What to Consider Before Buying Meat for Your BBQ. Many local and national grocery store chains have smartphone apps that customers can use to see their weekly ads, compile grocery lists, and look for digital coupons that consumers use by typing their phone number and pin code into a keypad at the checkout.
Take advantage of your favorite store’s app to find out what is on sale from week-to-week. During the summer months, most stores have frequent specials on meat, condiments and other staples you’ll need for a barbecue. They may also have weekly sales on different cuts of meat and poultry. If you have adequate freezer space, you can take advantage of cheaper value packs. Divide the package into portions and freeze what you don't need immediately. If you don’t need all the meat in the value pack, you can buy it and freeze half for the next time you grill.
What You Need to Know About Choosing Burgers, Chicken, Chops and Steaks.
- Look at the prices your grocery store charges for different cuts of meat and poultry. The price per pound of anything that is boneless and skinless will be more than twice the cost of cuts with the bone and skin. Whenever the meat department has to debone, remove skin, cut chicken breasts into tenders, or pound boneless cuts of meat until they are very thin, you'll pay more for the product because the butcher does a lot of work for you.
- Consider buying a whole chicken instead of packages ofcut up pieces. The price per pound of a whole chicken is a fraction of the price of breasts, legs, and thighs. If you’re making pulled chicken, a whole chicken is your best option.
- If you want cheap chicken cuts, go for legs and thighs. The darker meat doesn’t dry out, and it’s ideally suited to a gas or charcoal grill. If you’re going to make hamburgers, don’t buy ground sirloin, ground round, or extra lean ground beef. The lower fat content in leaner cuts of meat will dry your burgers out on the grill anyway.
- Steaks and pork chops will have more flavor when they have a higher fat content. The fat will also help to keep your chops and steaks from drying out. If you’re buying ribs, there’s bound to be a lot of fat and bone, but that adds to the flavor and lowers the cost. Beef and pork ribs are excellent choices for a barbecue, but the key to making delicious ribs is cooking them slowly and for a long time.
DIY Dry Rubs and Barbecue Sauces. A custom dry rub is one you blend according to your taste using a combination of dry spices, salt, pepper, spicy peppers, chili powder and other sweet or savory ingredients.
Consider using the following in your dry rub:
Kosher salt, regular salt, or sea salt- Brown sugar - which is white sugar and molasses for added flavor
- Paprika - smoked, sweet or regular
- Peppercorns (black, green, red, white -- all of which impart different flavors)
- Chipotle - which is a chili-like seasoning that’s made from smoked jalapeno peppers
- Chili powder
- Cumin
- Cayenne pepper
- Ground red pepper flakes
Helpful Tips
- Keep your newly made custom dry barbecue rub in an airtight container in your spice rack or cabinet.
- Rub your meat or poultry with regular yellow mustard before applying the dry rub. This will allow you to get the dry rub to stick to your meat better, and minimize the waste.
Recipe For a Homemade Barbecue Sauce. Most recipes for homemade barbecue sauce start with the same basic ingredients: ketchup, yellow mustard, brown sugar (or honey,) apple cider vinegar and salt and pepper.
- Combine 1 ½ to 2 cups of ketchup with ¼ to ½ cup of yellow mustard
- Stir the ingredients to mix
- Add ¼ to ½ cup of brown sugar or raw honey
- Season with ¼ to ½ teaspoon of salt and pepper - or more to taste
- Cook over a medium flame until the solid ingredients dissolve
When grilling, you can rev up the flavor by adding onion powder, garlic powder (or even a finely minced fresh onion), a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, and a teaspoon each of hot red pepper flakes, smoked or sweet paprika and ground chipotle peppers for a spicy and smoky flavor.
