Originally Posted by
DragonStryk72
Okay, so my buddy has once again graced me with 73/27 beef, as opposed to the usual 93|7 beef that I usually buy. I realized something: There are a lot of people pissing their money away on meat, by buying the fattiest meat on market.
The 27 and 7 respectively are, of course, how much fat there is. This isn't only a measure of how healthy the meat is, but it also changes your yield, and how much you're spending per lb.
Okay, so let's use one of those 3 lb tubes of beef as an example. The yield of actual meat works out like this:
73|27- yields 2.19 lbs of actual meat, cooks down to about 2 lbs depending on level of cooking.
93|7- yields 2.91 lbs of actual meat, down to about 2.75 lbs depending on cooking.
okay that's a difference of .72 lbs of meat per 3 lbs, or 2 1/3 lb burgers with some leftover unused meat.
Then, we have the fiscal difference. let's say that it's 3.49/lb for the 73/27, and 4.49/lb for the 93/7. you're actually paying closer to 4.75/lb with the 73|27, while with the 93|7, you're paying 4.62/lb of meat.
Even if you're on a budget, then the 93|7 allows you to get more out the meat you have, by allowing to use less meat per recipe, while still getting the same yield as you were get with the 73|27. You simply aren't having to purchase as much, thus saving you money, as opposed to costing more.
Now, some will say that the lower quality beef has better flavor, and there's an extent to which that is true... until you involve your spice-rack. simple things like adding salt, italian seasoning, and/or garlic salt, can give you a really rather lovely burger, while still saving on your overall food costs. For other items, such as meatsauce for spaghetti, you're really not going to get much difference in the taste of the meat, as the herbs, spice, and tomato override.
And thus concludes the lesson.