Outdoor Cooking (smoking, grilling, barbecuing, open spit, etc.)

[RoyGBiv]

Since we let our Costco membership lapse, I'm not going to be doing my usual pork butts for NYE this year. Planning on doing St Louis Ribs instead. Feeding 6 grown ups, but at least one of them probably won't eat any.

Anywho, my question for the hive is, do you think it matters where you buy something like ribs? I've only ever gotten whatever they had available at the local grocery store when I went. Pretty sure I'll be doing that again. Just curious is anyone thinks it's actually worthwhile to (possibly over-)spend more at an actual butcher or higher end market.

-- My local Kroger had butts for $0.88/lb this past weekend. I put a 10 pounder on the smoker at 7:30 this morning (along with some Tilapia for my wife). You might check your local ads and get lucky. I like to check out the supermarket flyers that come in the mail every Tuesday... Maybe stock up on deals or just plan a meal or two around whatever will be on sale that looks good.

-- IMO, you can definitely get better Beef from a butcher. I've never tried to buy pork ribs from anywhere other than the grocery, so, I'm curious what the consensus will be on this one. I don't ever find myself looking at marbling on a cut of pork. Maybe I should?

[orionz06]

Some of the best pork I've had has come from trash ass grocery stores. As mentioned above, beef seems to matter more around here, pork not so much. I just did a cheapo pork butt burnt ends style, but pan seared some smaller scraps and was amazed at how good they were. I've had heritage pork, but it's always been cuts that were prepared differently. In your shoes, I'd bet on the preparation being the driving factor, rather than it being fancy or not.

[rd62]

Since we let our Costco membership lapse, I'm not going to be doing my usual pork butts for NYE this year. Planning on doing St Louis Ribs instead. Feeding 6 grown ups, but at least one of them probably won't eat any.

Anywho, my question for the hive is, do you think it matters where you buy something like ribs? I've only ever gotten whatever they had available at the local grocery store when I went. Pretty sure I'll be doing that again. Just curious is anyone thinks it's actually worthwhile to (possibly over-)spend more at an actual butcher or higher end market.

Unless you are looking for a heritage breed or something I don't think it matters much. Pork isn't graded like beef and with a low and slow cooking method for ribs, you'll loose the fat and tenderness shouldn't be an issue. I think rub, choice of hardwood, and cooking method would make more of a difference.

[rob_s]

@rd62, @orionz06, @RoyGBiv, thanks guys that's my thinking too.

[Mitch]

Here’s a brisket question then. My local grocery store has brisket for $9.99 per pound. Yikes.

Sams club has it for $2.69 per pound. Is there any reason not to get it at that price difference?

[rob_s]

Here’s a brisket question then. My local grocery store has brisket for $9.99 per pound. Yikes.

Sams club has it for $2.69 per pound. Is there any reason not to get it at that price difference?

you might actually be better off with the Sams one. Some grocery stores seem to trim off all the fat, which isn't great. you may need to take some off the one from Sams, but I'd buy based on how fatty they look.

I made the mistake on one brisket of cutting off too much fat and I hated the result.

[rd62]

That's a pretty huge price discrepancy. Are they both choice? Is one prime and the other select or No Roll? Maybe one is Angus. Some stores don't carry choice or higher. All these things play into the price.

[ccmdfd]

I made the mistake on one brisket of cutting off too much fat and I hated the result.

Yes, I did the same thing with my Thanksgiving brisket this year and was very disappointed in the results.

To the original poster

When comparing the different cuts of meat you do need to take in consideration the grade as mentioned by another poster above. But just as importantly if not more so is the actual specifics of the individual briskets. Things like shape, consistency, Etc

Speaking about my Thanksgiving brisket, I decided to cook a wagyu brisket since it was such a special meal. I've done a couple of them in the past but decent results. I purchased the meat from a reputable online dealer.

After I got it thawed out and opened up the package to start the trimming and seasoning I discovered that this particular brisket was not a great sample. Fully 1/2 if not more of the flat was paper thin in terms of meat. It did have a good fat cap but as I mentioned above I did trim most of the fat off which left only the wafer-thin meet which turned into shoe leather. I would have done better off to have thrown the entire flat away and just focused on the cooking the point.

If I had gone to the store to inspect and purchase one myself, I most likely would have ended up with a better result

[Mitch]

That's a pretty huge price discrepancy. Are they both choice? Is one prime and the other select or No Roll? Maybe one is Angus. Some stores don't carry choice or higher. All these things play into the price.

Sams is choice angus. Is that better or worse?

[Pepper]

Sams is choice angus. Is that better or worse?

Prime tops the grading scale followed by Choice and Select Grades. Certified Angus Beef in prime grade is difficult to find and I usually flinch at the the price.