AndyH75
Regular Member
When I go shopping I tend to buy way too much meat and end up throwing a portion of it away. I have a family of 3, 2 adults and a 4 year old. Any suggestions on how much meat I should buy per week?
Buying meats - qty per person
- Thread starter AndyH75
- Start date
I think the answer to this depends on how many meals a week are you making which contain meat. I eat very little meat so I probably buy around 500g (1lb) of meat per week on average and sometimes none at all (that's for 2 adults). Are you including chicken?
What I'd suggest is buy whatever meat you like, or when it's on sale, and as soon as you get home, portion it out and whatever you're going to eat in the next few days, leave in the fridge, and freeze the rest.
It's two adults here, and I'll routinely buy six pounds of ground beef and freeze some of it in 1lb portions, and some of it in 1/3rd-pound patties.
I'll buy pork shoulders when they're on sale, and cut those down to 3-4lb pieces (a normal roast here is about 8lbs), chuck roasts are frequently buy-one-get-one and I just freeze those as-is.
Same with chicken, I'll buy a whole chicken, cut it up, and freeze it in two portions; a leg, wing, thigh, and breast in each pack.
Even brats, hot dogs, sausages, I'll usually freeze those in two-per servings.
It's two adults here, and I'll routinely buy six pounds of ground beef and freeze some of it in 1lb portions, and some of it in 1/3rd-pound patties.
I'll buy pork shoulders when they're on sale, and cut those down to 3-4lb pieces (a normal roast here is about 8lbs), chuck roasts are frequently buy-one-get-one and I just freeze those as-is.
Same with chicken, I'll buy a whole chicken, cut it up, and freeze it in two portions; a leg, wing, thigh, and breast in each pack.
Even brats, hot dogs, sausages, I'll usually freeze those in two-per servings.
mjd
Veteran
I follow the same routine as TastyReuben.
There are many sites that explain how to rotate freezer stock so nothing gets lost in the shuffle.
There are many sites that explain how to rotate freezer stock so nothing gets lost in the shuffle.
CookieMonster
Über Member
I buy meats to a menu plan.
sorta'. for winter times when we can be snowed/iced in for 4-5 days, we keep a stash of stuff in the freezer.
and then there's Costco.....we can buy Costco USDA Prime for the local market price of Choice.... however , , , , , in a package of "a lot" - so that also goes in the freezer. I've found the 'quality' of Prime grade beef does not suffer from freezing to the degree Choice does.
regardless.... two senior adults - a six ounce steak each is a big chunk-of-beef. 4-6 ounces (net) of beef/poultry/pork per person per meal is quite sufficient; likely not for a high school varsity football player , , , but for us - works.
the next issue to consider is bone in / boneless. I prefer to buy all beef and all pork "bone in."
exactly why and 'the proof' for people who think bone in cooks/tastes better is a flame war for a different time.
note that for some cuts there's not an issue. a "bone in" tenderloin.....does not exist.....
for "bone in" a serious % of purchase weight is 'lost' aka 'the bones.' depending on cut and trim, 30-50% "loss"
next issue - are you dealing with a butcher shop that will cut to your weight request - or a supermarket with stuff in styrofoam trays, take-it-or-leave-it? working a weekly menu plan allows for having a nice roast on Monday, and dicing up the leftovers on Wednesday for stew/chili/Shepherd's Pie/beef pot pie/etc/etc...
basically the answer to your question involves what you plan to eat - it's not a 'pound per week' situation.
sorta'. for winter times when we can be snowed/iced in for 4-5 days, we keep a stash of stuff in the freezer.
and then there's Costco.....we can buy Costco USDA Prime for the local market price of Choice.... however , , , , , in a package of "a lot" - so that also goes in the freezer. I've found the 'quality' of Prime grade beef does not suffer from freezing to the degree Choice does.
regardless.... two senior adults - a six ounce steak each is a big chunk-of-beef. 4-6 ounces (net) of beef/poultry/pork per person per meal is quite sufficient; likely not for a high school varsity football player , , , but for us - works.
the next issue to consider is bone in / boneless. I prefer to buy all beef and all pork "bone in."
exactly why and 'the proof' for people who think bone in cooks/tastes better is a flame war for a different time.
note that for some cuts there's not an issue. a "bone in" tenderloin.....does not exist.....
for "bone in" a serious % of purchase weight is 'lost' aka 'the bones.' depending on cut and trim, 30-50% "loss"
next issue - are you dealing with a butcher shop that will cut to your weight request - or a supermarket with stuff in styrofoam trays, take-it-or-leave-it? working a weekly menu plan allows for having a nice roast on Monday, and dicing up the leftovers on Wednesday for stew/chili/Shepherd's Pie/beef pot pie/etc/etc...
basically the answer to your question involves what you plan to eat - it's not a 'pound per week' situation.