Why Brisket Too Dam High, and a Thank You

[16Adams]

Nothing but respect for those folks who make a living selling smoked meats. Years ago when I started smoking brisket sales were ran for about $1.47 per pound for a full packer. Yesterday a brisket bin I looked at individual full packers were $80-$100+.
Now I have a choice to buy it or not buy. Folks in The BBQ business may have little or no time to adjust. I'm free to experiment with different trim levels, different rubs, different smokers etc etc. Folks in The BBQ Business have the expectation of consistency, daily, monthly, yearly. Now figure The BBQ business folks are cooking what 10-15 brisket daily? I'm cooking one, once per month, maybe. I appreciate every one of you who tends the fires for those unwilling or unable to get that brisket "just right".

You guys & gals in The BBQ business are culinary rock stars IMHO.

Link to article on top ten reasons Brisket cost is high
https://www.thecoldwire.com/why-is-brisket-so-expensive/

 

[bonz50]

as I'm on a carnivore diet these days, I have a choice of Select brisket at Sam's or Prime, the price difference is about $1.50/lb so $5/lb for yummy brisket or $16-18/lb for ribeye steaks. seems a no brainer to me, even if I'm not as consistent as a restaurant (yet).

but yes, I agree, the restaurant guys that can turn out consistent product day after day and year after year are definitely rock stars. tho I do believe that if many of us were turning out 10 briskets per day 5-7 days per week we'd get pretty good at it as well. but I'm sure there would be a lot of stumbles along the way to getting that perfection we'd be searching for.

 

[Big George's BBQ]

Prices are outrageous. Not easy for those in the BBQ Business. Its expesive for us who just do it for fun and for our own meals

 

[blackdogbbq21]

Well said, i feel like i see more criticism of barbecue menu prices than any other types of restaurant. It seems like alot of folks still expect it to be a cheap meal even if they understand all the work that goes into it.

 

[JCBII]

Prime is $5 per pound at Wild Fork, so I decided to go with an 11.20 pound choice brisket today, as it's $3.48 per pound. Since most of it will be diced up for burritos and a few appetizers, I figured it wasn't necessary to get prime. But yeah, brisket has gotten expensive.

 

[Itsdone]

Welcome to my world. It's about time you TX'ins have to deal with more expensive Beef prices.

This forum wouldn't even exist if everyone had to pay east coast prices for beef.

 

[Nuco59]

Sad to think it, but this might be as good as it gets with food prices.
I once 'complained' to an old timer at work about job issues. He told me "You might not believe it- but one day, you will look back on now as the good old days". He was right.

We have all probably been told " this is so good- you should open a bbq store".
My rejoinder? Please don't cuss me like that. I do this for fun...if I had to pay the bills with it, I'd end up hating it.

 

[SmokinAussie]

Nothing but respect for the people running a BBQ restaurant anywhere.

A recent phenomenon (10 years) in Downside Up Land, they all fail at some point in time.

Very hard work. Long cook times. You can't run out of anything because they still expect a 16 hour brisket is waiting for them in a warmer.

And at home with all my cookers I have not bought racks of ribs to smoke for the family for years because it's a paycheck.



Glad I dodged that bullet.

 

[gcs]

Beef prices here are off the charts, restaurant meals insane, Yeah I know, prices of everything is up, can't find employees, whatever,
but when 2 hamburgers and 2 coffees cost over 40 bucks with tip at a local diner...that's getting to absurd levels.....

 

[Nuco59]

I know I'm not alone in this - we've been buying "what's on sale" for years. Now we fret over it and pass it up more often than not. I guess we could cut back more...just not sure what that would be.

sad times

 

[16Adams]

The Upside to high brisket prices. Well that and cowgirl inspiration**
Beef cheeks, oxtail, lingua, shanks (beef and pork), ribs- dinosaur -short and back shiners and of course steak cuts have entered the chat. While looking for a decent brisket point I've added 6 nice rib eye to the freezer + beef ribs

**Whatever cut in "sell by" bin, mallet &pound the bejesus out of it, back over forward over and back with Jeep then chicken fry.

 

[ModelMaker]

I guess I look at it like this, the Queen size olives stuffed with jalapeno I like to use in my Vodka Gimlets is near $7 for a bottle of like 25. One olive for 2 or 3 drinks.
Now if I fall over dead tomorrow, and realize I could've went ahead and had my expensive olives, I'm gonna be so pissed you won't beleive!
Ed

 

[16Adams]

I guess I look at it like this, the Queen size olives stuffed with jalapeno I like to use in my Vodka Gimlets is near $7 for a bottle of like 25. One olive for 2 or 3 drinks.
Now if I fall over dead tomorrow, and realize I could've went ahead and had my expensive olives, I'm gonna be so pissed you won't beleive!
Ed

Merzetta?

 

[sandro]

I've been smoking whole 10lb chucks instead. $5/lb and no trimming—you get to eat the whole thing.

 

[Juggy D Beerman]

Brisket is no different than what back ribs and chicken wing went through over the years, Popularity drove the prices high. I remember when pork loin was sold as bone in or as a "rack" of pork. If you had a butcher trim the ribs off the roast, you paid a premium price for the loin and the cost of the ribs were a lot less than roast from which it was cut. Now it is the other way around. The boneless loin is the cheap part of the cut and sometimes it is cheaper than a pork shoulder. Wings could be found as cheap as 19 or 29 cents per pound, then they became popular. Now they are the most expensive cut of the chicken. They go as high as five bucks a pound in my area. I can buy a whole chicken for a little over six bucks.

I will probably be ostracized after being horsewhipped for saying this, but I do not like cooking brisket any more. The last brisket I bought cost me more money than I spent on my first vehicle and it ran. It didn't stop very well, but it ran and the first place I drove it to was a garage that did brake work..........

I recently paid $5.00 a pound for a 21 lb prime grade brisket, so that is $105.00 plus $10.00 sales tax. Yes it was a bargain for today's prices, but then include the charcoal needed for the 12+ hour cook at ten bucks and now we are at a cost of $125.00. I had to separate the point and the flat in order to get the brisket to fit in the 18" WSM. I trimmed 6 pounds of fat off the brisket lowering the flat and point weight to 15 pounds. This means I paid $8.33 per pound for meat that is to be cooked. The end weight after cooking was about 7.5 pounds so this means including the cost of the charcoal required for cooking, the brisket lost almost 66% of its original weight at a cost close to $17.00 per pound for over 12 hours work! And this was a "bargain" brisket.

My BBQed bean recipe requires burnt ends from the brisket and I use them for chili as well. I cook brisket once a year for these two recipes. If want to spend $17.00 per pound for beef, I will buy a KC strip or a ribeye and have it cooked in under ten minutes instead of ten hours. So flame on folks, I can take it. I am no longer a brisket fan.

 

[ssv3]

It's "been" so damn expensive that I just buy wagyu brisket. Minimal trimming, superior flavor and the the difference is $20-30 over prime on a packer. Luckily my Costco Business carries them all. Only exception is Black Canyon Choice Angus briskets. Those are a bargain when I can get them and far superior to Prime.

 

[KB BBQ]

It is very expensive. I don't do as many now but I still occasionally say "what the heck, go ahead and splurge" because I still enjoy the process of smoking a brisket and the end result. People who aren't in the hobby of BBQ don't seem to understand the true cost per pound after the cook is done and don't understand why a BBQ joint charge as much as they do. Hats off to the BBQ joints still plugging along.

 

[Inthewoods]

Never had uncontrollable urges fer brisket before, now I'm just barely interested, as in I'll look through em if I see em. Never buy em though because the price, the work, the time resides out the limits of practical and a good burger is tough ta beat. Primarily...I'm a chicken cooker. I never eat out anyhow as I'm far from any restaurant, but I imagine the prices are up there.

-D

 

[Itsdone]

Never had uncontrollable urges fer brisket before, now I'm just barely interested, as in I'll look through em if I see em. Never buy em though because the price, the work, the time resides out the limits of practical and a good burger is tough ta beat. Primarily...I'm a chicken cooker. I never eat out anyhow as I'm far from any restaurant, but I imagine the prices are up there.

-D

There is very few bbq places that serve brisket in my area but they are $30+/lb
Thats nuts. Last time i bought a brisket was about 6 months ago and it was $4.78/lb for Prime. I won't buy Select or Choice grade anymore. Its not worth the price when i can get short ribs or even chuck roasts for a similar price per pound.

 

[Shadowdog500]

Supply and Demand!

We need to start the brisket is too damn high party! LOL!