We've been trying to watch spending a little more recently. As a recruiter highly based on commissions this year has been slimmer than others.

Working from home it's easy to pull out smoker and set it. Then just check occasionally. Am I missing any wallet friendly ideas to get multiple meals?

I've done Pork Butt, Huge piles of wings, some wrapped chicken breasts yesterday. Any ideas that are easy on the wallet that get many a meal?

Hard to beat pork butt/shoulder for price.

Sammiches, salads, on top of baked potatoes, quesadillas, tacos, burritos and on and on


Whole Turkey too

Based on the thread title, I didn't know what I was gonna find in here. I'm quite pleased it's about meat, or as some would say, 'eating tasty animals'!

No doubt, whole turkey, whole chicken and Port Butt are the best values.

I have a hard time without beef so add in Brisket for me.

Tri Tip, london broil, hamburgers are good on a smoker and they don't shrink up like they do on a grill, bacon is awesome on the smoker..

A good budget smoke is whole fryers, they are not expensive at costco, used to be $10 for two, haven't bought in a bit, need to do that, I usually smoke one right away and since they are already sealed freeze the second one...

One of the original concepts behind smoking was taking inexpensive, tough cuts of meats and slowly cooking them to break down the connective tissue to make a tasty, tender product.

Let's take that concept and look at chicken:

Boneless, skinless chicken breast wouldn't fit this definition. It's tender and juicy if cooked quickly plus it's the most expensive form of chicken.

However, whole chicken or chicken halves change this. Leaving the skin on allows for a low and slow (or slower) cooking process where smoking excels. It's also the cheapest per pound way of getting chicken. Also, it makes multiple meals.

Check roast is a great option when its cheaper than brisket. Smaller so you can do quick smokes and just as tasty.

My closest grocery is not known for being inexpensive so if they've had slabs of baby back ribs for around $10, maybe you can find the cheaper. I can't eat meat like I used to when I was young so for two people we ate half one night and the other half reheated the next day= $2.50 per portion.
If you make your own coleslaw, cabbage is usually pretty cheap. Maybe some cornbread, make your own fruit salad, ...

As has been mentioned, whole chickens. Chicken parts are ridiculously expensive vs. buying the whole bird. For me, I can get 5+ meals out of a bird (with sides): Two appendages X3, One breast X2, carcass made into soup. All that for dirt cheap (I raise my own).

Also look at a large tri-tip. They can still be found fairly cheap (Costco) and when sliced thin(ner), you can have plenty of leftovers for sandwiches and such. Same with cheap chuck roasts.

(Edited to correct bad math)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Gustofer,

Speaking of whole birds. A whole Turkey would get quite a bit of sandwiches, salads, main course meat.

My buddy used to do whole chickens and Cornish hens on occasion. He'd also do chicken wings, breasts, etc., if he could get a good deal.

It actually became a challenge... what could he smoke? Answer, just about anything.

Big Pork Loins can be had for cheap. You can smoke a Chuck roast. I’d sign up for emails from all your local grocery stores and you can find good deals that way.

Brisket. Smoke it, then slice some for serving, use the rest for chili or chop to top salad or mac and cheese.

Invest in a vacuum sealer. BBQ of all forms works really well when vacuum sealed for later. Fill your smoker to the brim, then break down into meal sized portions and seal up. They will stay good in the freezer for a loooong time when vacuum sealed, and heating them back up can be as simple as dropping the sealed bag into a pot of boiling water sous vide style.

Whole bone in meats are good too. Eat the meat the first meal, then use the bones/ carcass for soup.

Stroll through your local store's meat aisle every time you go. Sometimes you can find really good deals. I try not to pay more than 1.99 /lb for brisket and ribs or .79 /lb for pork butt. Those deals don't happen all the time, but when they do I grab a few and freeze.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
One of the original concepts behind smoking was taking inexpensive, tough cuts of meats and slowly cooking them to break down the connective tissue to make a tasty, tender product.

Let's take that concept and look at chicken:

Boneless, skinless chicken breast wouldn't fit this definition. It's tender and juicy if cooked quickly plus it's the most expensive form of chicken.

However, whole chicken or chicken halves change this. Leaving the skin on allows for a low and slow (or slower) cooking process where smoking excels. It's also the cheapest per pound way of getting chicken. Also, it makes multiple meals.

I appreciate you or anyone highlighting the principle behind something. "to allow for slow cooking to tenderize tough meat."

So you think the smoke flavor is just a happy by product then?

Chicken and pork butt. My wife and I get 7-8 meals worth from a whole chicken. Of course that's in addition to sides such as rice, veggies, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
So you think the smoke flavor is just a happy by product then?

What a strange question. Being budget friendly and having a smoke flavor isn't a mutually exclusive proposition or an accident. The OP is asking about budget friendly ideas on the smoker so I focused on the meat selection aspect of smoking with the goal of tasty, budget friendly food. The smoke flavor is part of tasty as the exact cut of meat, cooked at the identical temperature, seasoned identically in a smoker vs oven will produce different results.

It's a stark contrast to modern BBQ trends where people are taking expensive meat and changing the flavor profile with smoke. For example:

The OP posted about bacon wrapped chicken breasts. Expensive entree compared to whole chicken.

I'm certainly guilty of it with all of the posts I've made over the years of reverse searing thick, prime grade steaks by starting them off on the smoker until 120ish degrees and the last 10 degrees is a high heat sear. Much less expensive options (e.g. chuck roast) for home cooked beef that produce multiple meals.

The question is not any stranger than the statement that precipitated it. Smoking meats started as a preparation and preservation method thousands of years ago. I’m guessing because I wasn’t there, but expense and toughness of the meat was probably not a consideration.

Back to the original post’s question:

Budget friendly options are a local thing. Here, a whole brisket is $6.49/lb which isn't cheap. Plus, you have a lot of fat that gets trimmed, so unless you have use for the fat, that’s money in the trash. At a $1.99/lb, Pork Butt is the cheapest here. Turkey would be good as well.

The issue is what to do with the leftovers, because no one wants to eat the same meat for a week straight. I haven’t done it yet, but the vacuum sealer and freezing it is probably the way to go. Someone here suggested putting leftovers in Ramen Noodles. It’s fantastic. Putting it in with rice is another good option. I like it in breakfast burritos, tacos, and regular burritos as well.

Brisket was that way, for years the tough cut was the cheapest and found it's way into many a Jewish family roasting pan, pretty much why it's a recurring theme in comedy shows/skits.

If you can get a good deal on a brisket flat you can smoke low n slow and get a decent cut, maybe even make burnt ends.

Not an entree but curing and then smoking your own bacon does save money but the real advantage is the incredible taste.
Once you start making your own bacon you will never go back......

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
The question is not any stranger than the statement that precipitated it. Smoking meats started as a preparation and preservation method thousands of years ago. I’m guessing because I wasn’t there, but expense and toughnobably not a consideration.

I'm actually trying to help the OP with their question on saving money while smoking. Is your post trying to accomplish that (i.e. before you edited it after my post)? Was Rey's question trying to accomplish that?

Smoking in a BBQ pit, kamodo, pellet smoker, etc. most certainly has a steeped history in using cheaper cuts of meats, breaking down the connecting tissue with low n slow smoking technique, and transforming them into something delicious. The brisket is the king of Texas BBQ, and it's the epitome of this concept. It's still an inexpensive cut for beef, but it used to be an extremely cheap cut of meat before BBQ became so popular.