There's been a lot of talk lately about buying cheaper cuts of meat to save money. We've told you how to cook them and why less expensive, tougher meats make good braises.
But even if you want to keep buying chicken breasts and pork chops (rather than shanks and flanks and butts), buy them with their bones still attached. They're cheaper, but you actually get more for your money. It's a win-win...
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are great when you need clean, neat chunks for a stir-fry. But they've become so ubiquitous that we think people buy them without really considering the alternative.
Chicken breasts (we'll get to pork in a sec) with the skin still on have what amounts to a blanket of flavor protecting the meat while it cooks. It keeps it moist, and if you don't want to eat the extra calories the skin brings, you can always peel it off once it's cooked.
As for the bone, and this applies to pork chops, too, it also adds flavor while the meat cooks. With both pork and chicken, you get extra meat nestled around the bone that's stripped away when the bone is removed. More bites for your buck. A quick comparison at Fresh Direct showed that bone-in meat is at least $1 cheaper per pound than the boneless varieties.
We find that bone-in meat is more forgiving (it's harder to dry out) and, especially with chicken breasts, offers so many more options for preparing it. You can shove butter and herbs under the skin or stuff cheese between the meat and the bones.
Some examples:
Roasted Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Fresh Garlic
Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Grapes, Hazelnuts, and Parmesan
Beer-Brined Chicken on the Grill
Winter Cooking: Apples, Cabbage, and Pork Chops
Related: Conscientious Cook: How To Start Saving Money this Weekend
(Image: Fresh Direct)
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Most of the meat I buy is bone-in. We have a butcher that we visit (have to find THAT in Cali when we move) and so the cuts are always super fresh and the beef is always really well marbled. mmm....tasty goodness...
I love roasts with a bone. Last year I did a rotisserie pork butt for my dad's birthday and I had ordered the roast from the butcher. I didn't realise I hadn't specified boneless, so it came with the bone in.
It was so juicy!
Plus, big bones are always good for the family dog, or the neighbours dog, or for making soup.
I know some people who don't like meat with bones in them (even chicken wings), but I agree that it makes for a tastier, jucier, more flavourful cut.
MMMmm meat.
My folks did the comparison once and found that you pay about the same for total eatable meat for boneless and bone-in chicken. They decided it wasn't worth the work. As for me, if it's going to have bones, it's going to be a whole roasted chicken or some variety of beef roast. I will NEVER get pork shoulder with a bone again, either.
As usual, it's about balancing your time with your money. I prefer to debone chicken breasts and thighs myself and use the bones to make stock, but sometimes there isn't the time. On the other hand, sometimes the bone-in pork shoulder is discounted so much that the time needed to take the thing apart is still worth it.
I would love to buy bone-in chicken breasts but it always seems like the packages I get have 1 enormous breast that never cooks as fast as the others, so I just stick the old-reliable Boneless-skinless type.
A *little* off topic, but... I like to purchase entire pork loins at Costco and cut my own chops. I can cut them as thick as I want to, and I usually get 10-12 chops plus a roast. Typically I save about $1/pound simply by cutting out the butcher (sorry for the pun!).
...bone-in meat is at least $1 cheaper per pound than the boneless varieties...
Not a fair comparison, unless you debone and compare only the edible portions.
One item where I find bone-in a immensely cheaper is whole chickens, because the the stock I make would cost more than the whole chicken. The meat's a free bonus!
I like to buy bone-in even when a recipe calls for boneless. I just "butcher" it myself at home and save the bones for stock. I also like to take the bone off, but leave the skin on chicken breasts. Quick cooking with extra moisture and flavor.