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Calculating Meat Cost Per Serving

“Cost per serving? What in the heck is that?” you ask.

How many web sites and thrifty living books have you encountered that give vague statements about buying meat in cost-per-serving as opposed to cost-per-pound, then don’t tell you anything about it or how to do it?

I found the answer here, and a handy calculator is here.

The website document above contains a chart for quick and easy comparisons while in the store. I highly recommend you add the chart to your price books if you use one.
Why should you be concerned? Because price per pound does not exclude waste—bones, fat, gristle, and empty cavities containing frozen fluids (in the case of poultry--ice adds to the meat’s weight).

Before I found this site, I e-mailed my local Agricultural Extension office to ask about this meat-buying concept, and got the following e-mailed response:

“Boneless and ground meat (flank, tenderloin, boneless loin, sirloin butt, sirloin strip, round, liver, heart, kidneys, brains, sweetbreads, tongue, sausages, and wieners) will yield approximately 3-4 servings per pound. If you take the halfway point (3.5 servings), just divide the cost of the meat per pound by 3.5.

Meat with a medium amount of bone (rib roasts, rump roasts, chuck, chops, steaks, ham slices, loin roasts, and leg of lamb) will yield 2-3 servings per pound. Again, I would take the price of the meat per pound and divide it by 2.5.

Meat with a large amount of bone (short ribs, neck, breasts, brisket, shank, or shoulder cuts) generally gives 1.5 servings per pound. Divide the cost of the meat per pound by 1.5

It is very possible that although these cuts of meat may appear to be inexpensive when compared to other cuts on a per pound basis, when you calculate the cost per serving, some of these cuts may be quite expensive.”

Reference: Foundations of Food Preparation, 6th edition

Mystery solved.

Now I look at frozen hams, turkeys, ducks, and whole chickens in a new light—I think about how much waste is contained in the traditional holiday meats in the form of bones, fat, empty cavity space, and the leftovers that I will have to recycle into and disguise as various multitudes of other dishes…then there’s the expensive ice inside and out.

I’m sticking to boneless and nearly-boneless meats and calculating cost by the serving from now on. We’ve also switched to turkey thighs for the holidays—lots of solid meat, little fat, no gristle, one bone, and no leftovers. Sure, the solid, boneless (or nearly boneless) meat costs more per pound, but for your dollar, you're getting ALL MEAT with LITTLE WASTE.

Important principle: the more you cut up the meat (dice, shred, grind, etc.), the further it will stretch to feed each person. A 1/2 cup measure when raw (4 oz.) yields the recommended 3 oz. portion cooked.

Cooked meat can be frozen, and you can pre-prepare meals by cooking and freezing meat portions ahead of time, so cooking dinner can mean more like "thawing" dinner. Cook and cool ground meat, and scoop the equivalent measure of # of family members X 1/2 c. into a food storage container or zippy bag.

Example: 4 (# of family members) X 1/2 c. (meat measure) = 2 c. (quantity of meat to freeze for 1 meal)--the meat can either be stored raw or cooked ahead and stored.