We don’t know about you but Chrissy and I agree, catching a good deal on meat (especially beef) is our biggest challenge! The primary problem is that we don’t know enough about different cuts to understand what might be a good deal and what might be a waste. Even if you get meat very inexpensively, it’s wasteful if it’s a poor cut and your family doesn’t like it much…especially when you’re hoping for leftovers!
With grilling season just around the corner we’ve been thinking more about getting some steaks for a few special weekend dinners over the summer!
Here are some tips and resources to help you choose meat “centsably“!
First, look for the cut you want
Different cuts of meat are inherently more tender than others. Selecting cut in conjunction with a grade will ensure that you are paying the right price for the quality and help you discern a good deal from a not so good one!
Tender cuts of meat are muscles that the animal uses infrequently. The rib and loin sections are the least exercised and therefore will be the most tender.
Among these tender cuts is (listed in order of tenderness – most tender being the tenderloin).
- Tenderloin Steak (aka ‘Filet Mignon’),
- Rib Steak,
- Rib Eye steak,
- Porterhouse steak,
- T-bone steak,
- New York Steak,
- KC Strip Steak falls somewhere in here
- Flank Steak,
- Top Sirloin Steak
- Skirt Steak
Less-tender cuts of meat are muscles that are used frequently, and they are more flavorful as a result. The shoulder (or chuck), rump, round and legs are the most exercised and therefore will be the least tender, yet most flavorful.
Among these less tender cuts are:
- short ribs,
- pot roasts (chuck or rump)
- round roasts
- round steaks
(from Thundering Hooves.net)
Also read:
Information on Flavor and Tenderness (Thundering Hooves)
Healthy Cuts of Meat (Good Housekeeping)
Next is Grade Selection
When choosing a grade remember that the better the grade, the more marbling (aka intramuscular fat) or tenderness…so the less healthy for your heart. Also, if you can’t afford to buy organic meats, a leaner (standard and select) cut will lower the possible pesticides, hormones, antibiotics that could be in the meat. See post here about buying organic foods and why the fat % matters!
Grades from higher to lower (a relative relationship)
- Prime
- Choice
- Select
- Standard
There are grades below standard but these are typically used for processed foods.
I strongly encourage you to read the USDA’s article on buying meat. It discusses the grades and their meaning in very understandable terms (it’s about midway through the article).
Finally – Pricing!
The most exciting resource of all…a searchable database of average retail meat (beef, poultry, lamb,pork and veal) prices. It’s written in “economist-ease” so I will try to decode it for you a bit. I do have degree in economics after all!
First, select the year and month you want to view. I would suggest viewing 2005 since it was the most recent year of prices collected. Granted the prices have increased across the board but meat hasn’t increased enough to make this table out of date.
Second, select the specific cut of meat you are interested in.
Third, select a report style. There really is not a difference in this so long as you don’t select the “one observation per record” option.
When you click submit the database will return the information to you in table format. A key thing to note: the weighted price per lb is based on average prices across the country. The Midwest tends to run right at the average whereas the coasts may be just above or below it. You can comfortably ignore the rest of the data!
You may also download an excel table of current meat prices by cut/month for 2007 and 2008.
Hopefully this will help you make a more informed, frugal meat purchase! Next week we’ll talk more about buying poultry and fish!
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