Confessions of a Butcher-eat steak on a hamburger budget and save$$$ [Paperback]

John Louis Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 2006

Confessions of a Butcher provides the consumer with detailed information on all the basic cuts of beef, pork, lamb, veal, and poultry. Each entry contains an explanation of the cut of meat and a list of the money-saving alternative cuts and how to procure them. Almost every cut of meat has a cheaper (often much cheaper) alternative. Confessions also contains other information relating to saving money on meat purchases, some how-to tips, a few special money-saving recipes, and a little bit of fun.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Usually the best information is found on the inside. From people who work with an item on a daily basis and really know the facts. That's definitely true of Confessions of a Butcher by John Smith. Not only does John know meat, he knows how you can save money without giving up taste or quality. If you want to save and still eat well, Confessions of a Butcher is a must read…my favorite butcher." --Gary, The Dollar Stretcher.com

When John's book came along, I was a very frugal meat shopper already, but I was surprised at what I didn't know. The part about roasting chickens being bigger frying chickens, made me feel like an idiot... I'd been duped (again!) by the system, so I really studied the book. I can tell you that it's saved me many, many dollars over the last few years. --Pat Veretto, Guide to Frugal Living at About.com

Confessions of a Butcher is a handy book written by an experienced butcher. The author, John Smith, shares inside secrets from the butcher shop as he shows the consumer how to find great meat deals. Learn how to find the best deals on beef, turkeys, pork, and other meats. Meat purchases generally add greatly to the average family s grocery bill. This book, Confessions of a Butcher, includes many money-saving tips that add variety to the dinner menu. John Smith writes with the experience of over thirty years in the meat industry. His book is not only informative, but his humorous comments add extra interest. --Carolyn Carlisle, Allstarreview.com

About the Author

After three years of slaving over hot grills and giant steam-jacketed kettles as a cook in the United States Marine Corps, author John Smith took a job in a small butcher shop. With broad shoulders and not a lot else going for him, he applied himself to the trade. The first few years, John worked in custom locker plants and small meatpacking houses learning to take the beef out in the pasture and get it ready for the skillet. Now, after some 31 years in the meat industry, he s done it all, from wholesale to retail and everything in between. Also, somewhere along the way, John began to release a suppressed urge to express himself with the written word. John and his wife Vickie published a nationally distributed newsletter called Ark Essentials, dedicated to emergency preparedness and provident living. It is this appreciation of provident living that has inspired John to share with any who will listen how to make a dollar stretch to its fullest when purchasing meat. Another motivating factor in John s commitment to frugality is that he is the proud father of ten children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 107 pages
• Publisher: Ark Essentials Publishing; 3rd edition (December 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966928016
• ISBN-13: 978-0966928013
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #331,542 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Semper Fidelis' to Mr. Smith and KUDOS for his fine book!, December 12, 2008

By 

Patrick W. Crabtree "The Old Grottomaster" (Lucasville, OH USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Confessions of a Butcher-eat steak on a hamburger budget and save$$$ (Paperback)

If someone were to offer you several hundred dollars for your 10-dollar bill, and you were absolutely certain that it wasn't a scam, would you take it? Of course you would and when you pick up a copy of John Smith's fine little book, that's essentially what you'll be doing!

This is a very worthy consumer advocate work. Smith entered his 30-year vocation as a professional butcher subsequent to his military service as a Gyrene cook in earlier days. His credibility in sharing his knowledge of the various cuts of meats and also how to save a great deal of money on them at the grocery is unassailable. Another fundamental purpose of this book is to empower the consumer with the knowledge on how and when to make "substitutions" of cheaper cuts of meat for more expensive ones with either the same or better results in the ultimate flavor of the final dish.

I review lots and lots of culinary books and this diminutive document (in physical dimension, at 107 pages) rolls in impressively at the top five percent of them all. I'm a scratch cook, I do all the grocery shopping for my family, I've managed restaurants, and hundreds of my recipes are posted online -- I also grew up helping local farmers near my home in the Appalachian foothills to butcher their beef, swine, and poultry, so I'm in a good position to evaluate Smith's beneficial assertions.

This book is incredibly timely, considering the economically tough era which we have entered as of the fall of 2008. Consumers will quickly discover that Smith's tips will easily parallel or even exceed the money which one can save, for example, by shopping with coupons. He tells us where the meat merchandisers are getting the best of us and exactly how to counter their shrewd marketing techniques. But even more importantly, he shows us how we can eat better as well as how to obtain superior cuts of meat for markedly less cash than we'd normally spend.

The book basically addresses four areas: beef, pork, lamb, and poultry. Smith explains every cut (including the "made-up" fancy names appended to more marginal cuts by the marketers) and they're all nicely illustrated (black-and-white photos) so that you'll know precisely what he's talking about. As I read, I discovered that a pork "butt roast" is not the piggie's butt at all but a cut from the shoulder... and consumers can seize upon a thrifty and appetizing deal when they ask their local butcher to turn this inexpensive "pork butt" into succulent "country ribs"! Sound confusing? It's not because Smith's text is quite light and thoroughly coherent. You'll be a meat expert in no time at all.

Soon after reading Smith's book, appellations such as "Chateaubriand," "London Broil," and "Sirloin Tip," (which is actually not sirloin!) will cease to befuddle you. And there are special appendices near the conclusion of the book which convey related topics such as selecting the proper knives for cutting meat, a handful of good recipes, and an especially terrific section on how to select a top-quality turkey at the grocery store.

A helpful glossary will additionally set you straight on important trade terms as it applies to beef such as "select," "choice," and "prime". In fact, these three "grades" of beef are intricately related to price and quality so shoppers need to understand their meanings in order to avoid a needless beating at the cash register.

Even as an experienced cook/shopper, I learned a huge amount from John Smith's marvelous little book as most others will too. As far as I'm concerned, saving money is the same as making money and that's how Smith views it as well.

Highly recommended!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sound advice on how to shop intelligently for meat, December 1, 2008

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Confessions of a Butcher-eat steak on a hamburger budget and save$$$ (Paperback)

When I first read the title, I thought this book might be a gut-wrenching (literally) exposé of what the butchers do when no one is watching. My father worked at a meatpacking plant before he was drafted into the army and he would occasionally talk (never over dinner) about the work. There have also been some recent cases where large amounts of meat were recalled due to violations of health and safety rules.
That is not the case; this is a list of the major cuts of meat you see in the meat sections of the grocery store, explanations of what they are and listings of reasonable and cheaper substitutes for the more expensive ones. As a butcher with decades of experience with meat cleaver in hand, Smith dispenses sound advice on how to shop for meat. While most of the pages are reserved for beef and pork, there is a bit of coverage of lamb, veal and chicken. The most interesting points in the book are how you can request that larger pieces of meat be cut a certain way so that you get more of the more expensive cuts while paying a lower price for something else. I doubt if Smith's fellow butchers are too happy about this book.
At a time when there is great economic hardship, almost all people need to be as frugal as possible. Smith shows you how to make just as much do with less money by shopping intelligently when in the meat section.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book to Read Before You Go to the Meat Counter, July 24, 2011

By 

Stephanie Manley (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Confessions of a Butcher-eat steak on a hamburger budget and save$$$ (Paperback)

Years ago, in what seems a past life now, I was a co-manager for one of the nations largest grocery chains. It was my job to inspect meat departments, and honestly during the training program, I spent a lot of time in a meat department. I have ground meat, I have cut meat, and I have packaged up meat to the grocery store's advantage. Grocery stores aren't out there to get you, or deceive you, but they are there to make a profit. Knowing a little bit about the meat, helps you save money.

I like how John really goes through the meat case cut by cut telling you about the cut, how to cook it, and what the alternatives are for the different cuts of meat. This is critical to help you save money. I also like that he has the names for different regional cuts of meats, we don't call the same cut of beef the same across areas of the country.

The book spends a lot of time going through what to buy on sale, and how to take those cuts of meat at home and how to with a little elbow grease you can make these into more expensive cuts of meat. His suggestions extend through beef, pork, veal, and even chicken. Looking to save a few dollars at the meat counter, this book could easily save you its purchase price within a couple of weeks at the grocery store.