Where do ya'll usually get your brisket?

Trip

Trip

New member
I am having a tough time finding a local meat market or butcher shop around my area that does packer cut, anybody buy from big box with success on briskets?
 
QFC in our area (not sure where you're located) has a great meat/seafood counter, they'll also custom cut things for me as well as offer butchering lessons when I have questions.

Safeway and our local family grocer are worthless for quality meat or selection.
 
Sam's Club has packers, and are usually either USDA Choice or even Prime.  WalMarts, at least in my area, usually have packers, too.
 
Walmarks appears to have them here, but I found a butcher on the other side of town that has some primes.
 
It's great if you can find a Prime briskie, but Choice does very well - if prepped right.  I brine, at a minimum, and usually brine and inject.  Good prep work is key to great brisket, and you can get great results with Choice - and save some $$!  I stay away from Select, as that grade seems to have a lot of leeway on quality...pretty hit and miss.
 
Supply and Demand. No Demand = No Supply. I often wonder what happens to the pricey cuts of meat that aren't sold by the sell by date.
 
At Fresh Market the other day, an upscale market like Whole Foods, I asked if they had packers. He said yes they run about $89. I said sounds good, by this time my mouth was watering. Are they choice? I asked. No they are prime. WoW, the mother load, $89 for a prime packer. How many pounds, I asked . He replied, 3 or 4. I backed away from the counter. For a whole brisket?, I asked. No we don't sell whole ones, only flats. Good Grief!
 
Barrel99 said:
At Fresh Market the other day, an upscale market like Whole Foods, I asked if they had packers. He said yes they run about $89. I said sounds good, by this time my mouth was watering. Are they choice? I asked. No they are prime. WoW, the mother load, $89 for a prime packer. How many pounds, I asked . He replied, 3 or 4. I backed away from the counter. For a whole brisket?, I asked. No we don't sell whole ones, only flats. Good Grief!
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Costco only carries flats here as well.  I called one upscale meat market (aka hipster mart) yesterday and they had no idea what a packer cut was...  I had to explain it was the point and flat to them, complete fail...  They wanted 10.99 a pound.  Might as well order one from Creekstone.

The local butcher across town that has prime has a very good price even compared to Wallyword for his and gets his stuff from local farmers.  I will give him a try.



 
wow, remind me not to move to Florida.  I thought our prices could be steep for brisket (what can I say, I rarely pay for beef given that my family raises it) but we can get a ~12 pounder for half that on a good day
 
mizzoufan said:
wow, remind me not to move to Florida.  I thought our prices could be steep for brisket (what can I say, I rarely pay for beef given that my family raises it) but we can get a ~12 pounder for half that on a good day
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It's Tennessee.  I kinda expected it to be that much given the location and the type of people that they cater to in that area.  It's over half that, 4.99 a pound I think, at the other local butcher.  I was much more shocked they didn't know their cuts for being a butcher.
 
The last one I got was a 14.5 packer from my butcher for $4.49/lb. Great price and it was choice. That's the only place I will go now.
 
Walt said:
Got a 12 lb select cut @ SAMS yesterday for 3.48/lb.
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At Sam's and Wallyworld, here in the land of their HQ, I've never seen anything less than Choice on brisket - surprises me that they push off the Select stuff to other markets!

BUT, with your prep method, bet it doesn't make much difference! ;)
 
The flats I usually grab are Choice &  I didnt even notice Select until I got home. After brineing & injecting it will be fine.
 
I have never seen a packer at my local Sams Club or Costco only flats.  I usually get choice packers at Walmart.  If I remember Robert Wholey in the strip (a large fish market) had packers but that was a few years ago.  I talked to a local butcher shop, one of the few left, and he said he could order them. 
 
The packers the local place had were select instead of prime and didn't look great.  Went to wally world and got a choice for cheaper.
 
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