How To Save When Purchasing Filet Mignon
Contributed by: Craig Meyer of Ask The Meatman
You may want to ask the butcher first, but many meat shops, when selling bacon-wrapped filet mignon, include the bacon in the total weight of a 6 oz. (or 8 oz. too) Filet Mignon!!
An average strip of bacon weighs 1 oz. So when you buy a 6 oz. bacon-wrapped filet mignon, you are actually purchasing 5 oz. of filet mignon, and 1 oz. of bacon. (As I said above, not all meat shops do this. Some, when selling a bacon-wrapped filet are selling you a 6 oz. fillet with a 1 oz. slice of bacon with it "free".) Also, I'm not saying this practice is either illegal or UN-ethical, but many meat shops don't state how they are "weighing" the fillet.
It may not sound like much, but it can make a BIG difference in price and what you are actually paying for.
An example: If you pay $6.00 for a bacon-wrapped fillet that is actually 5 oz. of filet and 1 oz. of bacon, you just paid $1.00 for that one strip of bacon. That figures out to $16.00/lb. for bacon!
Your best choice? One of two things:
- Buy filet mignon that is not wrapped with bacon if the cost is the same as the bacon wrapped. Then, buy a lb. of bacon for $2 to $4 s lb., wrap a strip of bacon around the filet and fasten with 2 toothpicks. You just saved almost $1.00 on EACH filet!!
- Ask the butcher if the 6 oz. bacon-wrapped filet includes the weight of bacon. If it doesn't, then you are actually getting 6 oz. of (ONLY) filet mignon for the price stated!
I'm offering this tip because most consumers aren't aware that the weight of the bacon is often included in the total weight or how much one strip of bacon weighs.
I think most shoppers would be pretty upset paying $10 to $16 a lb. for that strip of bacon, when they can add the bacon to filet itself.
Another Way To Save Money On Filet Mignon
The smart shopper will pick up Porterhouse steaks (on sale would even be better) and get two prime cuts at once. The small piece of meat on one side of the "t" shaped bone is none other than the filet mignon. The long strip of meat on the other side of the bone is known as the New York strip, shell, club or Delmonico steak when detached from the bone. The price of the Porterhouse steak is cheaper than filet mignon (usually about $1.00 to $2.00 cheaper). This way you can have a nice strip steak and a delicious Filet Mignon at a good price. I would suggest to only purchase a Porterhouse steak that is least 1 inch thick, preferably about 1 1/2 inch thick.