Meat and Money.

I may have found an obscure niche. There aren’t many people qualified to give you both financial advice and meat advice, but I’m one of them.*

I spent 3 years selling, marketing, preparing, and eating craft meats at Crowd Cow before becoming a financial advisor a few years ago.

So when I tell you about what I found at the grocery store last weekend, trust me on this one.

Whole picanha. 3.81 lbs of it. Certified Angus Beef. Marked down to $7.79/lb.

If you’ve never had picanha — it’s the cut Brazilian steakhouses built their entire reputation on. The sirloin cap. In the US you almost never see it sold whole; most grocers commit sacrilege and remove the fat cap, then break it down into sirloin steaks before it ever reaches the case.

Finding it intact is rare. Finding it intact at $7.79/lb is the kind of thing that makes me text friends and write an article about it.

Now let’s run the numbers, because that’s the other half of my brain:

• Beefpricetracker.org says that the nationwide avg price for ground beef is $6.75 (as of today, 6/5/26), but speaking from experience, it runs more like $8 to $10/lb here in Western Washington. So we’re talking about a premium cut for ground beef prices!
• At the grocery store I found it at, the regular shelf price was $13.99/lb — a ~44% markdown!
• Several specialty online retailers sell 2-to-4 pound picanha roasts for $70 or more!
• $29.68 for the whole roast. That’s about $5 a head for six people. The same cut at a restaurant is probably going for $50–60 for 8 ounces.

In other words: I was getting a $50 steak for the price of a latte.

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But what’s equally important is how I cooked it 👇

Just as there is no one-size fits all financial plan, there is no one size fits all recipe for a piece of meat. Both are a function of your personal circumstances. What you have in your account or fridge, the tools at your disposal, and so on.

I was fortunate last weekend, because I was at my in-laws’ place on Hood Canal, and my favorite grill happens to be there: an Engelbrecht Braten 1000. Why it’s my favorite grill is a separate post, but what’s important is the Santa Maria grill functionality.

The execution was simple:

1. The Prep: Score the fat cap and apply a straightforward rub of things on hand: salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, and a touch of cayenne. Let it rest for 3 hours to hit room temp.
2. The Fuel: Cooked exclusively over wood — applewood was on hand, which suited me just fine.
3. The Strategy: Cooked high above the fire for about 40 minutes to bring the entire roast up to temperature evenly, flipping it but keeping it fat-side down a 2:1 ratio over fat-side up.
4. The Finish: Once the center hit 120°, I dropped the grate right down to the coals for a 2-minute-per-side sear.

The result? Perfectly medium-rare, deep smoky flavor, and an incredible return on investment.

If you want more meat-and-money content, drop a like or let me know in the comments. I have another one ready to go if this hits the mark.

* compliance disclosure: this isn’t actually financial advice; content is for informational and entertainment purposes only