As we all know, meat knowledge is getting dumbed down more and more at the retail level. In many cases, meat comes into stores already wrapped in Styrofoam trays and the "butcher" is relegated to simply loading the trays into the cooler.
There's a little more going on at Costco. They are trimming and packaging a lot of meat in-house, and unfortunately in my opinion, blade-tenderizing most cuts of beef that are sold on Styrofoam trays. I wish they wouldn't do that and let the customer do it at home with a Jaccard meat tenderizer if that's what they want. (By the way, beef sold in Cryovac like whole beef tenderloins, whole briskets, and bags of tri-tip are not blade tenderized.)
But I digress...what I wanted to write about is brisket. It's getting confusing at my local Costco.
In this photo, there are two types of brisket. The one on the left is labeled "BEEF BRISKET FLAT CUT BONELESS USDA CHOICE #76224" and it's a super-trimmed flat. The one on the right is labeled "BEEF BRISKET WHOLE USDA CHOICE VACUUM PACKAGED #26637". I get to looking at these whole briskets and the biggest one is about 9 pounds. The smallest one is just over 5 pounds.
I motion to the guy loading meat into the cooler and ask if there's a chance they've mislabeled these "whole" briskets, because a 5 pound whole brisket is highly unlikely. Perhaps these are untrimmed brisket flats, with most or all of the point removed? He says yes, they're flats with the point removed. "We just call them 'whole'", he says.
At the Costco Business Center, they sell untrimmed brisket flats as "BEEF BRISKET USDA CHOICE VACUUM PACKAGED #84281" and real whole briskets as "BEEF BRISKET WHOLE USDA CHOICE VACUUM PACKAGED #26637".
Maybe this is just a labeling issue at my Costco. Still, it's a reminder of the old adage "caveat emptor", or "let the buyer beware". It pays to be well-educated about the meat you buy to make sure you get what you're paying for. In this case, for the saavy buyer wanting untrimmed brisket flat, the error goes in favor of the consumer...they're getting untrimmed flat for the price of cheaper whole brisket. For the uneducated consumer trying to buy a whole brisket, he's not getting what he wants and may not even know it.
There's a little more going on at Costco. They are trimming and packaging a lot of meat in-house, and unfortunately in my opinion, blade-tenderizing most cuts of beef that are sold on Styrofoam trays. I wish they wouldn't do that and let the customer do it at home with a Jaccard meat tenderizer if that's what they want. (By the way, beef sold in Cryovac like whole beef tenderloins, whole briskets, and bags of tri-tip are not blade tenderized.)
But I digress...what I wanted to write about is brisket. It's getting confusing at my local Costco.
![IMG_3233_zps9be645b0.jpg](http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag74/callingh/IMG_3233_zps9be645b0.jpg)
In this photo, there are two types of brisket. The one on the left is labeled "BEEF BRISKET FLAT CUT BONELESS USDA CHOICE #76224" and it's a super-trimmed flat. The one on the right is labeled "BEEF BRISKET WHOLE USDA CHOICE VACUUM PACKAGED #26637". I get to looking at these whole briskets and the biggest one is about 9 pounds. The smallest one is just over 5 pounds.
I motion to the guy loading meat into the cooler and ask if there's a chance they've mislabeled these "whole" briskets, because a 5 pound whole brisket is highly unlikely. Perhaps these are untrimmed brisket flats, with most or all of the point removed? He says yes, they're flats with the point removed. "We just call them 'whole'", he says.
At the Costco Business Center, they sell untrimmed brisket flats as "BEEF BRISKET USDA CHOICE VACUUM PACKAGED #84281" and real whole briskets as "BEEF BRISKET WHOLE USDA CHOICE VACUUM PACKAGED #26637".
Maybe this is just a labeling issue at my Costco. Still, it's a reminder of the old adage "caveat emptor", or "let the buyer beware". It pays to be well-educated about the meat you buy to make sure you get what you're paying for. In this case, for the saavy buyer wanting untrimmed brisket flat, the error goes in favor of the consumer...they're getting untrimmed flat for the price of cheaper whole brisket. For the uneducated consumer trying to buy a whole brisket, he's not getting what he wants and may not even know it.