Anyone else stock up on beef/meats around the holidays?

[HeatherC]

Every year around the holidays I stock up on whatever is on sale. At Thanksgiving I picked up two spiral hams for about .98 a lb which is a great deal here. Yesterday, I ran to BJ’s and picked up a large NY Strip Loin for $10 a lb and cut it into steaks. It yielded 17 good size steaks. I froze each one individually and we will be giving our three 20 something adult kids 4 each to take home with them after ‘Christmas.

With the price of beef lately, this was a great price (a den averaging about $17-18 a lb here) and while it hurt to spend such a large amount at once it definitely saved a lot and we will get to enjoy some steaks we probably would normally hold off buying. Plus my kids will be thrilled to get to take some home with them.

Anyone else do this?

 

[Meriweather]

I stock up all year, when things go on sale.

 

[Disneylover99]

I stock up all year long if there is a good deal on meat, but I don’t generally have the freezer capacity to buy too much at one time.

 

[easyas123]

Sometimes I pick up a extra turkey. Fall & winter is hunting season, so we usually are starting to stock our freezer with deer and I take that time to also add in some items I pick up from the butcher or Costco.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

We do it if turkey drops to a cheap price. This year was not one of those years, but we've had a few years where it falls to $0.25 or less. I have a pic from maybe about 10 years ago when I think I ended the season with 8 or 9 birds. DH will also do this with hams.

 

[Moliphino]

I stock up all year, when things go on sale.

Same. I bought a chest freezer a little over a year ago and it's one of my favorite things now.

 

[focusondisney]

We don’t have ham & I very rarely make a beef roast, so no stocking up on those. But I do buy a few corned beef when they’re on sale in March. I’m actually making the last 1 from my freezer today. Butterball has a boneless turkey breast we really like but is hard to find. Aldi had it before Thanksgiving ($11 for a 3 lb roast) so I do have 2 of those in the freezer. I saw them at Walmart too, ($13 for the same roast), so I might get 1 from there in the next week or 2. My stocking up is buying a family pack of ground beef or chicken & breaking it down to vacuseal small portions year round. Before the pandemic I shopped much more often & just bought the small packages we needed for any specific meal.

 

[focusondisney]

Same. I bought a chest freezer a little over a year ago and it's one of my favorite things now.

Same. I bought a small 1 in summer 2020, 5 cu ft for $190. I never had 1 while we were raising our kids, so it seemed silly to get it for just the 2 of us. I was trying to shop less often at the same time we couldn’t eat out as often as we used to. It’s also 1 of my favorite things now too. Can’t believe how much it’s helped my life for such a small cost.

 

[soccerdad72]

I wish we had a chest freezer. We have extra fridges with additional freezer space so we do usually have those pretty well stocked, but I’d love to be able to do what friends of ours have done and split a side of beef from the butcher. Just don’t have enough space for it.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I buy an extra beef rib roast. I break it down as steaks for one meal and then strips for fajitas or stir fries for another...and then the ribs for bone broth and the fat for a veg or potato dish. It's so cost effective this time of year (I'm using one this week for all my meals as "our holiday" while I buy another for spring's holiday).

I don't stock up on hams or turkeys though - both aren't really as easy to break down and use for normal purposes.

 

[CGB]

We bought two smoked turkeys at Sam’s a couple of weeks ago when they were $20 off each. I cooked one up that weekend and pulled the meet for 5 packs to freeze for pulled turkey sandwiches. The 2nd one went in the freezer for next Thanksgiving. I’m hoping to get a sale ham to freeze for Easter.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

No we don't really stock up on that stuff in a specific time period. We just buy it when we need it. We do have a deep freezer in the garage though like some others have mentioned.

For a few of the people I know within my husband's family that have farms with cattle they will distribute meat based on the schedule for that not about a specific time period because it's the holidays. IIRC around the end of November my father-in-law got about a 1/4 cow from his sister's farm.

 

[barkley]

I stock up all year, when things go on sale.

same here-right now there's a good number of smaller roasts in my freezer b/c there was a very good sale earlier in the year. I get the 3'ish pound ones b/c we can pull one out and make soup/stew/ground beef for a fraction of the price. pork chops were on a tremendous sale a few months back in 'family packs' which I broke into small ziplock bags of 2 chops each.

I DID end up buying a rib roast yesterday vs. defrosting one I bought on sale previously. it was one of those really good Christmas sales and I figured we could have the other roast at another point in time b/c Christmas is about the only time they go on sale at that price point.

But I do buy a few corned beef when they’re on sale in March

me too! I find Costco has the best quality/best price around me so I get 3 and we do one up at a time for Reubens and homemade corn beef hash.

We bought two smoked turkeys at Sam’s a couple of weeks ago when they were $20 off each. I cooked one up that weekend and pulled the meet for 5 packs to freeze for pulled turkey sandwiches. The 2nd one went in the freezer for next Thanksgiving. I’m hoping to get a sale ham to freeze for Easter.

smoked turkey love to make turkey pot pie soup from it as well as pizza.

 

[focusondisney]

I find Costco has the best quality/best price around me so I get 3 and we do one up at a time for Reubens and homemade corn beef hash.

Good to know. The first Costco in our county is opening late next year, with a second one rumored coming to our town possibly 2027 or 28. I’m excited for that. Well, except for the traffic I hear comes with it since it is right across the road from my favorite Wegmans.

 

[barkley]

Good to know. The first Costco in our county is opening late next year, with a second one rumored coming to our town possibly 2027 or 28. I’m excited for that. Well, except for the traffic I hear comes with it since it is right across the road from my favorite Wegmans.

the traffic WILL be crazy! I used to primarily get all our meats at Costco but with the exception of a few I find better prices shopping the sales at other stores-

corned beef I buy there
leg of lamb I can't get anywhere for near the price Costco charges
pork loins go on tremendous sales and if you can cut them down yourself into chops (or grind for sausage) it can be a great savings.

 

[fla4fun]

Living in hurricane country, and being solo, I tend to not stock up on perishable items too much. I am more likely to stock up on canned vegetables, fruit, soup, etc., instead of fresh and frozen items. My grocery store gives the best meat prices on the large 3+ pound packages, which I break down into individual servings and freeze, but you wouldn’t find me stocking up on frozen turkeys or hams or roasts.

 

[lanejudy]

I do have an extra freezer (mom & dad's old one) in the basement so I stock up meats throughout the year when something is on sale. Not necessarily around the holidays since there are so many other spending needs right now. But if I can get something free or deeply discounted with grocery store points I might buy an extra. Yesterday I bought a large ham and will cut it up and repackage it into smaller meal portions -- we should get several meals out of it.

 

[tvguy]

We really don't stock up on meat. We don't buy any more than usual, but what we do is eat half as much. So a two pack of steaks, we freeze one, and split the other. But we're both 68, and those senior portions at restaurants really are too big. To be honest, even the current sale prices are just too high. Sales are down enough that beef packing plants are being closed. I just wait until supply and demand even out and prices are forced down.

 

[disykat]

I usually buy a turkey at Thanksgiving (we are rarely in charge of the turkey so buying one is "extra") and put it in the freezer to do on one of the long weekends in January or February. Other than that I'm probably LESS likely to look for sales around the holidays. Like someone else said above, too much stuff to buy!

 

[Tuffcookie]

Same. I bought a chest freezer a little over a year ago and it's one of my favorite things now.

Oh, the things that excite us as we get older! lol!