Conker's Food Prep: Stocking up

When searching for items for Conker's food, the first thing I look at is price. I try to buy as cheaply as possible. This means scouring weekly ads and online, going to the stores to look for "manager's bin" or discounted items, using coupons if necessary, and comparing the price from store A to store B to see if traveling an extra couple miles for item K is worth it or not.

Overtime, I buy supplies and stock up on the items I need. This can be meats, bone-in items, liver, canned items, oats, etc. Anything. I tend to buy meats in large packages (averaging from 5-10 pounds) and hack them up when I get home into smaller chunks, then into the freezer they go.
For example:

Two pack shoulder roasts, larger than I normally get

I just bought this ginormous package of pork. That is way too big to stick into the freezer whole, and it would take several days to thaw if I did that anyways. So I hack it to bits and stash in smaller bags in the freezer that I can easily move around if I need to.

That is my favorite meat-hacking knife

The two big bones are also kept and used as recreational chews. Conker can easily crunch through the whole bone, so it's usually given a couple days in a row.

Pork shoulders and a whole chicken

This is about 1/4 of my freezer, there is still room in this section for other stuffs. I normally only commandeer the right half (where the plastic box is), a small portion of the left and some of the door shelves, but when I buy a large item I rearrange things so they all fit with plenty of room on the bottom.
Note: I do not have a separate freezer for dog meat. If I did, I could easily hoard three times as much as shown in the picture and more, and save more money in the process than I already do by buying bulk.

Sometimes I'll cut off a choice piece for myself, but for the most part, what I buy is for the dogs.

I don't usually buy this brand

As mentioned in previous posts, I use a couple canned items. Oysters and clams are regulars and I rotate between sardines and mackerel. I will not buy sardines for more than $1 a tin, and mackerel for more than $2.30 a can. Oysters and clams... Depends, but I try to keep them to about $2.50 a can, give or take a couple cents.
Lately the canned sardines have been on sale, so I have bought a lot of them. Like mentioned above, I try not to pay a lot for sardines since you only get 3.75 ounces per tin. I usually will buy another round of cans once my current stock begins to get low. I try not to run out before I get more.
Note: Don't waste the juice! That juice is packed with good stuffs and can help a picky dog eat better.

Oats

This 5 pound bag of oats cost $2.50 (2 for $5) and lasts a LONG time. Conker only gets about 1/4 cup (dry) a day, or three tablespoons, or 1.25 ounces. I also eat the oats.

The key here is to buy when things are on sale, and buy a lot. That is why it would be nice if I had a separate chest freezer since I'd be able to get more when the sale was going on.  But since I only have one (and he's small) full-time raw/home-made fed dog that isn't much of an issue. Yet.
Another thing to keep in mind: Know how much your freezer can hold! Don't go out and buy a ton of meat only to find that you don't have enough room for it all.


Tune in tomorrow for Conker's Food Prep: Making the Meat Meals.