Oh, meat, meat, meat... why are your prices so high?
And if you are like me, you might only know what are "good prices" to pay for the two or three cuts of meat that you buy most often. The rest, is a mystery! I swear there seems to be at least 100 different cuts of various kinds of meat out there. How is a poor soul to keep track of it all?
That is why I sent a message to Kent's Market this week and wanted to share their response with you. I hope it is informative.
But first, what would I pay? That is so hard to say. For chicken, I try never to pay more than $2 a pound for boneless skinless chicken breasts. Any time I see this kind of chicken on sale with a price that starts with a number 1 (even if it is just $1.99 a pound) I run out to check my deep freeze and see if I need to pick up a pound or two. When it gets as low as $1.75 a pound, then I buy more. If I ever saw it for $1.50 or less, I think I would buy as much as I could fit in my freezer!
We also buy a lot of hamburger. I used to have the same rule of thumb for ground beef prices as chicken, but holding out for those "under two dollar sales" has left me with almost no hamburger in my freezer once or twice. What's a spaghetti loving girl to do with no ground beef in the house?!! So, I have had to adjust my thinking. I now figure I can buy a pound or two if I am desperate when the price is under $3 a pound. Any time I see hamburger on sale with a price that start with a number 2, I take a peek at my stash. When it is closer to $2.50 a pound, I feel pretty good about grabbing the larger ten pound bags. Anything under $2.50 would be considered an awesome stock-up price for me.
Now, I am not an authority on the subject, but those are my guidelines. Other cuts of meat are harder for me to figure out because my family just doesn't eat that much. So, here is what a manager at Kent's had to say:
Message from The Queen:
When I am grocery shopping, one of the things I have the hardest time with is knowing when all the different cuts of meat are on sale for great prices. Is there any advice you can offer to help with this? Do the really SUPER deals have special tags, special colored signs, or any way to know that it is a great time to stock up the freezer? I just can't tell.
Response from a Kent's Manager:
The meat manager had left when I saw this message, but I asked one of his guys the best way to reply to your question. He said that on Saturdays they do alot of good deals because they look at what they may be heavy on and will wheel them out on racks for quick sale. Meat prices are through the roof everywhere right now. Good for cow farmers not so good for us. We have alot of Saturday-Only sales once or twice a month and those are great times to stock up. We post our ad on Facebook each week and typically the front page items are the hottest, so keep your eyes out for those blow out sales. We are having one this Saturday. Take a look at it. Hopefully this helps a little. Thanks, Layne Julander ( store manager) **Also don't ever be afraid to ring the bell in the meat department and ask them to educate you on what is the best deal.
This is a great post, but have you ever thought about buying a cow? We just bought a half and with everything we've got it comes out to be about $1.99 a pound. Steaks, Roasts, and Hamburger! =)
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