Buying Quality Brisket In The San Francisco Bay Area


 
Michael M.

Michael M.

TVWBB Fan
Hi all:

I looked through the discussion archives and it seems as though a few years back that our local Smart & Final stores as well as Sam's Club here in the Bay Area seemed to be the go to places for Choice grade quality brisket.

Are these still the preferred places for reasonably priced ones in the 9-12 lb range? I'd go to Costco since thats where I get my butts and tri tip but apparently they aren't stocking brisket these days.

Thoughts?

wsmsmile8gm.gif
 
I get mine from Golden Gate Meat Co. in the ferry building in the city. Grass fed, corn finished all natural and nothing less than choice. great flavor but not cheap.
 
I would call ahead to Smart & Final to see what they have. I usually find USDA Select at my closest S&F, and that's OK with me. Not sure what Sam's is carrying.

Regards,
Chris
 
Michael, I was at Costco in Livermore on Tuesday and they had a nice selection of Choice Briskets in the bulk shrink wrap. I also bought a CAB (Certified Angus Beef) choice grade at Gene's in Pleasanton although it wasn't cheap at $6.50/pound.

Jack
 
I usually buy one or two select packers from Smart and Final each year. Last night got another and didn't notice that it was Choice until I threw in the fridge last night. Yes, lucky instance.... it's on the kettle this morning for a HH cook.
 
I was at a Smart & Final here in Southern California last year to buy -8- briskets for a big cook I was doing for a friend. They didn't have enough in the case and the guy went to the back to bring out more and the case the briskies were in said Harris Ranch. He informed me all red meat sold at Smart & Final is from Harris Ranch right here in Coalinga, California.

http://www.harrisranch.com/index2.php
 
Thanks for all the input and feedback on this question, guys!

I picked up a 13lb Choice grade brisket at Smart and Final today for $2/54/lb. There were a few Choice grades mixed in with the Selects as I've heard before.

Now all I have to do is NOT screw it up when I do it this weekend. I've done ribs (pork and beef), chicken, pulled pork, pulled beef, and a ton of tri tip, but this will be my very first brisket.

At least I'm off to a good start with the one I got hold of today.

wsmsmile8gm.gif
 
Restaurant Depot carries their Angus brand which is supposed to be comparable to Choice.

Snake River Farms can send/dry ice to you Wagyu briskets. There is a source/vendor of Prime in the Central Valley that I understand will deliver. If I hear the source I'll update the post.

I also bought one from Savemart last year that was Choice. I think if they don't carry a full packer they can order one for you.
 
Guys, I just got back from Costco in Livermore with a 9# Choice brisket at $3.89/#. They had a very large selection.
 
Thanks Richard but, San Francisco is 40 miles away and with traffic, that can be a long trip. If I could find it locally in the Livermore/Pleasanton area i would try it out.

Jack
 
I just picked up a nice 13 pound choice grade at the smart and final in pleasant hill today at 2.59 pound. They had a good selection.
 
Guys, I smoked my Costco Choice grade brisket this weekend and it came out great. I started it at 2:am Sunday and we had dinner at 6:00 pm, perfect brisket, moist and very tasty. It was nine pounds and I cooked it Low and Slow at 225 - 235 for 12 hours and then foiled wrapped it with a bottle of Snowshoe Grizzle Brown for 3.5 hours.
 
Originally posted by Jack O:
Guys, I smoked my Costco Choice grade brisket this weekend and it came out great. I started it at 2:am Sunday and we had dinner at 6:00 pm, perfect brisket, moist and very tasty. It was nine pounds and I cooked it Low and Slow at 225 - 235 for 12 hours and then foiled wrapped it with a bottle of Snowshoe Grizzle Brown for 3.5 hours.
Click to expand...

Jack which store did you buy it?
 
Originally posted by J Reyes:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jack O:
Guys, I smoked my Costco Choice grade brisket this weekend and it came out great. I started it at 2:am Sunday and we had dinner at 6:00 pm, perfect brisket, moist and very tasty. It was nine pounds and I cooked it Low and Slow at 225 - 235 for 12 hours and then foiled wrapped it with a bottle of Snowshoe Grizzle Brown for 3.5 hours.
Click to expand...

Jack which store did you buy it? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

John, I bought the brisket at Costco in Livermore. They had a large selection last week of 8 - 14 pounders in shrink wrap.
 
Thanks for the tip about the Costco Business Center in Hayward. Choice brisket for $2.55/pound. I have an 11 pounder going right now. They also had some decent beef ribs - not a huge amount of meat left, but still a good value.
 
Guys,

I was at the Livermore Costco today to get my Labor Day Brisket and in addition to their usual USDA Choice brisket , they had a selection of CAB Choice or Better full packers that were injected 10% and marinated @ $5.89/#

They looked great and a lot of them were in the 15# range but, not knowing about their marinate, I went with a 8# Choice.

If anybody try's the Marinated Special Brisket, let me know. The Meat Department Asst. manager told me he was trying to arrange a tasting tomorrow with another beef vendor. Don't know if that's going to actually happen but, i'm driving bye to check it out if it does, those whole packers looked very nice!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top