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.
These tender cuts include the following: (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 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
(information taken from Thundering Hooves.net)
Recommended Reading:
Next is Grade Selection
When choosing a grade remember that the better the grade, the more marbling (aka intramuscular fat) or tenderness…and the less healthy for your heart. Also, if you can’t afford to buy organic meats, a leaner (standard or select) cut will lower the quantity of pesticides, hormones or antibiotics that could be in the meat. See post here about buying organic foods and why the fat % matters!
Grades, listed from higher to lower (a relative relationship)
- Prime
- Choice
- Select
- Standard
There are grades below standard but these are typically used for processed (canned and pre-packed meals, hot dogs, etc.) 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. This database is scheduled to be updated in the next couple of months with newer data. It is still helpful to see the trends from the past few years. Just take into consideration that prices are currently rising at about 5% per year on average. Some of the database results and instructions are 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.
Follow me on Pinterest, Facebook and subscribe to my FREE newsletter!
