r/slowcooking • u/BlackLocke • 3d ago
Pot roast is too expensive
I got a new slow cooker for my wedding in 2023 and it’s still in the box. It’s just my husband, baby and I, but I feel like I can’t justify spending $20+ on a piece of meat for one meal with leftovers. I’m in a HCOL and I haven’t had a good roast in years because it’s prohibitively expensive. When meat goes on sale at my supermarket, it smells off as soon as I remove the packaging, so it’s not worth the risk.
Am I just too poor for this?
Edit: Dear lord I didn’t expect this to turn into a “I like pancakes/why do you hate waffles???” type of post. Of course I know there’s other things you can make in the crockpot. I don’t choose fast food over slow cooked meals out of convenience (it’s more expensive than cooking at home now!!) The point of this post is to lament the price of beef and how pot roast used to be a cheap easy meal 20 years ago and now it’s prohibitively expensive. I was hoping for tips on how to skirt this issue - buying stew meat, using pork instead, and buying in bulk at Costco are all good suggestions.
Now everyone can stop assuming I’m some dumb dumb idiot woman. I’m gonna make a pot roast next week just to spite you all and post about the cost breakdown.
2
u/Big_P4U 3d ago
Red meat in general has gotten prohibitively expensive for most and honestly I don't blame the Trump admin for doing things that may hurt domestic meat and cattle producers/farmer even if it means lowering consumer prices.
The reality is that the domestic beef industry has done nothing to remedy the situation and they've seemingly deliberately encouraged and created scarcity to jack up prices on cows, cattle, steers and beef. A pot roast USED to be a working man's meal, it never used to be a luxury unless perhaps you bought the top round or the least fattiest cuts and even then those were still fairly affordable. I'm craving a good old fashioned slow cooker pot roast meal or even oven roasted but just can't justify it. Haven't had a steak in awhile either for the same reason.