There is a Walmart Neighborhood Market nearby and I shop there infrequently. In early June they had 7 or 8 Prime briskets in the meat case for $5.46. Picked one up. Later in the month I was there again and they had several briskets, most choice but a couple prime all grades $5.46. A couple of weeks ago, they had one brisket, a prime for again $5.46. Its in the fridge wet aging. I don't know if this is something they have decided to do, but in the past they had mostly select and occasionally choice. I hope this continues, basically the same price as the local Wild Fork prime, but not frozen.
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Thanks smokyYank for that article/attachment. It points out one of the weird things in human behavior: the quest for drama in the face of change. Let's set a context to begin. Roughly, ground beef is $5 per pound, brisket (choice to prime) is $6 per, and chuck roast is $7 per. Yeah you can quibble a bit with regional differences, and sale prices, and a couple other small variables....but they are small relatively. Every time I see this type of commentary I'm perplexed by the conclusion. Comparatively, brisket is still at the low end of the range of pricing for beef cuts. Yes, not a low as it once was in relative terms, but still low for today's reality. I see people say that chuck is a substitute they refer to as "poor man's brisket"...yet it costs more per pound. Sure, it comes down to perception. A typical chuck roast cut is somewhere around 3 pounds, a whole brisket is typically in a 12-20 pound range. People are reacting to the total price on the tag (aka, sticker shock) without consideration of the amount of protein provided. Even with about a 20% "loss" from trimming and cooked shrinkage, you're still getting more meals out of an 18 lb brisket compared to a 3 lb chuck roast. And as the referenced article notes, the "waste" actually ends up in other dishes/servings if managed well (something that has long been common, not new). Saying that brisket is nearing luxury priced cuts is overly dramatic. Brisket is more expensive for a restaurant to process into a meal because of the preparation labor being more involved and the cost of the cooking process (fuel and time/attention), but the initial cost is still comparatively low in the spectrum of beef pricing per pound.
What may be difficult for restaurant folks to cope with is that they have made, along with customer cooperation, the brisket as a centerpiece cut for BBQ joint service/expectation. I will admit that I judge a BBQ joint quality by how good their brisket is. Maybe we need to change our expectations and have a greater respect for their pork and chicken presentations going forward.Comment
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Great analysis Uncle Bob. Restaurants are closing everywhere due to rising costs of everything. As I said a while back, in my opinion, there’s more Texas barbecue restaurants than the market/economy can support. The Texas Monthly’s Top 50 list has resulted in an increase in both bbq places and bbq “tourism.” Not a bad thing, but peaks and valleys are inevitable. In addition to increased numbers of restaurants there’s a correlating number of people who are cooking great bbq at home.
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