The trick is having the right tools on hand. Using these five gadgets on a regular basis can save you hundreds of dollars every month. You probably already have most of them tucked away in your kitchen cabinets.

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/the_conscious_consumer/96/five-kitchen-gadgets-that-save-you-money-and-time.html

So here I am in the fish department of Costco. And a little tip for you, the Salmon that I was going to buy is $8.00 per pound. And you can see over at this package right here where this fold is. This is belly meat. So this is very thin. So it is not really the best piece of fish right here. It has a much different flavor than the center cut. Another thing I wanted to show you is where they have these holes is where the pin bones are. And when you take them out with tweezers and you rush through it, you are going to wreck the meat. Now at $8.00/pound, you are talking about this particular piece is 2 lbs. 12 oz is $16 almost $17.00. In this case, right next to it, is farm raised Talapia. Talapia is only $5.00/pound. A much more usable product. You see the whole fish has very little waste in there. A much better buy in my opinion. The flavor of the Talapia is much more consistent and mild. A lot of people either like Salmon or they don’t like Salmon. Talapia, the flavor is very, very mild. So even if you don’t like fish you might like Talapia. This is 3 lbs. 18 oz. for less than $16.00. So this is the best buy today.

Ok, we are over at the meat department and another quick video for you about buying beef. Here I am with beef loin. $6.59. These are New York Strips. That is what was featured in the article in Fine Cooking, which doesn’t surprise me. There’s your pounds here. $35.00. Now in our family that package of 4 New York Strips is gone. One each. Maybe my parents wouldn’t eat a whole Strip Steak anymore so you are getting 4 servings out of 3 steaks with 1 left over. But not necessarily the best value. We scoot down here just 2 aisles (or 2 racks) and this is beef loin, Top Sirloin. It is $3.29/pound. A very similar cut and all 4 of these steaks are going to feed everybody. Much easier and it’s half the price. $18.00 rather than $35.00 for very comparable beef. So that is what I wanted to tell you today. New York Strip or Top Sirloin. Not much difference in mouth feel and fat content but huge difference in price. Make sure that you take a good look around when you buy meat in the meat case.

Hi everyone. Chef Marty Rich here from chefmartyrich.com. Welcome back. It wasn’t an hour after I posted the last video about the Food Saver System and I am back here on the back porch and it is bright sunshine today. That is where our freezer is and I am shooting another follow up video.

Freezer Burn

I discussed the Food Saver system yesterday and had a question not a scant hour after posting the video to the site. And it was about freezer burn. What freezer burn is, is a loss of moisture in the meat. So it gets damaged by dehydration and oxidation.

What Causes Freezer Burn

And usually that occurs because of poor packaging. And the packaging comes from (whispers) ‘The Grocery Store’. No slam on your grocer, but what else do you buy food that is on Styrofoam packaging with a little nappy underneath it? I don’t know why, I was a butcher so this is one of my little pet peeves. Even at a butcher it is not wrapped properly (for the freezer).

Preventing Freezer Burn

So what you want to do, and I know I’m pushing the Food Saver system, but it is a great system. I have a piece of salmon here as you can see. There are a couple of air pockets in here, granted, that’s true but for the most part it is pretty much sealed. The air is out. Now I didn’t want to find this, but of course I went digging around in the freezer (and in the bottom of your freezer you will find one too) is one of these Ziploc bags with some kind of mystery meat in it. And sure enough, you can hardly see it, but that is freezer burn all in here. It has a strange looking texture and color.

Can You Eat Freezer Burned Food?

One thing about freezer burn is that this is a food quality issue. It is not a food safety issue. Freezer burn isn’t going to hurt you. I mean it might not taste very good but you are not going to kill anybody. Just trim off the effected pieces and go about your business cooking it up without fear that you are going to have a problem.

Foodsaver To The Rescue

So I just wanted to say again, I can’t stress enough, the Food Saver system works fabulously. It takes the air out of the package and that is the biggest problem you have with freezer burn. Now how something can dry out in a freezer that is full of ice, that is a science question and I am not even going to go there. That is how it occurs and that’s how you can prevent it.

So have a good day. Keep those questions coming. See you tomorrow.