Costco or Sam's Club


 
D

Dave H

New member
Hi All,

I am a Sam's member and not very happy with the quality of their meat and poultry. My membership is ending and I was wondering if any of you have any opinions on whether Sam's or Costco had better food for BBQ'ing?

Thanks
 
Dave

Our family buys all of our beef & pork items from COSTCO. I have never had a bad experience with their meats in 18 years of doing business with them.

We don't buy chicken at COSTCO because a neighbor down the road raises free-range, organic chickens that she sells at one of the local farmer's market.

And we head over to the Oregon Coast at least every other weekend and pick-up seafood from the boats at Newport Bay.

HTH
 
Well, my father-in-law swore by Sam's meat his entire life. I've never gotten bad meat there so can't complain.

We used to carry a membership at both Sam's and Costco but since Sam's is in town and the nearest Costco is about 20 minutes away we let the Costco membership expire.
 
I have never shopped Sam's, but I've always found Costco's meat and prices to be excellent.

One thing to note is that apparently not all stores carry the two-butt cryos in the cases. Here in Boise Idaho they wack them all into country-style ribs so I have to ask a butcher for them. They are happy to grab them and price them accordingly.

John
 
Where I live there is a better selection of meat at Sam's. For example, I can get full packer brisket at Sam's but only the deboned butts at Costco. I've also found that, in general, Sam's is a few cents cheaper. They also have those "Priced for Quick Sale" packages of meat every once in awhile.
 
I use Sam's because it is much closer to my home and I have always enjoyed the results. I think their meat is good and generally use it when I compete. Here in St. Louis, Sam's always cuts the butts into pork steaks but, if you ask, they will bring you full butts individually or in 2-pack cryovacs. They also slice up the Tri-tips but will always accommodate me when I ask for a whole Tri-tip. I wonder if geography plays a role in the quality of the meat?

I have had only one experience with Costco, in 2004 at the Royal. The butts at Costco were all boneless and didn't turn out well. The ribs from Costco, however, scored very well.

Mark - Roadkill BBQ
 
Julia Child, it was rumored, bought her meat at Costco. We left Sam's club for several reasons and have always enjoyed the meat at Costco. Tri tips, for example, are excellent and $4.79/lb....tom
 
I am always impressed with the quality and freshness of COSTCO's meat. Their stuff is great.

I also prefer to shop at COSTCO because I think they are a better corporate citizen than Wal-Mart and Sam's Club: nearly all COSTCO employees have health insurance and a 401(k). That means something to me as a consumer.
 
Another dual member here. I like the bone in butts at Sams and the fact you can sometimes get packer briskets. This is for competition. For most of my cuts of meat not for competition I prefer Costco. Other than meat I feel the house brands at Costco (Kirkland) are all very good. I live in the boonies so both stores are about a 60 mile drive.

Paul
Hickory Flats BBQ
Versailles, IN
 
I'm a Sam's member. I've been buying ribs from them. They have good ribs but every once in a while you a shiner rack in the pack.
 
I am a member at Sams, paid for through work. My brother inlaw is a member at Costco. We pick a day and shop both stores together picking up the things that we like that the other store does not carry. It works pretty well. Costco carries tri-tip that Sams does not. If push came to shove that would be reason enough for me to choose Costco over Sams.
 
For now, Sam's is the only game in town (columbus, Ohio) and I feel dirty everytime I shop there. Sam's and Walmart leave a foul taste in my mouth due to the way they treat their workforce. Now that we have a Costco opening up here soon, I will allow my Sam's membership to lapse and shift my business to a company that believes in paying their workforce a living wage and providing a decent benefits package.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/239023_rightoworkop.html
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_15/b387...z021.htm?chan=search
 
you'll never find full packer brisket at costco. You'll also never get bone-in butts there either.

Flats, where I'm at, run me $3.79/pound at costco. I can get it cheaper at my local grocery store. Their butts (boneless only, which ticks me off) are about $2/pound. Again, I can get cheaper elsewhere, and bone in. Finally, lately they've been giving me a hard time when I've tried to buy either the brisket flat or butts in cryovac. They say I need manager approval. This is from two different stores. Forget that. I shop there for almost everything... but not butts or brisket.

I do get my spare ribs there. usually about $1.99 / pound out here in the NE.

I don't have a sams within 45 minutes of me so never been.
 
I shop both. This is the home of Costco and I love their steaks. After a tough flat of Ribeyes from Sam's I no longer buy steak from them. Chicken and Pork butts Sam's is my primary supplier. Regular Costcos don't carry packer Briskets and Sam's does. Sam's has good Tri-Tip and Chuck Rools.

Sam's is cheaper on Plates, Cutlery, Soda, Charcoal, Pork Butts and a long list of identical items. Chicken is a non starter at Costco because I prefer Tyson to Foster Farms. The new yuppy Costco that just opened by me was first more expensive on my wife's favorite wine and then stopped carrying it, so I bought her a case at Sam's yesterday
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Well, I did just smoke some very good bbs that I got from Sam's last weekend.
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave H:
Thanks everyone for your replies. Any thoughts on which store has the better Baby Backs? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
We had a Wal-Mart Supercenter open up about 15 minutes from the house. The wife and I just got back. I picked up a chuck roast, three pounds for about $9. They also had some full packer brisket, which I just looked at.

I'll be smoking the chuck probably next weekend or the weekend after.
 
Dave,

I have cooked Baby Backs from both Sam’s and Costco, my experience has been Costco ribs are meatier than Sam's…. as someone else mentioned… more shiners from Sam’s.

Always get butts at Sam’s as I prefer bone in over boneless. As far as steaks we have had great ones from both, usually pick the packs with the most marbling.

Herb S.
 
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