Costco Brisket quality

MrA46221

I love me some fat on a brisket and tend to be light handed on my trimming. But 4lbs of it….

lousubcap

Over several years I have noticed that the butchering of the Costco packers has gone south,  For a while it was even worse than now.  Give the search function a look but many (self included) have expressed this to Costco.  
Now I can find a solid Costco  "prime" brisket that is going to support organizations or neighbours (nod) that is better than a couple of years ago.  
But I get where you are coming from as I have been there.  BTW- have not checked the local Costco for brisket in a good 3+ months.  FWIW-
Time to see what I can find.  

MrA46221

It was cheaper than pork belly this week! Just an old man rant. Still gonna eat the heck out of it and smile. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

I am a known Costco beef hater on here but I am fortunate to have options (Wagyu at $7.99 at the grocery store). That said, I was in Costco this week and half the briskets had 2lbs of neck meat on them (a sign of garbage trim and a way to get the weight up with useless stew meat). 

paqman

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

I am a known Costco beef hater on here but I am fortunate to have options (Wagyu at $7.99 at the grocery store). That said, I was in Costco this week and half the briskets had 2lbs of neck meat on them (a sign of garbage trim and a way to get the weight up with useless stew meat). 

I can’t comment about brisket specifically but other pieces of beef (ribeye, tenderloin) are typically top notch here in the GWN.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

For those wondering:

this is brisket:

This is brisket with neck meat (extremely common with “cheap” commodity briskets like costco and others)

That whole flap is garbage meat and should be cut off and made into sausage or trashed. Almost every brisket I saw in Costco had a huge chunk of this neck meat. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

This is more accurate of what a well trimmed packer trim should look like

JohnInCarolina

So… neck meat is kind of like the neck pour of a bottle of bourbon?   

The Cen-Tex Smoker

JohnInCarolina said:

So… neck meat is kind of like the neck pour of a bottle of bourbon?   

Only less douchy 

GrateEggspectations

paqman said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

I am a known Costco beef hater on here but I am fortunate to have options (Wagyu at $7.99 at the grocery store). That said, I was in Costco this week and half the briskets had 2lbs of neck meat on them (a sign of garbage trim and a way to get the weight up with useless stew meat). 

I can’t comment about brisket specifically but other pieces of beef (ribeye, tenderloin) are typically top notch here in the GWN.

Liking because I can’t use an agree button. 

Always been happy thus far. 

RagingIrishman

I bought a Costco brisket about a month ago and it’s in the freezer awaiting for when I have the time and courage to try my first brisket cook this summer. Thanks for the tip in the neck meat so I’ll know to trim that off

The Cen-Tex Smoker

RagingIrishman said:

I bought a Costco brisket about a month ago and it’s in the freezer awaiting for when I have the time and courage to try my first brisket cook this summer. Thanks for the tip in the neck meat so I’ll know to trim that off

@lousubcap

send this man your trove of brisket info. We are always glad to help. 

bbracey21

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

For those wondering:

this is brisket:

This is brisket with neck meat (extremely common with “cheap” commodity briskets like costco and others)

That whole flap is garbage meat and should be cut off and made into sausage or trashed. Almost every brisket I saw in Costco had a huge chunk of this neck meat. 

Thanks for info. Next time I’m shopping will take this info with me. 

lousubcap

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

RagingIrishman said:

I bought a Costco brisket about a month ago and it’s in the freezer awaiting for when I have the time and courage to try my first brisket cook this summer. Thanks for the tip in the neck meat so I’ll know to trim that off

@lousubcap

send this man your trove of brisket info. We are always glad to help. 

Message sent. 

stevez

I purchased a 8.5 pound brisket flat a few days ago from Costco in Louisville.  They had full packers but the flats looked better to me.  Smoked it yesterday and it was awesome. It was only "choice" as they didn't have any prime in stock. 

lkapigian

As long as we can use it , I’m ok with it…Short of ordering from SRF , Costco is what we have…. I usually get 17 pound range, with aggressive trim I’ll get 3+- pounds of sausage anothe pound of tallow , if I’m doing chopped brisket, I really don’t trim much 

That’s a solid brisket @The Cen-Tex Smoker !

The Cen-Tex Smoker

lkapigian said:

As long as we can use it , I’m ok with it…Short of ordering from SRF , Costco is what we have…. I usually get 17 pound range, with aggressive trim I’ll get 3+- pounds of sausage anothe pound of tallow , if I’m doing chopped brisket, I really don’t trim much 

That’s a solid brisket @The Cen-Tex Smoker !

Internet pics ha ha. Not mine 

Buckwoody Egger

Last week went to Costco ready to do my first full packer prime brisket. After rereading Caps emails and the Franklin video on what to do/expect I passed. The four they had to pick from were subpar so I went for ribs. The flats thinned out fast and the other end was a sloppy knuckle. Thought I might be crazy because allegedly Costco packers were the standard— this was helpful counterintelligence. Thanks for sharing. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

bbracey21 said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

For those wondering:

this is brisket:

This is brisket with neck meat (extremely common with “cheap” commodity briskets like costco and others)

That whole flap is garbage meat and should be cut off and made into sausage or trashed. Almost every brisket I saw in Costco had a huge chunk of this neck meat. 

Thanks for info. Next time I’m shopping will take this info with me. 

To be clear, a poorly trimmed packer does not mean the brisket itself is bad. This is just a tactic that packers use to pad the price of the brisket and most people don’t know that is not even part of the brisket. They can leave 2-3lbs of neck meat on a brisket and sell it for $3-$4 lb wholesale when it would be well under $1 if trimmed and sold as ground beef. That $3.99 Costco brisket is really more like $5-$6 when you take all the excess trim (2-3lbs more than a normal brisket trim) into account 

QDude

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

This is more accurate of what a well trimmed packer trim should look like

Thanks for the lesson!

MrA46221

It’s a hustle but still delicious. 

abpgwolf

paqman said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

I am a known Costco beef hater on here but I am fortunate to have options (Wagyu at $7.99 at the grocery store). That said, I was in Costco this week and half the briskets had 2lbs of neck meat on them (a sign of garbage trim and a way to get the weight up with useless stew meat). 

I can’t comment about brisket specifically but other pieces of beef (ribeye, tenderloin) are typically top notch here in the GWN.

Be careful with steaks from Costco. Most locations "Blade Tenderize" (jaccard) their steaks (even their USDA Prime steaks). Jaccarding can push surface contamination deep into the meat. If you look at the fine print on the Costco steak labels they recommend cooking these steaks to 165 degrees. Who wants to cook a USDA Prime steak beyond well done?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

abpgwolf said:

paqman said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

I am a known Costco beef hater on here but I am fortunate to have options (Wagyu at $7.99 at the grocery store). That said, I was in Costco this week and half the briskets had 2lbs of neck meat on them (a sign of garbage trim and a way to get the weight up with useless stew meat). 

I can’t comment about brisket specifically but other pieces of beef (ribeye, tenderloin) are typically top notch here in the GWN.

Be careful with steaks from Costco. Most locations "Blade Tenderize" (jaccard) their steaks (even their USDA Prime steaks). Jaccarding can push surface contamination deep into the meat. If you look at the fine print on the Costco steak labels they recommend cooking these steaks to 165 degrees. Who wants to cook a USDA Prime steak beyond well done?

I have never cooked a Costco steak for this reason. 

dbCooper

abpgwolf said:

paqman said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

I am a known Costco beef hater on here but I am fortunate to have options (Wagyu at $7.99 at the grocery store). That said, I was in Costco this week and half the briskets had 2lbs of neck meat on them (a sign of garbage trim and a way to get the weight up with useless stew meat). 

I can’t comment about brisket specifically but other pieces of beef (ribeye, tenderloin) are typically top notch here in the GWN.

Be careful with steaks from Costco. Most locations "Blade Tenderize" (jaccard) their steaks (even their USDA Prime steaks). Jaccarding can push surface contamination deep into the meat. If you look at the fine print on the Costco steak labels they recommend cooking these steaks to 165 degrees. Who wants to cook a USDA Prime steak beyond well done?

Beyond the safety concerns, it is my belief that a "good" steak should not need a bunch of holes poked in it to be tender, it should be able to stand on its own.  Additionally, when flipping during cooking my understanding was to use tongs, not anything that will pierce the surface such as a fork.  This is to prevent juices from escaping.  Seems the Costco method would really magnify that.

Bottom line is there are many quality steak options in my area, so Costco steak offerings get bypassed.

HeavyG

It's all those news stories one sees daily about people getting ill/dying from the hundreds of thousands of Costco steaks sold each year that keeps me from buying them.

Oh wait...

Anybody having reservations about eating a Costco steak should keep in mind that using sous vide offers a very simple solution - pasteurization.

1voyager

abpgwolf said:

Be careful with steaks from Costco. Most locations "Blade Tenderize" (jaccard) their steaks (even their USDA Prime steaks). Jaccarding can push surface contamination deep into the meat. If you look at the fine print on the Costco steak labels they recommend cooking these steaks to 165 degrees. Who wants to cook a USDA Prime steak beyond well done?

I'm glad I read your comment before going to Costco today. 

The only part of the label I have ever looked at is price per pound, weight and packaged date. I was shocked to read today that every cut of beef I purchase from Costco is blade tenderized.

Thank-you.

QDude

Some of the best steaks I have ever cooked have come from Costco.  Sam's steaks are also good most of the time.

Legume

They don’t blade tenderize the neck meat.

Foghorn

QDude said:

Some of the best steaks I have ever cooked have come from Costco.  Sam's steaks are also good most of the time.

Agree with this.  And as someone pointed out earlier, I don't know that anyone is aware of a case of illness related to Costco beef.  With that said, we're fortunate to have HEB and a high quality local butcher shop within a mile of our house so I don't buy much Costco beef any more.  A good friend does and serves it to us at his house (cooked on his L BGE) all the time and we enjoy it.

JohnInCarolina

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

abpgwolf said:

paqman said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

I am a known Costco beef hater on here but I am fortunate to have options (Wagyu at $7.99 at the grocery store). That said, I was in Costco this week and half the briskets had 2lbs of neck meat on them (a sign of garbage trim and a way to get the weight up with useless stew meat). 

I can’t comment about brisket specifically but other pieces of beef (ribeye, tenderloin) are typically top notch here in the GWN.

Be careful with steaks from Costco. Most locations "Blade Tenderize" (jaccard) their steaks (even their USDA Prime steaks). Jaccarding can push surface contamination deep into the meat. If you look at the fine print on the Costco steak labels they recommend cooking these steaks to 165 degrees. Who wants to cook a USDA Prime steak beyond well done?

I have never cooked a Costco steak for this reason. 

Don’t you get your steaks out of the back of a trunk in a parking lot or something?  

paqman

abpgwolf said:

paqman said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

I am a known Costco beef hater on here but I am fortunate to have options (Wagyu at $7.99 at the grocery store). That said, I was in Costco this week and half the briskets had 2lbs of neck meat on them (a sign of garbage trim and a way to get the weight up with useless stew meat). 

I can’t comment about brisket specifically but other pieces of beef (ribeye, tenderloin) are typically top notch here in the GWN.

Be careful with steaks from Costco. Most locations "Blade Tenderize" (jaccard) their steaks (even their USDA Prime steaks). Jaccarding can push surface contamination deep into the meat. If you look at the fine print on the Costco steak labels they recommend cooking these steaks to 165 degrees. Who wants to cook a USDA Prime steak beyond well done?

All labels have the warning but not all cuts are blade tenderized.  It may vary from store to store but ours doesn’t tenderize the Canadian AAA ribeyes.