This tip comes from my reader Marie…
By a meat grinder. I know it sounds odd and time consuming but I love it. You can get a decent one for less then $40 and you can turn a sirloin steak into ground beef and not have to worry about all the extra bits the make their way into store ground beef. Buy some pork loin when it is on sale and wham ground pork with I have seen run almost $4 a pound here when the loin is only $2 a pound.
Do you own a meat grinder? I would love to hear your opinion on it!
Do you have a money saving tip you’d love to see featured on Couponing to Disney? Be sure to email it to me!
Wanna learn how to save even more money? Be sure to read through all the Let’s Save Some Money posts.
We just bought a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer with the intention of grinding our own meat. My hubby is a meat cutter….so this will be his thing. This tip makes me want to get on with buying the grinder. Top grade meat for cheap! Love it!
I tried this once and swore I would never do it again. The cut of meat that I got, looked like it had too much fat (we’re talking inches here!) so I trimmed it. After trimming, the amount of time it took, and the clean-up… I only saved about 20 cents per pound (we weighed it after all the grinding was done), and if you factor in the clean-up (HELLO, raw meat everywhere!) it just wasn’t worth it. Looking back, I would have to have a MUCH cheaper cut of meat, and NOT have the rugrats underfoot. ;)
My mom and I were just talking about this, so I’m intersted in reading the responses.
Funny, because where I shop, ground meat (I usually buy chuck) is always cheaper than even the cheapest cuts of beef. Even when it’s not on sale. Different areas, I suppose.
This is a great idea. Thanks for the idea! What are the best cuts of meats to save money but still have good quality ground beef?
Wow this post brings back some memories. I’m 30 and I remember sitting at the kitchen table as a little girl, with my mom and grandma when they would buy tons of meat on sale and grind it up and split it between our family, and my all my aunts and uncles families. Ziploc baggies everywhere full of ground meat. lol. Thanks for the memory. :)
One yummy tip that came from my hubby: If you’re grinding a lean meat to use for burgers (i.e. turkey or chicken breast) throw some bacon into the grinder and mix it in with the ground meat before forming your patties. The fat in the bacon will add moisture to the burger and the bacon itself adds flavor without having to cook it separately and garnish your burger with it later!
I registered for (and received as a gift) a meat grinder for my wedding 7 years ago and it’s still going strong. It’s a Waring Pro and I think it retailed for around $100. Originally, it was for my husband’s venison, but I use it for grinding up all cuts of meat now.
I have literally NEVER given this any thought, but this post has me considering! We actually skimp on the ground meats because they are so much more expensive than their whole counterparts on sale. Great idea, thanks!
I would love to hear a post like this about anyone who uses a grain mill. With 12 years of packing school lunches (and trips to Disney World : ) ) ahead of me, I am looking for some more information. I’m wondering if one could really save us some money and improve our nutrition!
I agree on the Kitchen Aid mixer. We use it to make our own sausages. I’ve also become a huge fan of blanching and freezing! If you can still find a Reynolds vacuum gun (we have them here for under $5) you can use the Foodsaver brand bags. DON’T use the Ziploc ones, they are the worst! They don’t seal properly and I lost a ton of food thanks to them. The Foodsaver bags are great, washable, and reusable.
My husband and I have been grinding our own meat for a few years. Our local store has BOGO meat which means very cheap ground meat. And for those of you who have a kitchen Aide mixer they make a meat grinding attachment for that!!
I have this “thing” about ground meats. Sausage, ground beef, even ground chicken…it totally grosses me out. UNLESS, I grind it myself! There is a restaurant supply store nearby that will have some cuts of beef for under $2 a pound, but you have to buy a really huge chunk. I just make ground beef, then put patties together and brown some (in ziploc bags) and I have quick dinners. The grinder I have is the attachment for my Kitchen Aid Mixer.
oooo-nice. Do you like that? I didn’t know they made one – where would I find one??
I’ve seen them at Herberger’s or wherever Kitchen Aid is sold. Maybe try Kohls or online.
i used to own a meat grinder it somehow got lost in the move before this one I LOVED it it was so easy to mix meats (like beef and sausage) for meatballs!!