CONFESSIONS OF A BUTCHER, Eat Steak on a Hamburger Budget and Save $$$

A man loves the meat in his youth that he cannot endure in his age.
William Shakespeare

CONFESSIONS OF A BUTCHER, Eat Steak on a Hamburger Budget and Save $$$

Author: John Smith

Genre: Non-fiction, Frugal Living, Cookbook, Butchering

As I listened to the early morning news shows talking about how meat prices were escalating I thought of this book.  I’ve actually owned it for several years, but periodically refer back to it.

I first became familiar with it after I had spoke with a few butchers on how to cut large pieces of meat to meet my family’s needs for lower prices. One of them recommended this book.  To this day I thank him.

The hundred or so pages explain how often various cuts of meats ranging greatly in price are actually all the same piece of meat.  He explains how to cut, or substitute a far less expensive piece of meat for the same taste at a much lower price.

Here is an example of the information included in the book to give you an idea of the savings you could reap with just the knowledge in this book.

From page 7: “The rib eye is the same cut of beef as the prime rib or rib steak but without the bone.  Both the rib steak and prime rib are quite a bit cheaper than the rib eye (often two to three dollars a pound cheaper). Purchase whichever is cheapest.  If prime rib is cheaper ask the butcher to cut it into steaks for you.”

He then goes on to say that the eye of chuck steak, which is even cheaper than the other meats previously listed, is basically the same cut of meat as rib eye.  That it does have a little more marbling and may be slightly smaller, but they are the way to go for a good grilling steak at a much more reasonable price.

Since reading this years ago we’ve learned how to cut a good quality chuck roast into nice steaks, especially if we are marinating, for the charcoal grill.

The book deals with various cuts of beef, lamb, veal, pork, and chicken (did you know a roasting chicken is just a fat frying chicken?—compare the prices of the two in the grocery then go looking for a good size fryer to roast)

Later on in the book are a few recipes.  There are several helpful hints on cutting up the meat yourself if your local grocery does not have a butcher.

I would say this little book is worth its weight in gold, but that would be short changing the book because it is small and the money I’ve saved over the years from the knowledge I gained from is worth far more than that.

Jan who says save serious cash on meat costs and feed your family well in OK