About meat.....

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shawn81073

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Giggity......

No seriously. I have done my research about where "everyone" goes to order their comp. meats but I am also looking for the best bang for my buck.

As a newer team with pennies for a budget (I have to keep the costs as low as possible or face the wrath of the bargain queen herself, my wife) I need to really be frugal. I know, I know, I know, this is a tall order and I really chose the wrong thing as a hobby for the budget that I have to deal with.

Now let me point out that a local grocery store stocks Prairie Fresh ribs and I can order shoulders as well. They also have Springer Hill, Farms, Mountain :confused: whatever Chicken that I have heard is sought after allegedly, ANYHOW they also stock it.

Ive used both and like both but I was just looking for input of would it be worth my while to shop around or to be happy and lot look a gift horse in the mouth?
 
You and I were formed from the same mold because my wife also quizzes me about how much I have spent on whatever I am doing.
As far as pork, I usually go with whatever is available at the local grocery, but I try to get as little 'enhanced' product as possible. I try to find bigger Boston Butts so I can get a bigger money muscle and I used Smithfield Extra Tender St. Louis ribs at my last comp and placed 3rd, and I thought these were probably the best all around ribs I have used since I have been competing.
For chicken, I usually get it from a Whole Foods or similar store because I just have more trust in it being tender. I took a cooking class a couple of years ago and the instructor, as well as a few teams there, use Springer Mtn. Farms and were very happy with it.
The few briskets that I have cooked came from Sam's Club and their prime is good looking stuff.
 
If you can get Prairie Fresh Ribs,pork butts and Springer Mountain locally I'd say if stick with that.All are quality products IMO. For briskets you have the usual suspects of SRF, Mr. Brisket and The Butcher Shoppe in Pensacola. My pickbus The Butcher Shoppe because of the marbling and the way they are trimmed but a lot of teams are winning with all of those briskets.
 
ronbrad62 said:
I try to get as little 'enhanced' product as possible...I used Smithfield Extra Tender St. Louis ribs at my last comp and placed 3rd, and I thought these were probably the best all around ribs I have used since I have been competing.
Click to expand...
But yet you bought enhanced ribs and found them to be some of the best ribs you ever used...maybe need to rethink your philosophy.
 
ynotfehc said:
But yet you bought enhanced ribs and found them to be some of the best ribs you ever used...maybe need to rethink your philosophy.
Click to expand...

I guess I missed that on the label.
 
Sounds like you have a good chicken source
Smithfield ET for ribs and pork (we only have the ribs here)
Freshest, most marbled pork you can find if you don't have ETs
We do Costco for prime briskets. Can also check out Sam's Club.

Focus on cooking those meats right before making the plunge into more expensive meats.

Don't be uber frugal on meat selection. You can be frugal on better tables, knives, etc etc but don't on meats and seasonings.

I wish someone would have told me this in the beginning. Would have saved me some stress.
 
I use commodity chicken, ribs, and shoulder and only order in my briskets. Can't get any cheaper than that.
 
I think before you do anything you need to have a discussion with your wife about having to be frugal. This is not a game where being dictated by a "bargain queen" is going to give you the success you probably want. Now when I say that, I don't mean that outspending others leads to success either. But you need to have the flexibility to buy what you need, when you need it. You can save yourself some money when SRF has sales on briskets and if you plan on cooking commodity pork and chicken, they aren't that expensive at regular price.

If your wife is going to freak out over the expenses of meat, just wait til she finds out what everything else we buy ends up costing.

Not worth bringing issues into your marriage, I would come to an understanding about what dollar amount can be invested into competition BBQ in a year before I even started if I was in your position.
 
tduffy said:
I think before you do anything you need to have a discussion with your wife about having to be frugal. This is not a game where being dictated by a "bargain queen" is going to give you the success you probably want. Now when I say that, I don't mean that outspending others leads to success either. But you need to have the flexibility to buy what you need, when you need it. You can save yourself some money when SRF has sales on briskets and if you plan on cooking commodity pork and chicken, they aren't that expensive at regular price.

If your wife is going to freak out over the expenses of meat, just wait til she finds out what everything else we buy ends up costing.

Not worth bringing issues into your marriage, I would come to an understanding about what dollar amount can be invested into competition BBQ in a year before I even started if I was in your position.
Click to expand...

Yep. Really good advice.
It costs alot more than you think. Supplies, travel expenses like gas or hotel costs, food to eat not just to serve judges. Cookers, tents, trailers maybe. Entrance fees. Good knives and good sharpener. Garnish and ice. The list goes on and on and on. It adds up even on a low budget it is expensive.

It can be rewarding but it can get very expensive.
 
As some of the posts here have already mentioned, your grocery store meats will be fine. Those are all great products. As for brisket, honestly until you are scoring decently with lower grade briskets, I wouldn't mess with the Wagyu. The biggest difference between a costco prime that you screwed up and an SRF gold you screw up is $200.

Once you have down how to cook to the proper tenderness, and you have brought a couple checks home to the bargain queen, then go to SRF or Butcher Shoppe, or whoever. That will also get momma on board more, when she sees the effort you put into it.
 
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