Buying Meat in Bulk

I realize that not everyone is a food hoarder like I am. It’s multi-generational. My grandmother had two huge deep freezers that could each hold at least two entire cows. My mom has more deep freezers that I can count, and two of them are at least as tall as the Jolly Green Giant. I guess maybe I am not quite as bad. I only have one upright deep freezer in addition to the freezers in both of my fridges – mind your business!!

I say all that to say this: I try to buy in bulk when I can, especially meat and other items that freeze well. I know not everyone can do that on their budget or with their available space, but it is something that I am able to do, and I feel like it does save money and time in the long run. 

We have several Sam’s Stores in our area, so I get bulk items there. Costco does the same. I also look for specials at the grocery store such as family packs of meat or discount pricing on meat. One of our local stores also has a special Saturday Meat Sale about once every month or so. If they have things that I know I can use, I will stock up. 

My biggest advice to you if you buy meat in bulk is to separate it into portions before freezing it, if you can. I usually portion by meals or maybe individually sometimes if it’s a large piece of meat. I used to wrap each portion in some plastic wrap and then in foil and label the outside so that I knew what was inside that foil – I didn’t need any surprise mystery meat! I finally got a vacuum sealer, so know I can seal it up in the bags and label the outside. I got one from Chef Preserve, so that bags are washable and reusable. I use an EXPO marker to label the bags. If you have a vacuum sealer, this is a great use for it.

Now that I have that in my freezer, I can plan my meals around what I have. I am not saying that you need to use all of it up the very next two weeks or so. Most meat will last for several months or longer, if sealed well, so don’t feel like you have to use it all right away. Now you can just pull out what you need when you need it. You can look back at the post about meal prepping for suggestions about thawing. And a friend of mine gave me a great suggestion. Put a small white board on your freezer and list out what you have and how many packages of it. That way, you know what is in your freezer for planning purposes, and as you use it, you can just change the number on the white board. Genius!! I have kept a list on paper, but it never occurred to me to use a white board. Thanks JB!! Just keep managing away! It can make the mundane a little more fun. Enjoy your meals!!