When I first started grocery shopping, I would buy our meat in 1 lb packages – because that is the amount I would need for our meal. I was intimidated by the large packages because it didn’t occur to me that I could separate the large packages of meat into smaller portions and freeze what I wasn’t going to use right away. I soon learned that buying the larger package could save me a lot of money!
I made a short video showing how to separate a 5 pound chub of ground chuck.
**If you are reading in a feed reader or email and cannot see the video, go HERE.
First of all, sorry for the poor quality of video! I don’t have a “real” video camera, my camera will allow me to record small portions of video though. Also, I meant to say 1 lb portions instead of 5 lb portions (oops!). I also wanted to mention that I like to wash the package before I cut it open so that I don’t transfer anything to the meat when opening it. One other thing, the flattened ground beef thaws much quicker than when it is frozen in a big lump!
So, if I got a 5 pound chub at $1.49 per pound, the entire 5 pounds cost me $7.45. If I were to buy five 1 pound packages at $1.99 per pound I would pay $9.95 for 5 pounds. By buying in bulk I saved $2.50 on 5 pounds of meat. As you can see, the video is just over 3 minutes long (and that’s with me talking too!). So, it only took me about 3 minutes to save $2.50! That translates to $50 per hour! Now, obviously, I’m not going to separate meat for an hour, but you get the picture. Little money saving efforts like these really do add up.
Hopefully this will help someone to save a little money. If you know of a better way to do this, please share!
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
If you really want to save money, you can buy your meat a half a cow at a time. Just make sure you’ve got lots of freezer space…
[Reply]
Stephanie Reply:
October 27th, 2009 at 12:14 am
Britney,
We purchased a half of a pig once, and it took up way more freezer space than we expected. I can imagine half a cow would take up even more. Totally a great idea though if you have the space!
[Reply]
You can buy 90/10 ground beef at Sam’s Club by the case for around 1.55/lb. I don’t know about where you live, but around here that’s about HALF what it costs in the store regularly. It’s 80lbs to a case. I just split it with 3 friends and we get 20lbs each. That keeps me in hamburger for about 4-5 months. You can do the same thing w/their whole pork loins. 50-60lbs/case and I split it with a friend. It’s really easy to cut them up into roasts and chops. They also do whole chickens, pork butt and several beef cuts by the case. If you have enough freezer space and a few friends willing to go in on it with you, it’s GREAT savings.
[Reply]
Stephanie Reply:
October 27th, 2009 at 12:14 am
Pamela,
That is such a great idea to split it with friends!
[Reply]
We buy a quarter cow every year, too. You get all kinds of cuts of meat — even steaks. It’s a little of a bit of money at one time but you end up saving tons in the end. We buy half a hog, too. Here’s my link to our purchase last year.
http://mommystimeout-mel.blogspot.com/2008/12/buying-meat-again.html
[Reply]
I buy 10lb rolls of 90/10 at Sam’s also. I use a tape measure and a marker to divide it into 10 one pound sections. It seems silly but it works.
[Reply]
Stephanie Reply:
October 27th, 2009 at 12:15 am
Heather,
That is so funny – my husband practically begged me to use a ruler! I prefer to wing it, lol!
[Reply]
My friend and I bought 40 lbs of chicken breast together (so we each took home 20 lbs) I froze half and canned the other half (in a pressure cooker).
What I do with a lot of my ground beef is to cook it first and THEN freeze it. That way on a really busy night, I can put it in spaghetti, chili, tacos and it’s so fast and easy! You can cook your 5 lb of meat in a big pot and end up with 5 freezer ziplocs of quick easy ready to go meat! A pound cooked is about 2 cups or so.
[Reply]
Stephanie Reply:
October 27th, 2009 at 8:41 am
Lisa,
I have never thought of canning meat! I’d love to hear more about your experience with canning!
[Reply]
As a working mom, I like to cook up the meat before I freeze it. This way, when I am in need of ideas to make dinner, I can just take out the package, add the seasoning or put it in a pot of spaghetti sauce and dinner’s halfway there!
[Reply]
Stephanie Reply:
October 27th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Nancy,
I like to pre-cook the meat too sometimes. It is a huge time saver on busy nights!
[Reply]
Stephanie Reply:
October 27th, 2009 at 10:23 am
I also precook most of my ground beef, I normally do 5 lbs at a time. I add onion and green pepper to it while I am frying it. This mix works for just about everything.
[Reply]
Stephanie,
I like to cut the 5 lb. chubs into pre-made hamburgers as well.. you just slice the thickness that you want and put them in freezer bags with wax paper in between so they don’t stick. Way cheaper than buying them already cut at the store!!
[Reply]
Stephanie Reply:
October 27th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Karen,
That is a great idea! I have heard of doing that, but I’ve never tried it myself.
[Reply]
When I am putting my meat in the bags, especially the snap seal ones, I will turn down the top of the bags about one small fold and after I add the meat I unfold it and I have a clean seal. This works well for the cheaper baggies that may not seal if you get anything on them.
[Reply]
Stephanie Reply:
October 27th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Sharon,
Thank you!! That is a great tip! So true that the meat gets stuck in the zipper and won’t close. I will try that next time!
[Reply]
I’m all about buying meat in bulk!!! I bought 45 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breast last week for $54! I was completely excited! If only I had freezer space for more!
Jennifer
http://www.bowdaciousbaby.etsy.com
[Reply]
Hi Steph,
I know it sounds dumb, but it never occurred to me to flatten out the meat and freeze it that way…lol…I have about 12 “lumps” of burger hogging up the freezer right now
Thanks for the tip!
[Reply]
Stephanie Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Kimberly,
I froze the meat in lumps for YEARS before it occurred to me to flatten it!
[Reply]