Meat for Frugal Folk…
Discussion
I recently watched a short clip where a guy bought a whole salmon, filleted, de boned and cut into steaks. He showed the exact salmon steaks we buy at around £6 for 2 and showed how much he got from an entire salmon, bottom line was he saved £50.
We have freezer and fridge space and we cook every night and often for lunches too, so we spend a fortune on protein. Now the kids are approaching teenage years I believe this is about to get even more expensive.
What other ways of saving can we adopt from buying in bulk, or buying certain joints and making cuts. I read one chap say they buy a rib of beef and cuts his own ribeyes as they're rarely as thick as he likes off the shelf, and he saved money.
Any tips, and where to buy. I'm guessing supermarkets are not ideal for this as they tend to do the portioning up for us and reap the profits.
Ideas please!
We have freezer and fridge space and we cook every night and often for lunches too, so we spend a fortune on protein. Now the kids are approaching teenage years I believe this is about to get even more expensive.
What other ways of saving can we adopt from buying in bulk, or buying certain joints and making cuts. I read one chap say they buy a rib of beef and cuts his own ribeyes as they're rarely as thick as he likes off the shelf, and he saved money.
Any tips, and where to buy. I'm guessing supermarkets are not ideal for this as they tend to do the portioning up for us and reap the profits.
Ideas please!
My sister was a single parent with two growing teenage sons.
She would get three meals for all of them out of one chicken.
Roast on Sunday
Monday was chicken fried rice
Tuesday was chicken pie (she used to add a tin of condensed soup as a sauce).
The bones etc went into a pot to make a broth.
It isn't hard, just time consuming
We have liver twice a month. Pigs liver is cheap.
She would get three meals for all of them out of one chicken.
Roast on Sunday
Monday was chicken fried rice
Tuesday was chicken pie (she used to add a tin of condensed soup as a sauce).
The bones etc went into a pot to make a broth.
It isn't hard, just time consuming
We have liver twice a month. Pigs liver is cheap.
Slow.Patrol said:
My sister was a single parent with two growing teenage sons.
She would get three meals for all of them out of one chicken.
Roast on Sunday
Monday was chicken fried rice
Tuesday was chicken pie (she used to add a tin of condensed soup as a sauce).
The bones etc went into a pot to make a broth.
It isn't hard, just time consuming
We have liver twice a month. Pigs liver is cheap.
We do that with roast chicken, very rarely buy portioned chicken. I was thinking of trying to buy a big pork joint then cut it into chops.She would get three meals for all of them out of one chicken.
Roast on Sunday
Monday was chicken fried rice
Tuesday was chicken pie (she used to add a tin of condensed soup as a sauce).
The bones etc went into a pot to make a broth.
It isn't hard, just time consuming
We have liver twice a month. Pigs liver is cheap.
The real cost isn’t usually the meat itself—it’s the labor involved in cutting it up.
For example, you can get a whole lamb for £9 per kilo and butcher it yourself. But if you buy it as a "lamb box," you're looking at at least double that price. If you buy it in pre-cut pieces from the butcher, it’s probably going to cost you 30% more than that.
Same goes for chicken. If you buy a whole chicken and cut it into parts (breasts, wings, legs, thighs, fillets, and keep the carcass), the cost per kilo drops significantly compared to buying individual breasts.
I prefer buying higher-quality meat and butchering it myself—mainly because I enjoy it—rather than paying more for lower-quality cuts and then trying to save by cutting them up myself. For instance, I buy organic free range chickens for around 2-2.3 kg for €7 per kilo. If I were to buy the breasts from the same birds, they’d cost €16 per kilo, which makes no sense to me. For the same price, I get two huge breasts and the rest of the chicken, including all the other parts.
This applies to meat, fish, or anything pre-prepared. Just buy the whole cuts and do the work yourself.
Cooking is a hobby of mine, and I'm pretty skilled at it, so it's no trouble for me. But I honestly believe that every home cook should learn basic butchery. It's a valuable skill that not only saves you money but also elevates your cooking in ways you might not expect.
For example, you can get a whole lamb for £9 per kilo and butcher it yourself. But if you buy it as a "lamb box," you're looking at at least double that price. If you buy it in pre-cut pieces from the butcher, it’s probably going to cost you 30% more than that.
Same goes for chicken. If you buy a whole chicken and cut it into parts (breasts, wings, legs, thighs, fillets, and keep the carcass), the cost per kilo drops significantly compared to buying individual breasts.
I prefer buying higher-quality meat and butchering it myself—mainly because I enjoy it—rather than paying more for lower-quality cuts and then trying to save by cutting them up myself. For instance, I buy organic free range chickens for around 2-2.3 kg for €7 per kilo. If I were to buy the breasts from the same birds, they’d cost €16 per kilo, which makes no sense to me. For the same price, I get two huge breasts and the rest of the chicken, including all the other parts.
This applies to meat, fish, or anything pre-prepared. Just buy the whole cuts and do the work yourself.
Cooking is a hobby of mine, and I'm pretty skilled at it, so it's no trouble for me. But I honestly believe that every home cook should learn basic butchery. It's a valuable skill that not only saves you money but also elevates your cooking in ways you might not expect.
Bang on about cost of butchering/mongering.
These clips you see on socials do my head in.
Also You'll need a decent knife for starters to cut decent salmon.
My mum used to do us liver and kidneys from memory as a kid with bacon and onions, I didn't mind the liver but kidneys were a non starter.
You can get a few meals out of a leg of lamb, pork loin etc.
I always go for chicken thighs rather than breast for a curry.
These clips you see on socials do my head in.
Also You'll need a decent knife for starters to cut decent salmon.
My mum used to do us liver and kidneys from memory as a kid with bacon and onions, I didn't mind the liver but kidneys were a non starter.
You can get a few meals out of a leg of lamb, pork loin etc.
I always go for chicken thighs rather than breast for a curry.
A local small holder near us will take money up front to raise a lamb or pig for you, (or actually half an animal, if a whole one is too much) then have it slaughtered and butchered for you. You need a bit of freezer space, but it is relatively cheap and very high quality meat. It does also challenge you to use all the bits that get delivered. For example, there are four trotters at the bottom of the freezer waiting for me to have a good idea. And you can go visit the animal animal while it's still alive, if that's your thing. We've found suppliers like this in a couple of places we've lived, so I imagine there are a fair few of them out there, if you can track them down. Probably worth asking in your local "health food" shop/hippy emporium. Even if they're all lentil slurping vegans, they'll probably still be in the loop for local "ethical" meat producers.
Continue with the meat -
Introduce alternative foods/meals with high protein - lower cost
Cheddar cheese 25g protein/ 100gr - cheese pie once week
Mussels 25g protein/ 100gr - Farmfoods ? 700-800g £4 - moule marinieres once a week
Peanut butter - all 25g protein /100gr - Big spoon - My go to breakfast - Filling for several hours -
Almond butter
Cashew butter
Beef is better value than chicken - pork - bacon because of the water content in the latter.
Not to everyones taste - one of my top five - pilchard curry - unbelievably satisfying ! - can give you the recipe
:
Introduce alternative foods/meals with high protein - lower cost
Cheddar cheese 25g protein/ 100gr - cheese pie once week
Mussels 25g protein/ 100gr - Farmfoods ? 700-800g £4 - moule marinieres once a week
Peanut butter - all 25g protein /100gr - Big spoon - My go to breakfast - Filling for several hours -
Almond butter
Cashew butter
Beef is better value than chicken - pork - bacon because of the water content in the latter.
Not to everyones taste - one of my top five - pilchard curry - unbelievably satisfying ! - can give you the recipe
:We buy whole fish (occasionally catch them) and buy bigger cuts of meat of whole birds for portioning and butchering. Now and then I get a whole muntjac, don't have the space for a larger dear or hogget unfortunately.
Portioning and butchering your own meat and fish is also very satisfying and allows you to cut to the size you want.
Foraging is another good thing to get into for a whole of reasons. Amazing ingredients, super fresh and can save loads of cash.
Portioning and butchering your own meat and fish is also very satisfying and allows you to cut to the size you want.
Foraging is another good thing to get into for a whole of reasons. Amazing ingredients, super fresh and can save loads of cash.
If you’re on Facebook look at one of the “Giving up the Game” pages for your locality.
Just missed the pheasant/partridge season which ended at weekend but if you’d any shot around you you’d have gotten them for anything between free & 50p each.
Deer are however culled throughout the year managing populations, a roe deer carcass has such little value it’s not worth taking them to game dealer… (which means less poachers & deer numbers growing)
Learn how to handle birds & animals from feather/fur & there’s loads of possibilities.
Lots of folk with pigeons (like fillet steak) on the go too.
Youtube educator “Scott Rea” is fantastic at teaching folk to cut up things - even what you buy in the supermarket - portioning down a whole chicken or deboning a box of thighs brings substantial savings (& bones for stick for risottos/noodles etc
If it’s just cheapness though pork is so inexpensive
Just missed the pheasant/partridge season which ended at weekend but if you’d any shot around you you’d have gotten them for anything between free & 50p each.
Deer are however culled throughout the year managing populations, a roe deer carcass has such little value it’s not worth taking them to game dealer… (which means less poachers & deer numbers growing)
Learn how to handle birds & animals from feather/fur & there’s loads of possibilities.
Lots of folk with pigeons (like fillet steak) on the go too.
Youtube educator “Scott Rea” is fantastic at teaching folk to cut up things - even what you buy in the supermarket - portioning down a whole chicken or deboning a box of thighs brings substantial savings (& bones for stick for risottos/noodles etc
If it’s just cheapness though pork is so inexpensive
As above, pork is often king for value.
Big lump of shoulder, between £5-8 can be roast or slow cooked for pulled pork. Leftovers in chillis, tacos or similar.
Pork loin, £15 for a considerable length. We've just had one and divvied it up into approx. four meals - a couple of decent joints for roasting and some nice thick loin chops.
Any leftovers from the loin makes good stir fried pork diced up and tossed in korean bbq/teriyaki type sauce.
Despite my initial reservations, adding lentils to anything that you use mince for helps make it go further and doesn't detract in any significant way. A bolognese cooked with sofrito/mirepoix, mince, lentils, chopped tomatoes etc can easily feed four people one night, then bolstered with a couple or three tins of beans of your choice and appropriate spices (a sachet will do) and you've got a chili that'll feed the same again with leftovers for the freezer. Aldi cost - about £8 including a bag of pasta and a bag of rice.
Inspiring, perhaps not, but as a two night filler every now and again, it does a job.
Big lump of shoulder, between £5-8 can be roast or slow cooked for pulled pork. Leftovers in chillis, tacos or similar.
Pork loin, £15 for a considerable length. We've just had one and divvied it up into approx. four meals - a couple of decent joints for roasting and some nice thick loin chops.
Any leftovers from the loin makes good stir fried pork diced up and tossed in korean bbq/teriyaki type sauce.
Despite my initial reservations, adding lentils to anything that you use mince for helps make it go further and doesn't detract in any significant way. A bolognese cooked with sofrito/mirepoix, mince, lentils, chopped tomatoes etc can easily feed four people one night, then bolstered with a couple or three tins of beans of your choice and appropriate spices (a sachet will do) and you've got a chili that'll feed the same again with leftovers for the freezer. Aldi cost - about £8 including a bag of pasta and a bag of rice.
Inspiring, perhaps not, but as a two night filler every now and again, it does a job.
Realistically, you are not going to save a lot unless you can buy from a commercial supplier. A few % here and there. I occasionally buy whole sets of ribs (beef) and but steaks etc when its down to 6-7 a kilo but even then you are not saving a huge amount.
As has already been suggested buying whole chicken is the simplest and most effective for a domestic situation. You get far larger cuts from a whole bird rather than pre-cut portions.
I started a thread on butchery a long time ago, might be worth a search.
Also as mentioned, pork is just about the cheapest thing out there. Previously cheap cuts of beef in particular really dont exist anymore. I recently bought lamb neck and paid more than leg and ox cheek was more than topside.
Frozen vacuum packed portions are the best option to save on fish, I have two salmon and cod to portion today at work, still comes out at about 2.40 a portion for salmon and 2.20+ for cod, thats buying 180 worth a week direct from Plymouth market.
As has already been suggested buying whole chicken is the simplest and most effective for a domestic situation. You get far larger cuts from a whole bird rather than pre-cut portions.
I started a thread on butchery a long time ago, might be worth a search.
Also as mentioned, pork is just about the cheapest thing out there. Previously cheap cuts of beef in particular really dont exist anymore. I recently bought lamb neck and paid more than leg and ox cheek was more than topside.
Frozen vacuum packed portions are the best option to save on fish, I have two salmon and cod to portion today at work, still comes out at about 2.40 a portion for salmon and 2.20+ for cod, thats buying 180 worth a week direct from Plymouth market.
What’s the group thoughts on yellow stickered supermarket meat? I got a pork shoulder joint at the weekend for £1.70 that’s now in the freezer. The liver etc that was talked about previously seems to turn up in my local Morrisons regularly for pennies. Chicken breasts seem to be a rare thing in that section these days, but if your luck’s in, a whole chicken can sometimes be had for £1.50-£2.
The price of beef makes it easy to eat less of it these days, which I basically what I do. I do miss what used to be the cheap cuts like shin of beef, bavette steak and, my particular favourite, pork cheek. These are now more expensive than the regular cuts, as Tony says.
Instead I eat more vegetable and non-meat protein generally, a simple dal of redl lentils or chana dal with some spicy greens is delicious, healthy and about as cheap a meal as you can get. I do us one every week usually. Leftovers for lunch.
For special occasions, dal mahkni/black dal is a fine thing and still super thrifty, if not quite so good on the health front as it is full of ghee and milk;). Takes a little planning as you have to soak the pulses overnight but well worth doing.
Instead I eat more vegetable and non-meat protein generally, a simple dal of redl lentils or chana dal with some spicy greens is delicious, healthy and about as cheap a meal as you can get. I do us one every week usually. Leftovers for lunch.
For special occasions, dal mahkni/black dal is a fine thing and still super thrifty, if not quite so good on the health front as it is full of ghee and milk;). Takes a little planning as you have to soak the pulses overnight but well worth doing.
Yellow Stickers are ok. BUT I'd generally avoid fish and seafood. Had a bad experience with the fish counter at Morrisons once and yellow stickered sole. Fish needs to be as fresh as possible.
Offal like hearts and livers I don't eat 'cos I don't like it but I have bought them for the dog on occasion as so cheap when yellow stickered.
Offal like hearts and livers I don't eat 'cos I don't like it but I have bought them for the dog on occasion as so cheap when yellow stickered.
It's worth trying to find a decent butcher, it often looks like thier stuff is more expensive but in my experience there's twice as much meat on a similar sized chicken from the butcher as there is on one for a supermarket
jonathan_roberts said:
The real cost isn’t usually the meat itself—it’s the labor involved in cutting it up.
<snip>
Cooking is a hobby of mine, and I'm pretty skilled at it, so it's no trouble for me. But I honestly believe that every home cook should learn basic butchery. It's a valuable skill that not only saves you money but also elevates your cooking in ways you might not expect.
The time difference can be huge but if you have the time can definitely save you money. I did a turducken one Christmas and boned them all myself, took me ages. The following year I did it again and chatting to the butcher when I went to get the turkey he asked if I wanted it boned, it took him about a 2 minutes <snip>
Cooking is a hobby of mine, and I'm pretty skilled at it, so it's no trouble for me. But I honestly believe that every home cook should learn basic butchery. It's a valuable skill that not only saves you money but also elevates your cooking in ways you might not expect.
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