Meat prices?

[Matt Knight]

I paid 9.99/lb for tri tip from my local butcher. They didn't have one in the case but they were glad to cut me one up while i waited. The owners have a farm and decided to open a shop a few years back. First time buying from them and from the looks of it I will continue to shop there.

[The Burn]

The love of BBQ has just become too wide spread. All those formerly less favored, tougher cuts of beef are now sought after and no longer cheap, e.g., brisket and tri-tip. And see my post above on Flap Steak. Also, due to the popularity of fajitas, you can't even find Skirt Steak.

[The Burn]

Was happy to be at my local meat market this afternoon and find a 13 lb CAB Whole Packer for $4.99/lb. Since I don't have any big gatherings coming up, I'm going to try to figure out how to separate the point and the flat and freeze them separately.

[Huskee]

Was happy to be at my local meat market this afternoon and find a 13 lb CAB Whole Packer for $4.99/lb. Since I don't have any big gatherings coming up, I'm going to try to figure out how to separate the point and the flat and freeze them separately.

Not bad at all....those were the glory days of affordable brisket around here.

[Jon Solberg]

Locked in a sale price and got 30 racks of baby back coming on Saturday. That should get me thru Oct. I hope.

[Huskee]

Good score Jon. 30 racks would last me a good while. Even with 3 hungry (little) boys.

[The Burn]

Costco today had the eye round by the case for $3.99.lb. It was $4.99 in the normal packaging. Brisket was "down" to $6.39. So maybe we're seeing a slight decrease in beef prices. Sure would be nice.

[Jerod Broussard]

Calves put to feed was down 7%, which was a tad better than the 9.4% prediction.

USDA is predicting record crops for corn and what not so maybe that will help.

If more cities do "Meatless Mondays" that could also help the prices.

I don't see it being back to normal really at all, unless the cow herd comes back to where it was before the drought hit.

If people are going to restock herds, they are not going to the sale barn to buy "overpriced" replacement heifers, so that means they will keep heifers, which in turn results in less calves to the feedlots.

[BruceB]

Cash & Carry (west coast chain) had full Angus packers for $3.29, snagged one almost 14# last Saturday.

SL Ribs $2.65 and Pork Butt bone-in was $2.02. Costco is pretty expensive in comparison. Even my local supermarket butcher was beating Costco's price for brisket if I ordered it from them.

[Jolietjeff]

Local butcher by me had tri tip for 8/lb and whole packer for 4.69/lb. I snagged two tri tips and will be back for the brisket on Friday

[Huskee]

Pork butts for me right now are $3.09/lb, spare ribs $3.49. Baby backs are on sale occasionally at $3.99, I think they're $4.39 or 69 regular...Sam's Club has them every day at $3.88/lb.

Burger average seems to be $3.78/lb for chuck and like $4.29 or higher for round.
Beef back ribs, tiny cuts of them, are $3.39. EDIT: Ground round is 4.89, ground sirloin is 5.29/lb.

Whole chickens are $1.89lb. Therefore I smoke a lot of chicken. What's funny is my live chickens are always wandering over to watch me at my smoker. I'm pretty sure they don't know what I'm really up to...

[The Burn]

On pork, I sometimes will check at the meat market when I'm over there and will glance at the grocery store but almost always find the best prices at Costco. Spare ribs were $2.89, I think, BBs were either $3.19 or $3.49 and my big pork shoulder was $2.59.

I really have to find a chicken cook that everyone likes and that I can manage to cook evenly. GF is a dark meat eater, but the SD doesn't eat chicken on the bone. I did some bone-in thighs for a picnic a few weeks ago - one set smoked with Simon & Garfunkel and one set grilled (can't remember what was on it). Both were good, except the centers that were a little undercooked

[mgaretz]

You should try the method I use. Crispy skin and cooked through but still very moist.

Rinse the chicken and pat dry, put breast side down on the cutting board, then lightly oil. Sprinkle on rub of your choice - I use McCormick's Montreal Chicken Rub. Turn the bird over and place in the roasting rack - I use the Weber rib/roast rack, then oil and rub the breast side. Cook for 70 minutes at 450F. Let cool a bit then I will cut off the thigh/leg combo and cut the leg from the thigh. Then I will cut off the wings. Last, I carve off the breasts so they are boneless. With my sharp boning knife I can do the whole bird in a few minutes. Hopefully the SD (not sure what that means) will eat the boneless breasts.

[Huskee]

Mark, are you doing this in your oven you mean? Or do you get your RecTec up to 450?

[Jon Solberg]

Reminds me .....

[_John_]

Just bought 62 pounds of pork butts from Sams Club, I have been buying a ton of it lately and didn't even know you could buy cases. Saves just over a buck a pound bringing the price to $1.85. Since they come in 2 packs and I usually cook just one at a time, and a whole one won't fit in a foodsaver, I cut them in half like I did last week and trimmed and bagged them, about 3 pounds per bag (a few ounces more in the bone side). I will be doing some bigger cooks requiring up to 25 pounds so it is pretty convenient to just grab the number of chunks you need. Really can't beat pulled pork for price, especially with a discount.

[Jon Solberg]

WOW 1.85 Thats fantastic!

[Christobol]

I hate to say it, but poor little babies! All of the prices I've seen you guys post are great deals and at least $1/lb cheaper than anything I've seen in the last 2 years. Living in CA, where there is TONS of beef production you would think we would have great prices, and I thought I did as it's lower than what my family gets in Austin, but these prices are just fantastic. The cheapest prices I've found:

Brisket 4.99/lb for SELECT
Brisket 8.99/lb for Choice
Beef Ribs mid-back $6.99/lb
Baby Back $5.99/lb
Spare Ribs 4.99/lb
Prime Ribeye 16.99/lb
Choice Ribeye $14.99/lb

All of the rib and steak prices have gone up at least 30% in the last 9-15 months. I can remember buying Prime Ribeye for 11.99/lb about a year ago. I've also noticed that the local grocery store that used to carry nice choice ribeye, with great marbling now only carries prime ribeye with LESS marbling for $3-6/lb more, though that might be a reflection of them deciding to raise prices dramatically since my city has been listed in all kind of top 5 or 20 cities in the US for various demographics (crime rate, business climate, increase in property values, % college degrees, % higher education etc) rather than a change in the beef market.

Looking at my meat costs in the last 2 months, I'm shocked and a bit pained. Guess I just need to learn to cook everything perfectly so I can savor it that much more since I'll have to cut back and move to more chicken.

[Huskee]

Your prices are similar to mine. Steaks around my neck of the woods, for certified Angus, are $15+/lb. Can't find prime. On sale $8-12. Two local supermarkets where I live wont even get briskets w/ their deliveries, they don't come on the trucks.