is the flavor of the meat. Meat – literally, muscle tissue, fiber, etc. – doesn’t taste much. (Much of the taste we get when eating meat comes from fats in and around muscle fibers.) The taste that is actually present in muscle tissue arises mainly from two factors: activity and old age. Tenderness arises mainly from two things: imprisonment and young age. I think you understand which one plays into the hands of the commercial meat industry. As they produce animals that grow faster and faster, they bring them up to market weight faster and faster, but the result is a lackluster taste.
We forget that you can solve the texture (tenderness) problem posthumously (after death). You can never add more natural meat flavor to a meat cut. If we focused on developing aroma in living animals, we could still achieve the desired tenderness of the final product. But that would turn the current industry approach upside down. (Not that that would be a bad thing.)
I should also add that contrary to popular belief, old animal meat is inherently free of unwanted texture. I refer to this in many of my seminars.
I bring it all up because there is an irony in how meat prices are in this country. You pay more for tenderness, but the smaller the cut, the tastier it tastes. That way, if you know what to do with the slices, you get more for your dollar, as well as make more flavorful meals.
Here are my tips for using these factors to your advantage when it comes to lower meat costs.
1. First of all, eat less meat and eat more vegetables.
Nothing cuts the cost of meat in our food budget like cutting back on consumption. Meat is often the most expensive ingredient we buy. It’s also what we abuse the most (besides sugar). We eat a lot more meat than our bodies need, which negatively affects our health as well as the resources that support the animals.
When choosing a serving size, choose between 4 and 6 ounces. Avoid large, single-serving cuts such as thick chops and steaks. Instead, share them with multiple people or buy foods that allow you to reduce individual portions.
Fill the empty plate with vegetables and cook them with healthy fats such as olive oil, coconut oil, or lard from healthy animals. Vegetables will provide you with more nutrients, and fat will help you feel fuller for longer without the stress on digestion that large amounts of meat can cause.
2. Buy whole animals whenever possible.
When you buy a whole animal, you save a lot on direct contact with the farmer. You reduce most of the overhead and intermediary costs associated with meat, while giving the farmer as much money as possible. You also know more about where this meat came from, if that worries you.
Smaller animals such as poultry or rabbits are bought whole and easily slaughtered at home. Larger animals such as sheep, pigs or cattle can be bought whole, in half, and sometimes in quarter. The carcass is cut into comfortable and recognizable cuts and then frozen for storage at home.
In addition, whole animals provide the opportunity to work with essential cooking ingredients that are otherwise not available or are more expensive when purchased separately. This includes bone and fat, two of the most important ingredients in nutrient-rich and flavorful cooking. Transforming bones into a base is fairly straightforward, and processing the fat, which can take a while (no pun intended) to clear, is worth the passive time.
Just because we can buy a whole animal does not automatically mean that it comes from local farmers. When we look at smaller animals like poultry and rabbits, the vast majority of them come from commercial activities. In that case, it would be nice to look at some measure of product quality, whether it’s humane certification ( animal welfare approval (AWA) and humane animal care (HFAC) are two good options) or just organic certification. Even so, buying whole carcasses is still an advantage, and these animals require very little meat to get what you want from them. (You can use most homemade knives to split a chicken, which you have learned from the myriad videos available on the Internet.) Even if you choose to fry the whole animal, you can leave the bones in the carcass and make a broth with them.
If you are more interested in bones, fat and organs, going to a local processor can often yield very cheap results, as many of their clients choose not to accept them. And smaller processors often don’t have the infrastructure to support them, so they’re just sent to rendering companies.
3. Avoid the middle portion of the meat and skip the tenderloin.
In America, most of the money earned from carcasses comes from an area called the middle meat – the span of meat along the spine from the 5th rib to the pelvis. From here, the rib, center and loin of pork are usually cut; Ribeye, Porterhouse, Tibon and New York Beef Steaks; and ribs, racks, loins, and saddle chops in sheep.
Instead of these more expensive and less flavorful nuggets, look just past the middle of the meat for nibbles that have the potential to offer more flavor. Look for chops in pork and lamb. If we talk about beef, pay attention to minced meat steaks, delmonico or fillets. They may take a little longer to cook at a lower temperature, but the result is more flavor and less cost.
And above all, skip the tenderloin. This is the most expensive cut, pound for pound, and also the least tasty .
4. Learn how to stew and fry.
The tastiest cuts are the ones that worked the hardest. (Refer to my previous point about what develops flavor in live animals.) These cuts often require longer and slower cooking. Think: drumsticks, hocks, brisket, brisket, drumsticks, etc. These cuts disintegrate during cooking to create a buttery sauce (part of the benefits of collagen hydrolysis into gelatin) that will enrich any meal; vegetables prepared with it will provide more nutrients; and any recipe will suggest ways to expand it far beyond the instant single-serving slices (like steaks or chops).
Since these are not instant cuts or roasts, or known medium-sized cuts, the cost of stewing and roasting is often much less.
5. Buy old or dual-use animals.
It might be a little tricky to find, but availability is increasing across the country, albeit slowly. Older animals are generally avoided due to the prejudice that they have poor texture and “wild taste”, but with the right care and posthumous conditions, older animals can provide a better product than their younger counterparts, and at a much more affordable price. This also applies to dual-use animals: livestock that have not been raised only for meat, such as dairy products, fiber, offspring, etc.
One way to find these animals is to find a reputable wool or dairy farm and find out what they are doing with their culled animals, which they dispose of at the end of the season. In these cases, you are likely to buy the whole carcass or half of the carcass (take a look at tip # 2 above), which can further reduce the cost.
6. Find and trust a knowledgeable butcher
Most recipes suggest recommended meats to work, but in many cases this is not an ONL option . Talk to your butcher about cheaper alternatives that can provide similar, if not better, results. Also, ask your butcher which cheaper cuts they recommend and some recommendations on how to cook them according to your cooking level. Your search can start here or here .
6 Secrets of Meat Saving on Meat | Credit.com