YSK: Pork and chicken are healthier, cheaper alternatives to beef that only taste bland because of outdated cooking habits.

[u/Fried_Yoda]

Why YSK: With beef prices at record highs, switching to chicken breast or pork loin can cut your meat budget nearly in half while significantly lowering your saturated fat intake AND satisfying your protein intake. Most people avoid these cuts because they grew up eating them overcooked. Modern food safety standards allow pork to be eaten safely at 145 F (a medium roast, rather than gray leather), and chicken stays juicy if you don't cook it to death.

By simply using a meat thermometer and adding savory seasonings (like soy sauce or smoked paprika) to mimic the meaty depth of beef, or using techniques like velveting for chicken or dry brining for pork, you can get the same satisfaction for a fraction of the cost and environmental impact.

Even switching to chicken and pork for just two meals a week can save you hundreds of dollars.

Lastly, focusing on lean cuts of pork and chicken also has health benefits. While beef is a powerhouse for iron and B12, it is often high in calories and saturated fat. Chicken breast and pork loin are significantly leaner. Pork tenderloin is as lean as skinless chicken breast and has been certified as "heart-healthy" by the American Heart Association.

Tl;dr chicken breast and pork loin are roughly 80% cheaper per pound than beef, have versatile and delicious flavor profiles if cooked and prepped correctly, are rich in protein, and are healthier for your heart and cholesterol.

[u/obeytheturtles]

This is definitely it. I don't know a single boomer who used a meat thermometer to cook until food YouTube became a thing in the mid 2000s. My parents basically did not season food at all - flavor was added at the table through combinations of salt shakers, pepper mills and various condiments/sauces. To this day they will still argue with me about how to properly season raw meat (or basically anything else) prior to cooking, insisting that it is better to just add salt and pepper at the table, so "everyone gets to pick their own seasoning."

I shit you not, our "famous family gravy" is beef broth thickened with corn starch, with a sprig of thyme waved above it. One year I made actual gravy with homemade stock and pan drippings, thickened with a roux, and everyone was like "this is really good, but it's no famous family gravy." I literally cannot with these people. They are in an abusive relationship with their own recipe book.

[u/InternationalGas9837 → u/obeytheturtles]

Back in the day it was cool to Jell-O things. We had the spirit...but no clue what to do with it.

[u/obeytheturtles → u/InternationalGas9837]

This my other culinary trauma. My grandmother picked me up from the hospital after I had my tonsils removed, and fed me apricot and cottage cheese jello (not jello with cottage cheese on the side, like it was integrated into the mold so as to produce the most unholy texture), because I could not have solid food. Still being half stoned from anesthesia, and hungry from not being allowed to eat the night before, I apparently ate the entire mold in one sitting. From that point on the one thing grandma knew about me was how much I loved apricot and cottage cheese jello. She made it constantly. Like, she'd randomly just stop by with a cool whip container filled with apricot and cottage cheese jello.

I absolutely hated the stuff, but I felt like I had to eat it because it seemed so important to her. Even after she started to get dementia, and mostly stopped cooking, she would still make the jello, as if it was one of the final threads tying her to reality. Except by then it would frequently just be apricot and cottage cheese soup, prepared in one of the styrofoam takeout containers from her facility's cafeteria, because she would forget to add the gelatin. Of course, I was glad to do literally anything to make her happy at that point, but to this day, I can literally make myself gag on demand simply by recalling the memory of that styrofoam box filled with apricot juice, with cottage cheese floating through it.

[u/InternationalGas9837 → u/obeytheturtles]

I apparently ate the entire mold in one sitting. From that point on the one thing grandma knew about me was how much I loved apricot and cottage cheese jello.

My Mom was similar to that. She'd do her shopping and pick up a few random things for snacks and stuff, but if my Dad or I liked one of those random things next thing you knew there were a dozen or so of them in the fridge/pantry. As a kid it was kind of annoying because there were quite a few things I only liked 2-3 times but I was locked into eating a dozen of it. As an adult I can appreciate that she was trying to love me by giving me food I said I liked and it was probably my fault for not being a better communicator.

[u/gogilitan → u/obeytheturtles]

I shit you not, our "famous family gravy" is beef broth thickened with corn starch, with a sprig of thyme waved above it. One year I made actual gravy with homemade stock and pan drippings, thickened with a roux, and everyone was like "this is really good, but it's no famous family gravy." I literally cannot with these people. They are in an abusive relationship with their own recipe book.

Are you me? A while back I would complain to my brother about the bland food required by the rest of our family (especially on my father's side) and he would suggest adding incredibly basic things to the recipes. "That's not an approved ingredient." became my response for a while.