Daniella - Thank you for emailing me. Here's a little information on our meat purchases. Hopefully, it will help you out. If not email back, I will try to provide you with more information.
One thing that we have been discussing around our house is purchasing a half of beef. We definitely have the room for it but will we eat it. I've been tracking my meat purchases over the past 6 months. The majority of my spending is on poultry. The majority of the beef that we purchased was ground beef and roasts. Anytime I pick up meat it is on sale (definitely). I also have access to many different stores in my area - not just one or two. It's easy for me to shop around for my meat. I will say that I do not purchase meat at WalMart. In my area, they are the most expensive - a pound of ground beef the last time I checked was $3.99!
In October, I picked up the half of pig we had purchased so there really hasn't been any pork purchased except for a few rolls of sausage. It was our family owned pig that the boys showed at the local county fair. So, we pretty much paid for the pig and the butchering fees (not for the meat).
2 Pork Shoulder Roasts
2 Hams (they're huge)
7 pkgs - 4 Pork Loin Chops
1 Pork Loin Country Ribs
3 Pork Should Steak
1 Pork Spareribs
6 Smoked Bacon
6 Pork Sausage
The problem is - it's not boneless. I only eat boneless meat so this meat really hasn't been touched except for the sausage, bacon, ribs and 1 pkg of pork loin chops. So, when you are considering buying pork/beef like this, you need to have a game plan to eat it. It will be frozen when you get. I know some men (won't say names) like their steaks fresh - not coming from a freezer. Along with it being frozen, you need to be able to eat it before it gets freezer burn.
We're going to think about it over the next couple of weeks. With the kids' sports starting, spring/summer on the way, and my fiance working out of town about every other week, it might be best for us to wait until the fairs start back up. I'd hate for the meat to get freezer burn and have to be thrown out. I'll let you know how that all pans out. (As for pork, we'll be going in the next couple weeks to get our pig(s) for the fair.)
In our local area, these are the prices/cuts at one butcher. This will give you a general idea of the price and cuts that you could get. I say "could" because each butcher is different (both with cuts and price). You will find that there are some that let you pick your cuts and others that have the bundles pre-packaged.
Half Beef Bundle - $94.50
4 lbs Ground Beef (4 -1 lb pkgs)
4 lb Beef Patties (1 - 4 lb pkg)
2 Chuck Roasts
4 Cube Steaks
1 Rump Roast
2 Ribeyes or NY Strip Steak
1 Round Steak
2 T-Bone Steaks
1 Sirloin Steak
Half Pork Bundle - $44.50
6 Pork Chops
3 Pork Steaks
3 Smoked Ham Steaks
3 lb Brats or Italian Saugage (3 - 1 lb pkgs)
1 Country Rib
2 lbs Pork Loin Roast
3 lbs Smoked Bacon (3 - 1 lb pkgs)
2 lbs Sausage Links (2 - 1 lb pkgs)
2 lbs Sausage Bulk (2 - 1 lb pkgs)
I do stretch our meat purchases out as much as possible. We usually have at least one or two meals a week that are meatless. I also will make meals that don't require as much meat. A couple weeks ago I had two packs of chicken thawed (three breasts per package). My fiance was out of town and I didn't want it to go to waste so I made the base to Chicken 'n Dumplings, Italian Chicken, and shredded chicken for another casserole. All of it was cooked in crockpots which made the chicken tender and fell apart in chunks. I was able to easily separate it for the different meals. I froze all of it for use the following week.
Do you purchase your beef or pork this way? If so, have you found it to be a savings for your family? How do you stretch your family's meat purchases?
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