Brisket price is really weird

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Rusty Kettle

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Butler PA
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Hey you with the face!
Choice Grade beef brisket for whole untrimmed packer $4.46 per lb.
Prime Grade beef brisket for whole untrimmed packer $3.28 per lb.

Just wondering why choice at Walmart is more costly than prime grade beef brisket at Sam's Club. Wonder why Prime costs less than choice grade.

Did anyone else notice this weird trend?

I suppose if I am going to cook brisket I will just go to Sam's Club and get a better cut of meat.

I did snag a nice prime brisket and got a new Sam's club membership as we had heard their meat prices are better and they are. So for once it makes more sense to buy better meat to save money. I think I can suffer through this. :laugh:
 
Before Covid choice brisket was regularly $2.79 at my local grocery chain. Now it is $3.99 while Sam's has prime for $2.68.
 
Personally I think choice is the sweet spot. I looked at Prime this morning and it was hard to see meat. A lot of trimming to be done, and Im known to remove the hard knuckle, season an cook
 
At Randall's today they had a great selection of Choice packers for 2.99/#. And if you used some app they have to scan a digital coupon you got 1.77/#.

I picked up a nice 11 pounder for next weekend.
 
I see the same thing at my local Costco - prime brisket is at least $1 or 2 less per pound than choice. The meat cutter couldn't explain it, either...
 
16Adams said:
Personally I think choice is the sweet spot. I looked at Prime this morning and it was hard to see meat. A lot of trimming to be done, and Im known to remove the hard knuckle, season an cook
Click to expand...

Yeah choice is easier to hit your marks as far as timing goes. Prime cooks very fast.
I plan to just knock the temp lower on the smoker to make up for it when I cook it. Try and slow it down a bit and see how it comes out.
I like to cook choice, then select, and then prime. The price comparison on prime though made me get it. I just can't justify 4.46 per lb.
I will just take my time and make sure it comes out right next weekend.
 
I think it really depends on where they are processed/where you buy them. I’d do Prime from Sam’s and hated them. Seemed to trim off way more than anywhere else pre-cook (so bottom line price per Lb is higher). I really like the angus choice at Restaurant Depot. However now I’m Buying a couple cases at a time through GFS, and their prime (for me) have been way more consistent. Some of the choice (also GFS) points wouldn’t render as well as others in the same case of Brisket. With Prime I’m getting perfectly rendered points every time. The flats between choice angus and prime are almost no difference if you ask me.

During April/May when beef was nuts the only thing I could get was Excel no roll...never again will I do that. In fact after cooking 2 cases of those I stopped cooking Brisket for 2 months to let prices normalize. Upper choice and prime can be very similar. Long story short, there’s definitely differences in grades but not always a massive difference to warrant the price.
 
I did see some corned beef in the bin but passed at 4.99#. We ran out of everything at once from paper to zip locks. 328$ and no meat in the cart. I did buy a hot dog and split with the wife. Air filters for AC were $120 of that though.

Our Sam’s has started the Walmart markdown protocol. Yellow or red tag might only be 5% markdown.
 
I got a couple of primes at Sam's in Norman, OK (BOOMER!) for $2.47/lb last week. They had some choice for $2.29. If they would have been CABs, I'd have bought them.
 
I guess it really just depends on where you're located. My Sam's is doing Choice for $2.68/Lb and Prime for $3.29/Lb. 99% of the time they don't actually have any Prime in stock though.
 
16Adams said:
Please weigh if you trim. Just curious
Click to expand...

The 13.5lb prime CAB brisket I bought from there got about 3.5lb trim, slightly less than 1lb of that I'll grind the rest was just trash. I'm a heavy trimmer compared to most, FWIW. I'll trim even the edible red meat to get it the shape I want. It seemed to me about typical trim % overall weight wise.

The only "weird" thing about brisket prices here is how low they are. For a while at Sam's prime was very close in price to choice, I don't recall the prices for the two inverting but it's possible I don't remember.
 
Local chain released an ad today with select brisket for $1.97/lb. Don't remember ever seeing them do that as I have never seen them carry select. Makes me think that they are just trying to dupe people. I grew up shopping at that chain and I continued after they sold out to Albertson's.

Maybe Covid has forced them to jack up their prices for the last six months, but it seems like other stores have been able to return to their norm for the most part. Kinda want that chain to eat s**t and live now. There is an HEB set to open here soon and I will probably spend my money there.
 
I think it has to do with the farm to market processing. Maybe over beef critter vs processor's ability, They maybe catching up and now have product they have to move,
 
drunkenmeatfist said:
Local chain released an ad today with select brisket for $1.97/lb. Don't remember ever seeing them do that as I have never seen them carry select. Makes me think that they are just trying to dupe people. I grew up shopping at that chain and I continued after they sold out to Albertson's.

Maybe Covid has forced them to jack up their prices for the last six months, but it seems like other stores have been able to return to their norm for the most part. Kinda want that chain to eat s**t and live now. There is an HEB set to open here soon and I will probably spend my money there.
Click to expand...

I may go look. I’ve not seen Select in United in years. If I can find a nice round or mostly point, smoke that. Remove flat —ground up for chili or stacked enchiladas.

However I have one ready to cook and another in freezer. They do have B&B Lump-Oak 5.99 in 10# bags.
 
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