really?

[Karon Adams]

What does it mean when brisket costs 3 times the price of sirloin?

I mean, I love brisket and corned beef and pastrami but, really?

then we have pork belly that costs 2 1/2 times what pork loin costs.

I mean, wow, how times change.

[EdF]

Get the cheap stuff; make it good. You poor snob, you!

[Karon Adams]

yup. problem is, the cheap stuff aint the cheap stuff anymore!!

[HouseHomey]

Karon Adams EXACTLY!!

[HouseHomey]

Maybe we should all start eating more tripe to bring down the cost of beef and pork!

[HouseHomey]

I was in Restuaraunt Depot today and there was no Brisket. None to be had. However there was a picture of Jerod Broussard all alone on the shelf.

[HouseHomey]

EdF yeah something about being a little dry too!

[Jerod Broussard]

If my picture was up there that should scare people away, so that there should be plenty brisket available for the masses.

[FlaBouy]

OK... now that was funny...

[ecowper]

Karon Adams I used to be able to get Choice Tri-Tip at Costco for $3.99/lb. These days it is $7.99 or $8.49 ..... Everybody wants Tri-Tip now .... ugh.

[FlaBouy]

My pet peeve... Tri Tip is my go to just behind Rib Eyes... finding one is like looking for Bigfoot.

[Polarbear777]

I think it means that this website is helping to make an impact.

Now we will have to take a break from BBQ for a couple years and live on steaks.

When costco had brisket for 3.69 a pound earlier this year a friend and I bought them ALL (about a dozen)

[Karon Adams]

oh woe is me!!

[Springbank]

I can remember when flank steak and chicken wings were the cheapest things around, except for maybe pork ribs. Then someone invented fajitas and buffalo wings. They both were so good they caught on, and the price keeps going up. I think I might have a brisket buried at the bottom of the deepfreeze, that I paid $0.98 a pound for, but I haven't been close to the bottom for years. How long is it good for?

[JCGrill]

It means I'm going to be making a lot more roast.

[Thunder77]

I think it's partly our fault. Meaning us BBQers that is. We have taken previously unpopular cuts of meat and found ways to make them really really good. It's a demand/cost thing. The higher the demand, the higher the cost. I have noticed that in my area, Boston Butts have doubled and tripled in price recently. $3.49/lb for Boston Butt! No way I am paying that. I used to pay 99 cents a pound for it. And don't even get me started on turkey parts! I love drumsticks, and they used to be 35 cents per pound. They were the "leftovers" after the breast meat. Now they are ridiculously expensive.

[HouseHomey]

Yes! I used to my double bone in (whole) turkey breast for .99lbs and now 4.99lbs. I'll eat more chicken thighs instead thank you very much. I do miss my smoked turkey sammiches though.

[Craigar]

Last week 93% lean ground beef was $4.99/lbs vs whole strip loins for $4.99/lbs cut & wrapped how you want it. Let's just say we're going to be eating some 1.25" NY Strips for the next couple of weeks instead of hamburger. Damn the luck. But to Karon's point, I have noticed the same price differences in our area as well. I guess I will be buying the leaner cuts to save a few bucks and I will be saving on cooking time as well. Winner, winner it looks like steak is for dinner.

[HouseHomey]

That'll work for me every time.!

[Craigar]

Right on man! The week before that was whole ribeyes for $6.99/lbs, so we're set for steaks and a couple of nice roasts for a month or two.

[HouseHomey]

Craigar
Springbank ecowper
Here are my requirements when I shop. NEVER, I mean never pay more than .99 lbs for chicken except whole wings.

Never more than 3.99lbs for choice chuck and more often it's 2.99

never more than 3.99 for Tri tip often it's 2.79 for select but 2.99 is my preferred benchmark

never more that 2.99 for ribs of any kind and pork tenderloin

Never more than 1.99 for whole pork loin

Never more than 1.49 for pork butt or picnic and more often than not it's .99 lbs.

Choice ribeye and New York never more than 5.99 and more often it's 4.99 lbs

Never more that 4.00lbs for thick cut bacon 🥓

never more than .17 and egg for the giant extra jumbo ones

Never more than .23oz for coffee (yes you really should shop that way for coffee)

these are just to name a few.

never more than 5.99 for a 2lbs block of cheddar

never more that.99 for any lettuce type

[Karon Adams]

I will say that the Y has been roasting his own coffee. green coffee is far less expensive than the same beans roasted. even more, once beans are roasted, they begin out gassing immediately, are best at 3 days and after that go steeply downhill. green beans keep almost forever. so, he highly endorses roasting at home.

[phoccer]

Same here Craigar. I paid 1.99 for pork butt a few weeks ago from Costco and thought that was pretty good.

[Hi, my name is Joe]

Shut up and take my money! That's about 40% cheaper than what I'm currently paying. I think I'll be getting a Costco membership when I get home this week.

[Karon Adams]

The Y quit buying ground beef as the price was going up and up. instead, he buys a whole sirloin roast, grinds it himself and gets better burgers for lower prices.

[Bruce54]

Sirloin should make good burgers. Add any extra fat, or go lean? My pro chef neighbor guy grinds 3 parts chuck to 1 part short rib meat, for the best tasting burgers ever. He's in a different supply chain, with meat prices I can't access.

[Karon Adams]

We go lean with a bit of salt & pepper and Worchestershire. Turns out, the steak & shake commercials are right. you get a MUCH nicer sear without that much fat!

[Polarbear777]

Yep. Ground beef is more expensive than the beef you would grind yourself. Okay by me.

Add all that extra brisket fat you trim and you get a good burger mix. 20-25% works well.

[6th Borough BBQ]

I definitely live in the wrong part of the country for reasonable prices on pretty much all food. The prices you guys are posting are probably about 1/2 what the prices are here locally.

[HouseHomey]

CraigarTroutmanecowper Hi, my name is Joephoccer I live in Huntington Beach, Ca. SoCal and it's very expensive but somewhere there is always something on sale. Costco is NOT the cheapest by far however they are cheaper than a butcher. We don't have many butchers here unless they are $$$ bottom line, I buy when it's on sale and vac seal and throw in the chest freezer. If it's not on sale for a while then we eat chicken or pork. And vice versa. I rarely buy or pay full price for anything unless it's in my wheelhouse. I am also 1-2 miles center of 6 grocery stores. Ralph's (Kroger) Von's, Albertsons, target, sprouts and stater brothers. Costco is about 3.5 miles.

[Craigar]

HouseHomey we typically shop at a butcher shop (Just Good Meat) and a little grocery store (Fareway) with a good butcher counter. The only meat I have bought at Costco were some prime top sirloin steaks. Once the price of their prime brisket comes down to under $3/lbs I am going to try one to see if it doesn't turn out tasting like a pot roast.

[phoccer]

Yeah, I need to start paying more attention to sales going on at various grocers around the area. I could probably come across more deals.

[Cheef]

Interesting thread and interesting conversations.
Price of everything has gone up so drastically over the past 10 years it is actually shocking. There is literally NOTHING I can think of to get families less fortunate by anymore.
In my youth it was bologna and peanut butter that hit the dinner table nearly as often as ham and lima beans. It hit because it was cheap.Lima beans and ham MIGHT still be affordable but I wouldn't know as I have not eaten them in 40 years and I don't plan of ever partaking of them ever again. Bologna and peanut butter--prices are outrageous now.
Sometimes I wonder if it is ourselves who drive prices. $300 briskets-$100 hams-$40/lb high end steaks and we seem to accept it and go hunt it down.
BBQ seems to me to maybe have lost its way in recent years. It originated to make cheap unused meats edible--now we seem to want to make it gourmet.