Brisket Prices...Am I Crazy?

kevin13 · Feb 17, 2010

Feel free to answer yes

So why is it that I can get a packer cut brisket at Sam's for around $1.89/lb but 2 of my local butchers want $3.50+/lb. Am I missing something here? While I know Sam's is generally cheaper, why the cost difference? Anyone else find the same thing in their area?

rbranstner · Feb 17, 2010

Better quality????? Buy both and smoke them and compared the two???? Just a thought.

mballi3011 · Feb 17, 2010

I tell you this open up the phonebook and see how m\any Sam's and Walmarts there are in your town and then mulitiple it by about 100,000 and thats why they get a better price for the wholesalers and they demand it too. Now your local butcher gonna buy 30 briskets this monthe and walmart and sams are goin to buy 200,000 of them. Now your butcher might get a better cut of brisket and if you know this butcher then pay it and keep them in bussiness. I try to but I don't always have the money either.

forluvofsmoke · Feb 17, 2010

Freshly cut and wrapped will almost always cost you more than packaged for any meats. I opt for the Sam's/wallyworld packers due to price, myself.

Sam's is 1.88/lb, wally is 1.86/lb, go figure.

Eric

kevin13 · Feb 17, 2010

My first guess was quality...but both claim to be choice. I'm thinking the local butchers are thinking I want them trimmed despite me telling them untrimmed. Maybe just a misunderstanding as both places needed further explanation on "a whole beef brisket, untrimmed also known as a packer."

After posting this, I called one other place and the guy knew exactly what I wanted and quoted $1.99/lb. I'll have to swing by there as he can also get me pork bellies.

pit 4 brains · Feb 17, 2010

I dunno about your butchers, but the one dedicated butcher shop by me only sells prime grade beef so it's expensive. Even thier pork back ribs have a giant chunk of loin on them and they run about $12.00 a lb. I doubt if Costco is even offering Choice grade briskets..
Here's what I pay for choice at the grocery store,

3montes · Feb 17, 2010

I agree entirely. The last brisket I bought was from a local market at $2.99 lb it was a IBP brisket and was very nice. I don't mind paying alittle extra to the small local butchers. I don't want Sams Club or walmart to become my only choice.

solaryellow · Feb 17, 2010

Sam's is my goto place for beef around me.

Sam's packer brisket (choice) - $1.78/lbs
Sam's trimmed brisket flat (choice) - $2.94/lbs
Costco trimmed brisket flat (choice) - $4.29/lbs
local butchers brisket flat (select) - $5 - $6/lbs

deltadude · Feb 17, 2010

My local butcher meat shop, can be expensive on some things and really a bargain on others. At Christmas time he sold me a $130 of USDA Prime New York Strip Loin for $9 a pound semi trimmed. That exact same cut at Sam's and Costco was $12.

His brisket is high, when I want to have some great pulled pork I pay the $3 per lb he charges, after buying several from him, they are superior to Winco or Sam's. However I will go for price for our regular Q stuff, I only pay the extra $$$ when it is for a special occasion.

kevin13 · Feb 18, 2010

Yeah, I understand the whole volume discount going on with Sam's and Walmart, I was just surprised to see that my local butcher's price didn't differ too much from grocery store prices that only carry trimmed flats. I definately don't mind paying the higher price for a quality piece of meat, especially when it's a special occasion like delta mentioned. I guess it was sort of an initial shock at first.

caveman · Feb 18, 2010

The butchers are selling the choice while the clubs are selling the select. I believe there are three cuts of meat & please, if I am wrong here someone correct me but I am pretty sure that most of the butcher shops sell the top grade of meat only. At a good shop, the meat is mostly fresh, great cuts of meat & nice selections as well. In SoCal, I paid $3.76 per lb. for an 8 lb brisket. I may or may not go back for some pork butt but I have not decided yet. I am having decision issues on whether or not to fully convert my CGSP into a pure smoker or not. Anyway, just my couple of pennys worth.

solaryellow · Feb 18, 2010

Sams and Costco both sell "choice" around here.

dick bullard · Feb 18, 2010

Only "Choice" sold at Sam's and Costco by me....

Some of the larger chain stores around here sell "Select" and promote it like it is top of the line.....it does have a lot of people fooled....!

All you have to do in one of these stores is just take a fast glance at their meat and all you can see is the white of the fat....you'd think their Spares were BBs from the prices they charge...but, folks are buying them....amazing, but a lot of those folks do not know the different grades of meat and believe "Select" to be the highest....!

Rick

smokin jeff · Sep 21, 2013

In Spring Hill,FL today I went to buy a full flat brisket,select at my local Publix meant det. Usually they charge around $4 per pound,but depending on the store in the same town you see a $2-3 difference. Today's pricing was $6,49 per pound at Publix. I had the meat clerk check it and he came back and told me "it has always been that price. Wrong based on my last 5 purchases of the same product. I went to another one of their stores and it was the $4 per pound price I normally pay! Supermarkets,especially Publix play games with prices if there is a run on or built up demand for a certain product(s)........it is called price gauging, but good luck getting anywhere with that,they do what they want and get away with it.....That just cost them a big chunk of $$$$ we spend there every week! I ended up buying from a butcher still vacuum packed for $3.78 lb.

damnthatsgood · Sep 22, 2013

DSC_0048.JPG

damnthatsgood
Sep 8, 2013

At the rate that I'm ruining briskets, I'll take them as cheap as they come...

Got this one at Wal-Mart. And we bought it on Sept. 7th. So it was pretty fresh.

If you look at the bottom right of the price tag, it looks like it might've said USDA Select.

bwarbiany · Oct 1, 2013

I picked up an 11.5# packer, USDA Prime, at Costco for $2.79/lb about 3 weeks ago. My local butcher, a very respectable place, only had Choice for $5.49/lb.

I think Costco has been making some huge strides over the years with their meat selection.

chewmeister · Oct 2, 2013

Can only get flats at the local Sam's here.

noboundaries · Oct 8, 2013

They sell Choice and Prime at the Costco close to me, sold in different areas of the meat department. My favorite local grocer sells Choice, not Prime, but the texture and taste is better at the grocer than what we get at Costco. I watch the sales at the grocer and the sale price is about the same as the price at Costco. Not sure what causes that taste and texture difference between the grocer and Costco but it is definitely noticeable, and a significant change from what we used to get from the same Costco several years ago. We no longer buy any meat at all from the Costco and we used to buy LOTS. I've been tempted by their Prime beef but I don't want to experiment and be disappointed after spending $16/lb for a ribeye. Both the meat sold at the Costco and the grocer are wet aged.

We have a local butcher that offers dry aged Prime beef when special ordered. I need to win the lottery to buy some but folks tell me it is worth every penny. I just can't bring myself to buy a ribeye steak at $30/lb, and that was the price quite a while ago. I'm sure it's gone up since then.

bwarbiany · Oct 9, 2013

Noboundaries said:
We have a local butcher that offers dry aged Prime beef when special ordered. I need to win the lottery to buy some but folks tell me it is worth every penny. I just can't bring myself to buy a ribeye steak at $30/lb, and that was the price quite a while ago. I'm sure it's gone up since then.

Have you considered dry-aging it yourself?

noboundaries · Oct 9, 2013

bwarbiany said:
Have you considered dry-aging it yourself?

Just started reading about that today.

Brisket Prices...Am I Crazy?

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