# What's a meat to eat if your poor **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238 "2013-12-01T21:54:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/41 "2013-12-02T14:49:55Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Well, according to Democrat scare ads seniors resort to eating cans of pet food when real meat is too expensive. Just make sure you have a can opener if you go that route. I’m giving you a warning for an off-topic, completely out-of-the-blue political jab in a Cafe Society thread. **twickster** , for the SDMB ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/42 "2013-12-02T15:23:14Z")
Back in my meat-eating and “poverty days” I remember eating “fast fry steak.” It was thin slices of inexpensive steak that you cooked quickly in a frying pan. Just put a little BBQ, H1 or Worchestershire sauce on it to make it palatable. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/43 "2013-12-02T15:47:11Z")
If you can cook for yourself, you’ll be able to save a lot of money. Avoid fast food dollar menu type food and go for things like beans and rice or chicken in large quantities that you can break down into smaller portions and freeze. Hang in there, it gets better. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/44 "2013-12-02T16:47:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Cheap-meat-wise I would recommend bacon ‘misshapes’ (off-cuts) which butchers sell for cheap, which is fine if you’re planning to chop your bacon up anyway. > > Or ham hocks, which retail in my part of England at about £2 a go. While they have quite a lot of cartilage, bone and fat they do also yield a good amount of ham. What makes them less inexpensive though is the long cooking time - 2+ hours. I’ve used bacon “ends and pieces” for things like potato soup. Just a little bacon will go quite a long way, and for potato soup or beans, it really doesn’t matter whether or not the bacon started off in nice even slices. Around here, ham hocks cost about the same amount per pound as a ham steak, at least the last time I checked. :dubious: Since the ham steak has about ten times the amount of meat on it, that’s what I buy. I have no idea how ham hocks came to be priced so high. They are also quite frequently not available except right before New Year’s, because a lot of people eat blackeye peas for luck in the new year. Oxtails also seem to be priced pretty high for the amount of meat you get. I thought I’d try to make oxtail soup, but after looking at the price per pound, and seeing the amount of actual meat in the oxtails, I decided that I wasn’t actually that curious. Round steak does seem to be a good value, and it’s tasty, but it’s tough. The solution is to pound it into submission with a [meat tenderizer](http://www.amazon.com/Cast-Aluminum-Tenderizer-Mallet-Double-sided-Commercial-Grade/dp/B000YD76QE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1386002737&sr=8-2&keywords=meat+tenderizer+mallet), the sort that has little pyramids on the working surface. Then coat it with seasoned flour, fry it in some fat, and make chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/45 "2013-12-02T16:57:34Z")
Pork shoulder and fresh ham can also get quite cheap. I was out shopping today in the meat packing district and fresh hams (so, fresh pork from the hind quarter) were $0.99/lb and Boston butt (the upper part of the pork shoulder) were at $1.39/lb. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/46 "2013-12-02T17:05:37Z")
I just noticed that the OP has been banned. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/47 "2013-12-02T17:12:00Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I just noticed that the OP has been banned. Can’t afford meat, how could he afford to post? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/48 "2013-12-02T18:15:05Z")
I’ll have to see if I can find some of those bacon “off-cuts”. Almost everything I use bacon for, I chop it first anyway. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/49 "2013-12-02T18:29:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’ll have to see if I can find some of those bacon “off-cuts”. Almost everything I use bacon for, I chop it first anyway. I find it’s really hit or miss. Maybe about 10-20% of the groceries I shop at have it. It’s not quite as rare as the deli off-cuts. One of the groceries a bit from my house have deli meat ends (usually sliced as far as they could be) sold at around $1.50/lb. It all comes in a single package, about 4-6 different meats, so it’s great for those mixed-meat sandwiches. They do the same with cheese, at about the same price. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/50 "2013-12-02T18:36:17Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Can’t afford meat, how could he afford to post? Probably banned for affronts to good spelling. ---
**Author:** ![amorali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3e96dc/32.png) [@amorali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amorali)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/51 "2013-12-02T19:46:10Z")
Now he doesn’t get any pudding. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/52 "2013-12-03T00:15:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’ll have to see if I can find some of those bacon “off-cuts”. Almost everything I use bacon for, I chop it first anyway. Not all markets carry them, and of those that do carry them, I’ve found them in five or ten pound boxes…so I usually had to divvy up the box into freezer bags and freeze most of it. Bacon doesn’t keep indefinitely. I thought it was worth the small amount of trouble to do this, as I was paying about half price for bacon. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/53 "2013-12-03T00:39:30Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > HA! IF you live in or can easily get to a place that has abundant prey, maybe. Otherwise, hunting can be quite expensive and time-consuming. Growing up in a hunting family I was used to eating all sorts of game growing up. When I found myself in my early 20s, unemployed and living in Dallas I turned to what was available. I had a pellet gun with a 4x scope. A couple of blocks away was a big city park over-run with squirrels. I always had a crock pot going. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/54 "2013-12-03T00:46:22Z")
> [@SerafinaPekala](#): > > Kroger (at least the “ghetto” Kroger by my house) marks down their deli cold cuts when its closing time. I think you have to observe when the markdowns happen for your particular store tho. Yup. The trick is to get the about-to-be-thrown-out stuff. If you’re looking to stretch your meat money, look for the packages that have a big SALE sticker on them because they’re _almost_ expired. As long as you’re cooking and eating it right away, you’re good. Also, family packs are usually a better price per pound, but you need to put more money out at first to buy them, and you need freezer space to store the extra stuff. ---
**Author:** ![amorali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3e96dc/32.png) [@amorali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amorali)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/55 "2013-12-03T02:56:02Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > Growing up in a hunting family I was used to eating all sorts of game growing up. > > When I found myself in my early 20s, unemployed and living in Dallas I turned to what was available. I had a pellet gun with a 4x scope. A couple of blocks away was a big city park over-run with squirrels. I always had a crock pot going. Like I said if you already have the gun, etc, it would be free. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/56 "2013-12-03T08:15:54Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > Yup. The trick is to get the about-to-be-thrown-out stuff. If you’re looking to stretch your meat money, look for the packages that have a big SALE sticker on them because they’re _almost_ expired. As long as you’re cooking and eating it right away, you’re good. Or partitioning it and freezing. Just today, I bought a bunch of 5 lb packages of hamburger at my local Aldi that normally runs $13 for $6 each. Cut it up into patties and froze them, and I’m set for a while. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/57 "2013-12-03T12:00:53Z")
> [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](#): > > Liver! Liver and onions. Bacon to me works out pretty cheap and a bargain tastewise if you just use a couple of strips at a time. Fry your bacon, mix with an egg and dash of milk, salt and pepper then pour the mixture over the hot pasta and that will cook the egg. Poor mans carbonara. If there is a no shit butcher around, they might have [bacon ends](http://www.independentmeat.com/falls-brand/bacon/) - the place we go sells the funky slices and bacon ends all jumbled in a box - the perfect looking slices are packaged for normal sale, I think these are supposed to mainly be for the food service industry, for making like bacon crumbles and such from. I like making cabbage or lentil soups with bacon ends, or with spinach or greens as a hot wilted salad, slow cooked with green beans, chopped up and simmered in baked beans, in cabbage barley soup. Good for adding a bit of fat and bacon flavor into a recipe. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/58 "2013-12-03T20:05:02Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > Growing up in a hunting family I was used to eating all sorts of game growing up. > > When I found myself in my early 20s, unemployed and living in Dallas I turned to what was available. I had a pellet gun with a 4x scope. A couple of blocks away was a big city park over-run with squirrels. I always had a crock pot going. Was this legal? You need to have permission to hunt. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/59 "2013-12-03T20:23:10Z")
Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238/60 "2013-12-03T20:31:50Z")
Interesting thing, even tho the Op is now gone. If you check around, you’ll likely find LOTS of food for the poor. I did a Month on “food stamps’ for a project (no, I didn’t actually apply for them, I lived as if that was my food budget). Besides those, there was a large food box at St Joes’ cathedral\*, another church had free day old Trader Joes bread with huge bags of onions & taters, and the local park had no less than TWO free food lines. True, the diet was pretty bland, but very filling. - a large block of govt cheese, rice, beans, no-name cereal, powdered milk, tortillas, fresh veggies and fruit [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-meat-to-eat-if-your-poor/675238.md?page=4)