Bacon Costs More Than Sirloin Steak - Once It's Cooked

Bacon is $6.60 a pound. Sirloin is $14.36. So why does the bacon cost you more by the time it hits the plate? A pound of bacon cooks down to about five ounces. That puts cooked bacon at roughly $21.60 a pound, against about $17 for cooked sirloin. In this video I walk through where the other 70% goes, why the oven vs. skillet debate barely matters, how bacon compares to ground beef, and the two numbers that let you read any meat price tag in five seconds. Nothing to sell. Just the arithmetic. Weigh a pound before and after, and tell me in the comments: your town, what bacon costs where you shop this week, and what your pound weighed cooked. And which price tag should I work out next? Shop smart. Cook it simple. Eat better. SOURCES Prices: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price Data, U.S. city average, August 2026 (bacon sliced APU0000704111; sirloin steak, USDA Choice, boneless APU0000703613; ground beef 100% APU0000703112) Bacon cooking yields: Showell, Howe, Buege — Cooking Yields and Nutrient Retention Factors of Bacon, Liver, and Sausages, USDA ARS Nutrient Data Laboratory Ribeye cooking yields: Nguyen et al. — Comparison of Cooking Yields and Fat and Moisture Retentions in Retail Beef Cuts, USDA ARS Nutrient Data Laboratory Bacon losses by doneness and lean content: Alice M. Child, Selection and Use of Bacon, University of Minnesota Special Bulletin 172, 1935 Bacon weight rule: 9 CFR 319.107 Ground beef yield: USDA Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs CHAPTERS 0:00 Two packages in the cart 2:13 What a price tag really measures 3:45 Where 70% of your bacon goes 6:20 Oven or skillet? 8:13 Bacon vs. ground beef 9:59 Bacon is a flavor purchase 12:10 The two numbers 14:14 Try it this week