Brisket Prices

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/06/drought-texas-beef-barbecue/22972817/

Who would have ever thought that briskets would be a hot item to steal. If it's the same guy in all three hits he must have on heck of a freezer to store all that in!

Makes me want to buy a freezer for the garage and buy everytime there is a sale.

Personally, I prefer pork.

Being a super cheap so-and-so, I thought brisket was too expensive at $4/lb so I perfected my rib techniques. I did get brisket at our (only) smoke restaurant in town. For a one-off to see what was so good about it, it was worth a shot.

It was ok but my smoke product was so superior to theirs, I never went back. Now that could be a reflection on them. I don't know. But at this point, with pork side ribs at $1.99 and backs at $2.99 I haven't bought beef in a year. That $4 brisket was back when hamburger was always $1.99.

Burger is now $5/lb ($4 on special) and I don't know what brisket prices are. Very rarely sold here in any case (can only get it at semi-wholesalers), not ever at stores like Walmart, etc

Killens bbq down here is the same thing $20 a pound for beef ribs that equals one rib. But Walmart has select brisket for $2.49 this week.

Looks like we'll be paying a lot for St Patrick's Day Corned Beef

Tim

Bob Ivey said:

Makes me want to buy a freezer for the garage and buy everytime there is a sale.

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That's exactly what Barb and I did and it was the best decision we ever made along with getting a good Food Saver to protect the meat we freeze.
We watch for sales and always check the dog food section (mark downed meat) in the meat department.
Our freezer is just a small 12CF upright we bought from Sears, but it really holds a ton of food. being on a limited budget we watch what we buy and Barb tracks it really well. Since buying the freezer we have cut our meat budget in half and the freezer has paid for itself in less than a year, well worth it.

I was in one of our local big box stores last week. I wanted to do a brisket as it's been a while so I pretty much decided to buy one, regardless of the price. I knew they were high but said "oh well". Got to the freezer and there were no briskets. A young kid was unloading other meat so I asked him about brisket. He said they were in the back. I said I was looking for a whole brisket around 15 lbs. He was gone for at least five minutes. He finally came out with one around 9 lbs. I glanced at it and said it was too small. He took in back in the freezer room and I saw him consult one of the other butchers. Another five minutes went by and out he came lugging a 14 lb. beauty. I thanked him and put it in the basket. Half way to checkout I glanced at the price and it was just under $75. I immediately whipped a U turn and went the back way to the meat department. No sign of the kid who went to so much trouble. I slipped the brisket back into the freezer and headed out, feeling guilty for putting them to so much trouble. Plan B was a 15 lb. brisket I've had in the freezer for a few months. Had to wait 4 days for it to thaw out in the fridge. Was going to do it today but our 40 - 50 mph winds yesterday, and through the night, have that whole cook on hold.

Cliff, I can live without a 14# brisket for 75 bucks also.
IMO that can rot on the shelves.

Tim

Dale Nichols said:

Killens bbq down here is the same thing $20 a pound for beef ribs that equals one rib. But Walmart has select brisket for $2.49 this week.

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I'd gladly pay that for brisket for beef ribs from someone who knows what they are doing. I hear really good things about Killen's! Look closely at brisket prices at grocery stores. Packers are a lot cheaper per pound than trimmed or just flats. That said its about 4 bucks a pound for choice packers from Sam's and about the same for select brisket's everywhere else. It's definitely a special occasion type thing.