Time to reload.

WeekendWarrior

New member
Pretty much cleaned out the smoking meats from the freezer, so I went to fareway to reload.

Picked up a bone in Boston butt for 2.88 a pound.
3 racks of loin back pork ribs for 2.99 a pound.
6 pounds of country style boneless pork ribs for 2.88 a pound.
1 10 pound beef brisket at 3.99 a pound.

 
I called around my town for a few places to get some pricing on Brisket, and got these prices.

Fareway

5.99 for a whole choice, 7.99 for a flat choice.

Walmart

3.43 for a whole (not sure what grade this is.)  I need to investigate this one further.

Hy-Vee

6.99 whole choice.

Costco

3.88 for a whole choice. (This is online, not sure if it is available at store)

Super Target meat department wasn't sure what a whole brisket was, and quoted my a 2lb corned beef.

Not sure why the wide range of pricing.  I can get a whole NY Strip at Fareway and have it trimmed and cut to order for 7.99 a pound on sale. 

Currently whole trimmed briskets are 3.08 wholesale, and flats are 5.74 wholesale.

Not sure why the large markup, as whole briskets are primal cuts and they don't have to do any additional butchering.
 
Bruce
My kind of reloading. I typically go to bjs or costco the day before my smoke for my product. If i has a large freezer it would be a good thing.
 
I checked the walmart brisket, and it is marked as USDA Choice, and was a tad over 10 lbs.

I am guessing it is a whole brisket and not a flat, but since I've never done one I am not sure.
 
Maybe it's just my area, but meat has REALLY gone up in the last few months!  I buy 99% of my meat at Sam's, and I get sticker shock every time I go now!
 
Tony, you are not kidding. I noticed the same up here in TO.  Chicken and pork is up slightly, but beef prices shot up significantly.
 
I was in walmart today, they had pork spares for 1.78, st Louis for 2.28, but the beef brisket was now priced at 6.86 a pound, double what it was a few days ago.

I bought some of the St. Louis ribs, but they look kind of pathetic compared to the baby back ribs.  I always thought spares/ St. Louis had more meat than loin back ribs?

Since I am pretty new to these cuts of meat, I not quite sure when to spot a deal.

I am going to cook the St. Louis with the loin backs today, will they be OK to cook them at the same time?

I'll probably put the St. Louis on the top and the loin backs on the 2nd shelf, as the temps usually seem a bit lower on the top.

In the picture below, the St. Louis are about 3/4 of an inch thick and the loin back are 3+ inches thick.

I did BBQ sauce as a binder on 2 and Mustard on 2 and put them in the fridge last night.

I will see if I can tell any difference in binders.

I don't normally put sauce on mine, but my wife always does.  I think though she is used to eating dry takeout ribs.

Going to try 235 for 5.5 hours and rest for 15 minutes or so.
 

Attachments

  • StLoisvsLoin2.JPG
    StLoisvsLoin2.JPG
    269.5 KB · Views: 326
  • StLouisvsLoin1.JPG
    StLouisvsLoin1.JPG
    322 KB · Views: 357
Wow and that is a commercially raised cow. Small farm grass fed beef is 10.00 a pound for brisket in my corner of Michigan. Either price is too high for me, I'm just shocked they are only $3 difference
 
Man, those are some meaty back ribs!!  Wow!  Spare ribs, with the tip meat left on (not cut down to the St Louis cut) are pretty meaty, but there is more cartilage and tough meat.  I prefer the back ribs, due to the amount of meat and the fact that ALL of the meat on them is edible!  I like the taste of the back ribs better, too.
 
The loin backs had quite a bit of fat as well as meat.  I don't know if I could have trimmed some the fat off the loin backs first.

My wife and I both liked the St. Louis style with the BBQ sauce as the binder and a light coat of Famous Dave's Rib rub the best, but everything was great.
 
They are meaty, but there is a fine line between getting a nice piece of meat and the butcher price gouging. that almost looks like it was cut thick so it could be sold for $3.?? a pound as ribs rather than $1.?? as boneless loin.
 
Pork Belly said:
They are meaty, but there is a fine line between getting a nice piece of meat and the butcher price gouging. that almost looks like it was cut thick so it could be sold for $3.?? a pound as ribs rather than $1.?? as boneless loin.

I was thinking the same thing. There was a market near me were I used to pickup my back ribs and everyone bought them because they were meaty, but it was too much for my liking and it really was the loin that they didn't trim off so that they can charge more for it.  I stopped buying from them as I found the meat to be dry.
 
I picked up a case of Baby Backs, 14 racks for $2.69 a pound, 10 pound case of Rib Tips for $10.70 and Pork Butts for $1.69 a pound. Felling pretty good about that shopping trip. I have a 10.11 pound butt in the brine now it will go on at 2AM.
 
Pork Belly said:
I picked up a case of Baby Backs, 14 racks for $2.69 a pound, 10 pound case of Rib Tips for $10.70 and Pork Butts for $1.69 a pound. Felling pretty good about that shopping trip. I have a 10.11 pound butt in the brine now it will go on at 2AM.

Where'd you get a deal like that?  Those are crazy prices!  Was it "Throwback Thursday?"  ;) lol.
 
It is a family owned meat market. They do huge volume, I went for two butts but couldn't pass up the deals. Whole beef short rib was 3.49, whole boneless NY Strip 2.89 I had 32 people in line ahead of me at 8:40AM. It's called Lowery's Meat Market in Buchanan Michigan.
 
I have tried several select grade briskets from walmart while the price is right, around 3.40 per pound, never had much luck with the final product, going to try one with a good brine ( Walt ) and injection soon, recently I saw a whole beef ribeye for 177.00 didn't even look at the price per pound just walked away stunned.
 
mnsmoker said:
I have tried several select grade briskets from walmart while the price is right, around 3.40 per pound, never had much luck with the final product, going to try one with a good brine ( Walt ) and injection soon, recently I saw a whole beef ribeye for 177.00 didn't even look at the price per pound just walked away stunned.

I feel your pain, Jim!  That's why I haven't dry-aged any steaks this summer.  Crazy high.
 
Back
Top