Have you ever wondered what was the best price of ground beef when you have to drain off the fat? Well, I certainly have. Normally the leaner the beef is the higher the price is. But that is not always the end result after you drain off the fat. Now I won’t argue that fat is flavor but when it comes to ground beef, more fat can simply be a greasy mess!
Here’s how I figure the actual cost of the beef after I’ve drained the fat:
A 10-pound tube of 90% lean/10% fat is priced at $3.98/lb. The tube will cost $39.80 if it weighs exactly 10 lbs. Once the beef is cooked, you will have 9 lbs of beef & 1lb of fat. Take the $39.80 divided by 9lbs and the beef will actually cost $4.42/lb.
I usually check Sam’s Club & Albertsons. Albertsons doesn’t always have pricing, mostly only if their ground beef is on sale. To compare apples to apples, and for ease of calculating cost, I always assume I am buying exactly 10 lbs.
Here is the pricing I found before our last trip:
93% lean/7% fat was $4.78/lb which after cooked & drained became $5.12/lb.
90/10 at $3.98/lb after cooking & draining became$4.42/lb.
88/12 at$4.18/lb became $4.75/lb/
80/20 at $3.88/lb became $4.85/lb
Albertsons had only advertised 85/15 Hamburger patties. Since I had just made Hamburger patties and sealed
them in packages of two for the freezer, I didn’t really look at that item. I decided to go with the 10-pound tube of 90/10 as it was the best price after cooking and draining. I still had some 80/20 in the freezer, and this is fine if you’re browning the beef and plan to drain it. 90/10 is good for meatloaf, meatballs & casseroles but makes kind of a dry, tasteless burger.
We went to Albertsons first and were pleasantly surprised to find they had 85/15 ground beef on sale in large packages on a “buy one get one free” deal. The price was $5.98/lb but when you devide that in half then apply the 10 lb equation, it turns out to be $3.52/lb. Great deal!!
We ended up buying 4 packages (about 25 lbs) so I had my work cut out for the next morning. I got out my digital scale and the vacuum sealer and set to work. I got 12 x 2lb packages (I cooked the extra pound). We’ll be set for a while now.
I hope you find this helpful. As always, feel free to leave a comment and/or share your ideas. We look forward to hearing from you.
Patty & Doug
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