Cheap meat/chicken ?

smile

Mon, Jun 15 2015, 7:46 pm

I feel that my meat bill is always so expensive. So I thought to get cheaper cuts of meat/chicken. However I don't know which ones are the cheapest and best.

Which cuts of beef is cheapest? (For tshulent or stew)
Also what's cheaper for chicken soup, Turkey or chicken? And which cut would be best for shabbos soup?
And which lamb cut is cheap but doesn't need long cooking/frying/baking?
If I want minced meat, which one do I ask for?

Any help would be appreciated.

ra_mom

Mon, Jun 15 2015, 8:10 pm

smile wrote:

It really depends on you butcher but in general

Kolichel is good for cholent
Chuck is good for stew
For chicken soup use bones
Breast of lamb is cheapest cut and really good
Standard ground meat is good (lean or extra lean costs more) or mixed grind with mix of chicken and meat

Mrs Bissli

Wed, Jun 17 2015, 8:07 am

For chicken soup--definitely chicken carcase and giblets are the cheapest and give
great flavour. Even cheaper is to use the whole roaster chicken for shabbat, save
the leftover carcase and make stock out of it.

Lamb--the cut that doesn't require long cooking IS EXPENSIVE, as in lamb chops.
Less expensive and similarly if not flavourful are lamb cutlet, which you can still
cook by grilling (though I prefer to marinate in advance). Even less expensive are
neck fillets--I prefer to braise this one slow and long, the added advantage is it
comes out very lean if you cook a day or two in advance, drain off all liquid and
lift off congealed fat.

Minced meat--turkey mince is the cheapest. I usually use 50:50 chuck mince and
minced turkey for my meatballs, comes out great.

It's not on your question, but buy the whole chicken and cut into pieces yourself.
Whole chicken is always cheaper than cut pieces or skinned/boned parts.

Another trick is to buy bulk (bonus pack), see if the butcher has weekday special
(a large chain where I live gives 10% off if paid in cash on Mondays).
If you are in London, there are several places where meats are cheaper (ignore
if not relevant).