cheaper cuts of meat

wannabee_in_credit

Told you I was just learning...

I know mince is fairly cheap but can any of you lovely people tell me what the other cheaper cuts of meat are? I'm thinking beef brisket and pork belly but not sure.

And is it really cheaper to buy meat from butcher rather than at supermarkets?

BitterAndTwisted

Both of those cuts you mentioned are cheaper, as are neck of lamb, ham-hocks and beef shin.

The bonus of having a real, live butcher is that you can ask them questions and request recommendations for whatever dish you are thinking of cooking. They like doing that very much and loads of useful information can be had. Plus, it's only right that we resist the stranglehold the supermarkets have on everything retail. Keep a price-book and walk round your local supermarkets so that you know what the average current prices are. Then you'll know whether the butcher is offering keen value as well as decades of expertise and knowledge.

meritaten

you sure Belly Pork is cheaper? maybe from a good high street butcher, but those darned celebrity chefs have caused belly pork to rise dramatically in price! last time I was in adsa, the belly pork was actually comparable to rump steak in price per kilo! which is why you wont find me in adsa very often!
a good high street butcher will be able to tell you if you could use a 'cheaper' cut of meat for the meal you intend cooking! or get a good cookbook like 'good housekeeping' which will explain all the different cuts of meat, how to cook them and how they work in recipes! honestly hun - really good butchers dont mind at all if you ask them if you could use a cheaper cut in a recipe!
a mate of mine is a butcher, and he really cannot fathom why people fork out for fillet steak when a rump or rib eye is sooooo much tastier!

withabix

The meat in the yellow sticker fridge is usually the best value!

Butterfly_Brain

Ham hocks make a lovely meal and I go to my local butcher when I can get there (He is 3 miles away) You can get cuts of meat that supermarkups don't even do, such as aitch bone of beef and brisket my DH loves Ox heart and lambs liver. Lambs kidneys are the tenderest and you can make a lovely turbigo from them, a butcher will order anything hat you want you only have to ask.
Rabbit is cheap and tasty
A joint of pork is much cheaper than buying chops and you can slice and freeze what you don't use. Oxtail makes a cheap and tasty stew as does shin of beef. I always buy a whole chicken and joint it myself or roast it and rubberise it = roast on Sunday, curry stew or pie on Monday, Chicken soup on Tuesday.
I buy streaky bacon - the leanest that I can find and chop it up with scissors to add to pizzas, risotto and omelettes etc.

imogen-p

I buy most of my meat from a butchers stall in the market as I find it to be a lot cheaper than the supermarket - 75p a pound mince there, well over a pound in the supermarket. Belly pork at 1.49 a pound, I've not seen it in the supermarket.

Liver is good for cheap meat, as is ham shank. Pork, I've found, tends to be cheaper than either beef or chicken. Mutton is cheaper than lamb, although it's going up in price as well. Breast of lamb/mutton does okay if rolled round some stuffing, although if you like lean meat it's one to miss.

Pigs trotters are usually pretty cheap as well, although I've not cooked with them yet. I know there was something on the River Cottage cooking program that had a recipe for them.

Neck chops can be good for soup and stews.

Not exactly meat, but fish - in larger M0rris0ns store they do packs of what they call fish trimmings, which are mostly the edges off fillets salmon and smoked haddock. A pack big enough for a good sized fish pie used to a bit over a £. One good things about them as well is that because of where they are cut from they rarely have any bones in them.

thriftwizard

Our market butcher's doing pork hocks (same as ham without the salt) for £1 each - slow-cooked with onions, carrots etc. they are lovely, with lots of lean meat to make a casserole or similar for a main meal & pints of stock for good hearty soups; any skin, fat, gristle etc. goes out for the birds (both our chickens and the wild birds, who need fat to get through the winter) and the bones go into our green cone digester to feed next year's apple crop.
I'll also mention skirt of beef - not a well-known cut but extremely lean and tasty, and IMHO although it's not exactly cheap, it's very good value as there's little or no waste.

lollipopsarah

Cor I haven't seen trotters for years, I remember my dad loved them and would sit in the kitchen picking the meat from the bones, bit for him and bits for the cats/dog!
Thank you for bringing that back.
Breast of lamb used to be a cheap treat but now are a luxury - grrrrrr.
A good butcher is always happy to tell you how to cook stuff as long as you haven't got a fussy other half!!
More suggestions welcome please.
xx

wannabee_in_credit

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit but I have a friend whose hubby is a butcher. I will put it on my list of money saving things to do tomorrow.
Thanks to all of you.

meer53

I went to my local farm shop today to get some beef for Xmas day. Whilst i was there i got my daughters favourite - breast of lamb marinated in mint sauce. 99p per pack ! Mind you the fillet of beef was £28 ! Still cheaper than any supermarket and much nicer meat.