cheaper cuts of meat

toria27

Hi all just a quick question. We are going out all day so are attempting to cook our beef joint in the SC. We are a bit nervous of this as so far have only done stews and rice pud in it.
If all goes well we will be using it a lot more, the joint we are using was not that cheap so can anyone tell me what cheap cuts of meat are good? I thought I saw a thread on this the other day but have been hunting for ages and can't find it could anyone please point me in the right direction.

Many thanks

lynzpower

cheaper cuts are things like

chicken wings
stewing beef
shin of beef
mutton
offal
pork ribs

heres an interesting article about what Gordon ramsay does with cheap cuts

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,4382-1560671,00.html

toria27

Thanks will look at that later OH loves Gordan Ramsey. I didn't think ribs would be cheap I suppose they cost a lot more when you buy them ready marinated or when out for a meal.

thriftlady_2

The cheap cuts tend to come from the front of the animal. The front legs do all the work hauling the back legs and rump about. This means the front bits tend to be more sinewy and tougher than the lean, tender back bits.

However they respond well to slow cooking (either in a slow cooker or the oven) and are really flavourful. When the connective tissue in the meat breaks down during cooking it makes for delicious meat.

Good cuts of cheap meat are;

pork
hand/knuckle
belly
trotters and head if you're adventurous
liver and kidneys

beef
shin - makes fab stew
brisket
oxtail
short ribs
chuck or stewing steak (not as cheap as shin)
tripe !
kidneys, heart

lamb
scrag end
breast
shoulder
liver,kidneys, hearts and tongue
shanks are good for slow cooking but aren't that cheap (not from my butcher anyway)

Game is also very reasonable in season -NOW
pheasants
pigeons
rabbits (bought one this week -wild for £3.99-it will serve the 5 of us well and you can probably get them cheaper)

The River Cottage Meat Book by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (from which I've lifted most of this info ), has excellent advice on cheap meat cookery and on slow-cooked dishes (although he doesn't use a SC you can cook any casserole/stew/braise in one.)

HTH:)

lynzpower

turkey legs are also dirt cheap, I did one of these not so long since, and although the flavour was nice all those shattering bits of sharp bone/ sinew put me right off doing it again :eek:

cordial

If you're willing to take the cholesterol hit, belly pork is such a flexible dish. The supermarkets virtually give it away, in comparison with what they charge for the prime cuts.

tawnyowls

You could reduce the fat a bit by cooking it, leaving it to cool and then skimming off the fat.

liz.._4

I get a pork hock from the local farmers market for 99p and make boston beans with it. The flavour is superb and therte is loads of meat. It is ideal for the sc too. Very tasty, economical and nutritious.

thriftlady_2

These slow-cooked meat dishes always produce lots of liquid/gravy. Never throw the leftover liquid away

Use it for soup the next day with beans/lentils/barley/veg added.
Use it as the liquid part of risotto.
Thicken it up and make gravy to have with a pie or sausages.
Use it as the liquid in a roux based sauce for a pie.
In short use it wherever you would use a stock cube.
Freeze it if you can't use it straight away.

Pink.

Hi toria,

We have an older thread on cheaper cuts of meat that should help so I've merged your thread with it to keep all the replies together.

Pink