There is no white-and-black answer, whether grinding your meat is cheaper or not. It depends on the chunk meat price of your locality and the volume of your grinding meat compared to the price of packed ground meat.
If you don’t have a meat grinder, you need to initially invest $50-$100 to own a meat grinder and buy solid meat from the butcher to ground them yourself. In that case, you will find it expensive, and buying store-ground meat is cheaper.
But, if you consider meat quality, freshness, accessibility, long-time usability, style, and health benefits, none other than grinding your own meat will be cheaper. Because there is no purity assurance for store-bought ground meat.
However, it isn’t wise to conclude after knowing this short overview. Many considerable things’ll help you to understand in depth whether to choose your own ground meat or buy from the store.
In this post, we’ll discuss all of these from various points. So let’s get started.
What Is Ground Meat, & Why Do You Need It?
The beef, finely chopped with a meat grinder or kitchen knife, is mostly known as ground meat.
Many American favorite foods are hamburgers, meatballs, meatloaf, bolognese sauce, and spaghetti sauce. And ground meat is one of the key ingredients to cook all of these recipes.
Moreover, meat is a nutrient-dense food and contains protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals. So you should consume ground meat to meet your meat requirements.
Is It Cheaper To Grind Your Own Meat?
Reading the word, “cheaper” you may think of it from the cost’s perspective. But, there are multiple things that are correlated to define which is cheaper between own and store-bought ground meat. Let’s check them out one by one.
1. Per Pound Cost
As the cost pops-up in your mind, when thinking about your own ground meat. So, it’d be better to first discuss it.
Store Bought Ground Meat
Due to worldwide inflation, retail ground meat prices rise day by day like any other commodity. In 2022, people had to spend at least $4.81 to buy one pound of ground meat. At the same time, the cost was $4.26 in 2021 and $4.12 in 2020.
The price is more in 2023, and if you buy it from Amazon or any other e-commerce sites, you may need to spend a minimum of $5 to a maximum of $10 per pound of ground meat. The price will vary depending on the meat source and freshness.
Own Ground Meat
Chuck steak, Sirloin/Tri-Tip, Round, Boneless Short Rib, Brisket, and Plate, are the most used meat cuts to make homemade ground meat. Per pound price varies for all those meats because of their meat cut.
However, one pound of Chuck steak costs you $6.09, Sirloin $7.99, Round $11.54, Boneless Short Rib $6.49, and Brisket flat $6.86.
If you add the grinding machine price, and your hassle of processing the meat to ground them with this cost, you find your own ground meat costly.
Verdict: It’s not a great idea in terms of pricing to ground your own meat.
You can also read: What Size Grinder Plate For Hamburger | 3 Best Recommendation
2. Meat Volume
Generally, buying one pound of ground meat won’t always be enough to serve your purpose. One pound is good if it’s only for your family needs as breakfast or dinner.
But, for a get-together party, or any other occasion, there is no way to buy large quantities of ground meat. As a rule of thumb, per person requires 3-4 ounces of meat at a party.
So, you’ll need 2 lbs of meat to serve 6 people, 4 lbs for 12 people, 8 lbs for 24, and 16 lbs for 50.
Store Bought Ground Meat
Assuming the average price is $7, your costs will be $7*8 pounds = $56 for 24 servings. It’s huge just for a one-time cost.
Own Ground Meat
If you assume the average price of chunk meat is $8. The costs will be $8*8 pounds = $64 for 24 servings for meat purposes. If you buy a meat grinder attachment for your kitchenaid stand mixer. The overall cost will be $150-$175 for your own ground meat.
The cost difference is around $100. In the future, your grinding meat cost will be less than store-bought. Because that time you only spend on meat sourcing.
Verdict: If you frequently need ground meat in large volumes, it’s cheaper to ground your own meat.
Related Article: Best Hot Plate For smokers That Cuts Cooking Time Not Taste
3. Longevity
You’ll need ground meat not only for a day but also all year round. In that case, you have to consider the long-term consequences, besides short-time lower prices.
However, per year meat requirements differ from family to family based on members, gender, and age.
Assume, a family with four members: husband, wife, and their two children.
In general, an adult needs an average of ½ pound, and a child needs an average ¼ pound per day.
That means the 4 members’ family need at least
- ½ pounds * 2 adults * 365 days = 375 pounds of meat.
- ¼ pounds * 2 children * 365 days = 183 pounds of meat.
- In total, 375 + 183 or 558 pounds of meat.
Let it be considered that this family needs 50% ground meat of the total amount. That means 558*50%= 279 pounds per year.
Store Bought Ground Meat
The cost for store-bought ground meat will be $7*279 pounds = $1953.
Own Ground Meat
The cost for own ground meat will be $8*279 pounds = $2232 + meat grinder price.
Verdict: Not much cheaper, not much expensive too
4. Convenience
Convenience means the time saver, because time management becomes one of the great challenges for all of us due to our fast paced lifestyle. So, you should also check the convent factor.
Store Bought Ground Meat
It’s easy, fast, effortless, and ready-to-cook to have commercial package ground meat. You need to visit your local butcher or order from an E-commerce site. That’s all to start cooking.
Own Ground Meat
If you already have meat steak in your freezer and crave to taste juicy meatloaf at midnight. No matter. You can do it within a few minutes, elevate your culinary style, and check your hunger.
Verdict: Both of them are convenient from their own zone.
Related Article: Know What Happens If You Eat Bad Ground Beef To Avoid Health Risk
Meat Quality
There is no way to compromise with meat quality. You need reasonably priced ground meat to save some bucks, but of course that won’t be sacrificing quality.
Store Bought Ground Meat
The butcher ground meat isn’t bad, but lower in quality that you wouldn’t like to eat usually. It’s because, when the butchers cut the meat from large steaks or briskets, lots of small cuts of meat will remain unusable.
As this meat is out of major cuts and not good looking. They again finely chopped that meat and sold it as ground meat. So, they can sell them at a reasonable price due to lower quality.
Own Ground Meat
Each recipe requires a specific amount of fat and lean meat. As you ground your own meat, from fresh chicken, turkey, or venison, it’s quite easy to maintain the recipe requirements. So you know the quality of your ground meat.
Verdict: Own-ground meat is more quality than store-bought.
6. Taste
Nobody wants to eat tasteless, and boring food, even though they look good. And as a regular cook, you know the ingredients quality matters a lot on the taste of the food.
Store Bought Ground Meat
Due to lower quality and no control over the percentage of fat and lean meat, the taste of the food won’t be as crazy as home-ground meat.
However, for a simple breakfast or snack, that’s ok. If you consider delighting your guests with your cooking skill, it’s not a good choice.
Own Ground Meat
When you have quality ingredients, you won’t be a restaurant chef to cook mouthwatering burgers, sausage, and ground orange chicken. As you properly maintain the ratio of meat and fat when grinding meat at home. The food taste will be at least 50% better than commercial ground meat.
Verdict: Of course the taste of your own ground meat food will be much juicer, appetizer, and yummier.
7. Health Impact
It is said that you are what you eat. The more healthy foods you consume, the healthier person you will be. So, you can’t only consider the cost of your ground meat, without thinking about the food’s impact on your health.
Store Bought Ground Meat
You don’t know the exact production date and the expiration date of local butcher ground meat. Even this ground meat isn’t good quality.
So there is a high chance of using bad ground meat for your recipe. And consuming this meat too much may lead to various health risks as consequences.
You can check out our separate article on health impacts of eating bad ground meat.
Own ground meat
When you are the driver of your car, you always prefer safety over speed. As you process your ground meat; you must maintain hygiene, quality, and lean meat and fat ratio. So, eating this meat is good for your health instead of risky.
Verdict: Own ground meat is healthier than ready-to-cook ground meat.
Related Article: Using KitchenAid Mixer To Mix Meat – Effective & Easy 4 Steps
So Who To Choose Own & Store-bought Ground Meat (From All Perspectives)
In the long run, both cost you around the same. So, it’s the preference to grind your own meat or choose the butcher’s ready-to-cook ground meat.
However, if you are a college student, a bachelor, or living alone, in that case, it’d be convenient to avoid grinding your own meat. Just order from an E-commerce site, and cook your dish within a few minutes.
But, if you are a mom, family person, or meat lover, you should grind your own meat.
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