Looks like my local WalMart is FINALLY getting in the game!
This is the second time I've seen this, so I'm thinking maybe it's going to be a regular thing for them? I sure hope so. As for the quality, well, we'll see... I'm gonna get 2 to grind up this weekend, so that'll let me evaluate their marbling and such, but I won't be cooking them as a whole brisket.
Pretty sad what makes me excited these days... but this DOES! Also sad that I'm excited about paying $6/lb for brisket. Select brisket was $5.43 I think? Somewhere in the $5.50 range. Either way, for $6-10 more, I'll chose the Prime every day of the week - even to grind it up!
I was in our WM Supercenter yesterday and there was no prime beef of any cut. The price for Prime brisket at $5.99/lb seems to be what I see about everywhere right now.
Depends... some of this will be for sausage, so I will trim the fat mostly off and then 'eyeball' for about an 80/20 or 75/25 ratio. I'll likely do the same for that as well. Previously I have just ground a whole brisket for sausage, shooting for 70/30 and generally coming out about right. I'll be mixing some pork in as well (maybe to both the sausage and the regular grind for freezing), so it'll depend how much fat is in my pork - I have some pork belly trim as well to add.
It pays to check online when looking to buy brisket these days. As an example, last week I wanted a brisket to smoke for some folks who make my life much nicer. I looked at Sam’s Club, Walmart, and then just for grins looked at our local Brookshires. Sam’s was the most expensive followed by Walmart. I bought a very nice choice brisket at Brookshires for $4.49 a pound. That same price would get me a select everywhere else. It cooked up beautifully. If you take the time to look through the on hand briskets you can usually find a very nicely marbled choice brisket that can rival a prime. A dollar a pound difference saved me 16 dollars on this one. This is another reason I advocate for a good freezer. When you find a great deal you can get several. If you don’t have the freezer space you can use the refrigerator. With cryovac briskets you can age a couple on the lowest shelf of the fridge for at least 60 days. If have gone to 80 days on one because circumstances prevented me from cooking it when I was supposed to. It was fine.
I aged one up to... I think 129 days before cooking with no problems. I don't recommend it regularly, but depending on circumstances, it could work. I have regularly done 90 days on briskets, though. This is 'wet aging' - meaning leaving it in the cryovac it came in and keeping it in the lower, colder, more stable portion of your refrigerator. As long as the cryo is intact, there are very good chances it's relatively safe to do this. YMMV.
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