Brisket Prices

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markedman1132

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 28, 2017
9
10
Is the price of brisket skyrocketing everywhere or just in my area?

3 weeks ago I could get a prime packer at Sams club for $3.96 per #. Now they have choice at $5.98 per #. BJ's is also well above $5 per # for brisket (they only sell flats).

Anybody else seeing prices go up drastically?
 
No idea.

This week in Tom Thumb/Randall's grocery stores in the Dallas area has choice cut briskets for $2.99 a pound.  This is TX and I wonder if the fact that we have plenty of cattle country makes a difference.

Anyhow that's all the input I have.  Best of luck :)
 
Where I am, Northern Virginia (DC Metro), it is just stupid high.  Cheapest I can find for a packer is $4.99/lb but some butchers charge $6.99/lb or even $8.99/lb.  This is all for USDA Choice, the $8.99 butcher told me I could get prime but that would be $12.99/lb.  He also told me another time that the reason it was so expensive was that most of their customers wanted the flat only so they needed to make up for tossing the point.

Why would they toss the point? On purpose?

Up here from my experience with Costco and Sams Club is that they almost never have packers in stock and the flats almost always have been trimmed of nearly all fat.
 
So much for brisket being a tough, inexpensive cut of meat.

I guess I will wait til the prices come down. Should have grabbed those prime packers when I had a chance.
 
They don't sell brisket in stores here. Nobody buys it. Nobody smokes brisket here. Only restaurants and catering people buy briskets to smoke. That's why prices are kinda high. No competition or demand in stores.
Millions of people buy some corned beef brisket couple times a year here. That's about it. Just not a brisket smoking community here to support the stores stocking them.
 
I have places to get brisket at here in Michigan but your looking at $5-$6 a pound for a packer ($3.99 on sale a few times a year) and $6-$7 a pound for the flats only ($5 a pound on sale once every few months). Michigan definitely isn't a brisket hot bed. Then again pork butt has been averaging $1.70 a pound for almost a year now where as before it was $1.30ish so nothing's cheap anymore.
 
I've seen the prices increase $1-$2 / lb since the late spring.  In fact all large cuts of beef roasts, like briskets, chuckies, bottom rounds, etc, have gone up the same $1-$2 / lb locally.  They'll come back down once the summer grilling/smoking season is over.  For those of us who grill/smoke year-round, just wait until after Labor Day.   

Also, the China market has been reopened for beef sales.  That could keep prices higher for a while. 
 
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Still $1.97 for a choice packer here at Walmart.

Al
It is my understanding that Walmart here in the North Central Texas area had them at $1.69/lb around forth of july and then they have been $1.97/lb or so since then.  I didn't know/think they were Choice because Walmart almost exclusively does only Select cuts of meat (I once worked the meat department there in college) and the briskets I saw looked sad when I walked by them at my local Walmart so I passed.  

To put it nicely I have no love for Walmart having worked there for 3 years in college and I avoid that hell hole like the plague when I can.  Even if I pay a dollar more a pound hahahaha  :D
 
$3.99/lbs for prime whole packer at Costco in Southern California. Plan on picking up one for this weekend.
 
I live in the Twin Cities, MN. Sam's only carries choice by me. Choice Packer is $2.67/ lbs. Choice flat is $5.79/lb. 

Had a friend check Costco and they carry Prime. Prime Packer at Costco was $6.00 / lbs 
 
We get pieces of flat weighing like 2 to 3 pounds all trimmed of fat. [emoji]128547[/emoji] I would never buy a small chunk of trimmed flat.
 
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I just got back from Gordon's in bradenton, fl. Brisket was $2.79/pound! Used to be about $2.30. Of the other end, Eye of Round was only $2.59 -- used to be $3.15. Go figure
 
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