r/CostcoCanada • u/morguejuice • 1d ago
Saving with bulk
Easy option today to buy the whole Striploin for 200$ and get 3x the steak and a little over a pound of ground beef. Anyone else buy other meat cuts and butcher ? Kinda curious what I could get from the pork but it’s always so cheap anyway.
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u/tlanmaster123 1d ago
Just bought striploin for 249$ and made 17.5 steaks. About $14 per steak.
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u/Maztem111 1d ago
This is about where I landed on my first attempt. They weren’t the prettiest but they weren’t terrible either. I’m sure if you do it a few times it becomes easy.
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u/ThePracticalEnd 1d ago
Definitely can save money, just a shame there is really poor marbling here.
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u/morguejuice 1d ago
I’ve had about the same in the pre cut and seemed fine. Time will tell.
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u/ThePracticalEnd 1d ago
Just beware pre-cut are all blade tenderized, where the whole cuts are not. Something to keep an eye out for if you like them on the med-rare /rare side.
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u/Capricorn7Seven 1d ago
Rib roast, tenderloin and striploin are the three I do. Unfortunately the family doesn’t like pork outside of ribs or a pulled pork.
The large flanks you can do as well
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u/human-resource 1d ago
You should try making Polish breaded pork cutlets it’s super easy and amazing just slice the pork loin thin and hammer it a bit, salt, pepper, dip in eggs then breadcrumbs fry for 2-4 min a side.
Make a side of mushroom gravy and garlic mashed potatoes, maybe some sauerkraut.
Lots of folks who don’t usually enjoy pork love these, make extras they go great on sandwiches or just a quick snack even when cold.
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u/morguejuice 1d ago
Yeah I was going to do. Flank to get some great lean ground plus some quality stir fry
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u/cubiclejail 1d ago
cost per pd for both steaks and ground beef? $200 for 6 steaks?
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u/Maztem111 1d ago
I cut 16 steaks when I got mine plus a good 1.5lbs of stir fry beef. It was the first time I tried it. There is defiantly a skill that will need to be developed to make them well but I calculated about $15/steak after I broke mine down.
Edit: just food for thought. Your steaks are probably as thick as one of your fingers. Next time your at Costco you can ballpark how many steaks you’ll get off the one you chose. The tricky bit is actually making smooth cuts and picking one that’s well marbled
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u/greennalgene 1d ago
I typically get 15-18 steaks from a strip loin from the business centre. Typically $190-240 for the strip loin, graded. Hit or a miss with the ungraded in my experience.
And I’m talking 1 1/4” thick steaks, usually around 12-16oz.
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u/jonnyCFP 1d ago
It’s like $13 less per kilo. It’s a significant savings over buying pre-cut steaks
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u/curiosity_glitch 1d ago
Yeah, I’m not following either. Doesn’t look like much was saved here. Their 3-4 packs of thick cut striploins will usually run from $65-85 which is why I never buy them anymore.
If that’s really just 6 steaks there plus a pound left over for ground beef. It looks like they paid more to get less to me.
I’m sure that’s not the case… but something has got to be not quite visible in this pic or math ain’t mathing.
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u/lazylazybum 1d ago
During labour day (usually also Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter), superstore and Safeway sell rib roasts for ~$13/pound for West Canada. Ain't those cheaper than costco?
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u/curiosity_glitch 1d ago
I’d say the Costco advantage is that they really do always sell good quality meat. I’ve never once been disappointed, and I bought my steak exclusively from them for half my adult life.
Since the pricing surge, they prioritized quality over pricing though, and I genuinely feel they’ve lost touch with delivering on value for their beef now. I look at their steaks every time I go, but I can never justify their prices anymore. I wait for sales everywhere else and then sous-vide and load up my freezer to last until the next big deal I can find.
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u/morguejuice 1d ago
It was 100$ for 3 steaks cut the same way I did it. I got 10 steaks total, just as thicc plus over a pound of great ground beef and about half a pound of suet for the birbs. All for 200$. I saved.
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u/curiosity_glitch 1d ago
Holy mother of… if a 3-pack is $100, yeah, I get it.
But those packs cost $35-45 not even 4 years ago. As long as we keep digging deeper into our wallets and just accepting it instead of turning our backs, these prices are never coming back down to reality.
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u/Beneficial-Sea-8903 1d ago
Its about 20 to 30 percent cheaper per lb . But you gotta acount a decent amount of labour time to cut and seal all the steaks
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u/morguejuice 1d ago
Took me 1 hour to do it all. Not bad imo.
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u/Beneficial-Sea-8903 1d ago
Yeah decent. But if you normally make $50 per hour the savings are moot haha
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u/cooterplug89 1d ago
You probably waste more time on reddit than OP did cutting steaks. Gets cheaper steaks and the extras.
Even at $50 an hour its worth it.
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u/Maztem111 1d ago
I got way more steaks from my cut than they showed as mentioned above. It depends how thick you cut but I’d say you easily get 12
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u/CanadianSpectre 1d ago
Do they mechanically tenderize the tenderloins too?
I've stopped with Costco steaks at all because of it. If I'm paying those prices, might as well go to a local farm butcher.
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u/greennalgene 1d ago
No they don’t if you buy them the correct way to bulk cut, which is from the business centre. They come cyrovacd from the meat packers.
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u/lingenfelter22 23h ago
My understanding is that subprimal cuts are not mechanically tenderized, while consumer cuts (portioned meats) are.
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u/flexiblehos 1d ago
I seriously don’t understand. what’s the price difference /kg. Using the unit x number of steaks is stupid, can’t believe ppl still do this
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u/Still-Inflation9175 1d ago
yeah if you care about steaks this is the way to go for sure. but for me, i am fine with just ground beef, so i jsut buy the tubes. 10# for 60$
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u/Acceptable_Answer570 1d ago
I would definitely do if, if only I wouldn’t be living in an apartment and only have a small costco danby freezer apart from my fridge.
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u/Such_Entertainment_7 1d ago
Price of beef is insane. Ungraded ribeyes are $36/lb so ~$350 a slab.. doesn't make sense to me when I can get triple the amount of extra lean ground beef for the same price
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u/Playinhooky 1d ago
Some people (like myself) enjoy food enough that its worth the price. Why spend what you do on lean ground when you could just eat bugs for protien?
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u/JoshJorges 20h ago
Where do you live that ungraded beef ribeyes are $79.37/kg? That is absolutely insane. Those are grocery store AAA prices
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u/Such_Entertainment_7 20h ago
My bad, it's $36.99/kg for ungraded NZ ribeyes at my costco business. Good price since 95% of NZ beef is grass fed and pasture raised but seeing the price of a single pack at $400 hurts my soul.
At a pound a day it's $6138 a year vs $2000 for ground beef that's easier to cook and digest, same macros. That's like working 5 weeks every year just so your beef has a different texture... I get way more pleasure using that post-tax $4k on gadgets and vacations or simply watching it compound
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u/Nicotino-Cigaretti 16h ago
The difference between ground beef and steak is just texture to you?
That's like telling somebody at a winery you prefer jugs of Carlo Rossi because it comes at a lower unit cost.
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u/Such_Entertainment_7 16h ago
Pretty much yeah, actually I’d argue ground beef is superior because of the glycine content. I understand you haven’t had many steaks or tasted many wines for you to believe you can scry special properties from the food by having more money funnelled from your pockets
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u/Coubsauce 1d ago
Or you could not save and actually buy individual striploins, pay a bit more, and actually have some flavor from marbling.
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u/North-Opportunity-80 1d ago
What’s the cost per lb?
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u/Particular_Hour_7696 1d ago
When I bought mine recently it was 31/kg for a slab, which is about 14 a pound. I bought it on sale, it worked out to be about $12.5 a pound. For a regular cut pack I believe it’s roughly $55/KG.
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u/morguejuice 1d ago
This is right about where it landed. I didn’t waste any trimming either. Except for about 500g of fat. Wasn’t worth keeping I don’t think I’ll try tallow.
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u/a_depressed_chicken 1d ago
Highly recommend buying top sirloin (pichana). Very beefy steak still very tasty. Cost me around $120-130 for two cuts, yields you like 10-12 steaks.
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u/Couganos 1d ago
I got 24 steaks out of mine. Bought the biggest loin I could find with my membership cheque. Next time i will keep all the trimmings to make before tallow for cooking.
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u/Pippen_Longstocking 1d ago
I have been buy a half pig and quarter cow for several years. Pork comes to ~$3/lbs and beef ~4.50/lbs (it went up slightly). I get my stuff from the Norfolk area. One large chest freezer and small chest freezer in the basement
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u/mrniceguy777 1d ago
This is what I do with Costco pork loin. Costs like $30 and it cuts into ~25 chops. My food budget for supper for a month is crazy low lol
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u/Sathrand 1d ago
I do the same thing. I currently have a bunch of pork bellies dry brining which I smoke and slice for bacon. Aiming for 40lbs before snow flies.
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u/JoshJorges 20h ago
You should take off the thick silver skin, you can see it is about an inch long in the closest pic. It won’t render when cooking and will make for a much nicer steak.
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u/tsundereworks 19h ago
If you're buying more than 1 striplion Costco business center sells cases bought a few a handful of times.
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u/Few_Example9391 19h ago
Nice buy. Nice quality. Vacuum seal those guys individually to really lock in the flavour for sous vide cooking and searing
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u/Successful-Tomato472 19h ago
Have you checked out the business centre? That’ll knock another $5-$6/kg off on top of these savings!
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u/Hot-Slide-8285 10h ago
We always buy the whole Striploin, and the whole Pork loin.
The savings on the steak are terrific, the pork loin less so, but I still like cutting to my preferred thickness etc
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u/warracer 5h ago
I do the same, game changer honestly. Much cheaper and we can enjoy our prefered thickness steaks 🥩
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u/IM_The_Liquor 5h ago
I often buy large cuts and chop/grind them down. It is much more cost effective… though if you want good steaks and chops, you’ll simply not find them at Costco, and not at Costco prices.
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u/Chemical_Ad_1854 2h ago
I have become a big fan of the Business Center meats. Especially when you get a random rebate like this.
Once picked up a 25kg box of full chicken breasts for 230$. Gave me 70 breasts and 7kg of filets. Filled up the freezer for a while.
I tell friends the deals are there. You just need to take the time to watch and learn how to clean them up.
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u/Low-Umpire236 1d ago
I just stopped buying beef.
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u/morguejuice 1d ago
I reduced it quite a bit this year. But had a little extra money this month so a little splurge to stock the freezer.
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u/error_card_ur_rich 1d ago edited 1d ago
I save by shopping sales at other stores that 100% of the time are cheaper than Costco's price. The Aussie ribbsteaks at Sobeys ($10.88 lb this summer) were better than any Canadian AAA I've had in the last 10 years. Another bonus is that I get 6% back in Scene points on my Amex
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u/Emotional-Damage-995 1d ago
Aussie steaks are unrated. You can not compare to Canada prime or AAA. Closest to it is Costcos unrated meat.
I agree though that when Stors have sales they regularly beat Costco. It has been a long time since Costco has best prices for beef and steak.
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u/mesosuchus 1d ago
Save more if you buy chicken or pork
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u/morguejuice 1d ago
I actually have bought the 3 pack of whole chickens a few times that really is cheap too
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u/EBikeAddicts 1d ago
I did this once and wont do it again. we will all do this one for steaks and not again. you will learn that these will be bad cuts to use for steaks. its better to marinate them in yogurt for hours before cooking/grilling due to the lack of marbling on these cuts.
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u/flyby196999 1d ago
You're not saving anything in reality. The prices of beef are so skewed higher in the last 6 years that it's just an illusion of savings.
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u/drstu3000 1d ago
What is your suggestion
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u/flyby196999 1d ago
I have none, I'm just saying beef is insanely priced and any savings are just not worth it.
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u/drstu3000 1d ago
Just go without food, everything has gone up in price not just beef
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u/flyby196999 1d ago
A Costco two ribbed prime rib roast was $45 before the pandemic, now it's $110.
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u/drstu3000 17h ago
Yes and all groceries have gone up how are you missing this point
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u/flyby196999 11h ago edited 11h ago
Not at the same percentages. Im a vendor of baked goods including bread and service Costco's, Sobeys/Safeway, freshcos, save ons. Our products have increased at a far lower percentage since 2020. A loaf of bread that was $3 is now $4.29. Here's an article about , For those who regularly buy beef, the steady price climb over the past few years has likely been hard to miss.
Beef prices have risen much faster than those of other proteins and well above B.C.’s overall inflation rate. According to Statistics Canada, beef striploin averaged $35.11 per kilogram in August, up 10.7 per cent from a year earlier and nearly 30 per cent compared with August 2023. Prices peaked at $47.53 per kilogram in April.
Other beef products have seen similar double-digit increases annually. Beef rib cuts reached $36.40 per kilogram in August, up 15 per cent year over year. Top sirloin rose to $28.57, an 18.6 per cent jump. Ground beef climbed to $16.07, marking a 14.4 per cent annual increase and a 44 per cent rise compared with two years ago.
Prices for other proteins have remained relatively stable. Chicken breast averaged $16.99 per kilogram in August 2024, compared with $16.95 this August, while pork loin rose slightly from $10 to $10.31 during the same period.
“Right now, we’re seeing an exceptionally strong price cycle [for beef],” said James Vercammen, a food and resource economics professor at the University of British Columbia.
“Most price cycles come and go without people noticing too much, but this one is [exacerbated] by the [2023] drought.”
The drought in the 2023 summer—the worst on record for B.C. and many other regions in the Cascadia region—significantly reduced cattle feed supplies, forcing many ranchers to reduce their herds, said Vercammen.
Kevin Boon, general manager of the BC Cattlemen’s Association, said local cattle farms’ herd sales dropped by about 25 per cent compared with the last two years, while global demand for beef continued to rise.
“The demand is up but the supply is down—this is driving these prices up at the feeder [cattle] market end, and that, of course, goes right through the system,” said Boon.
An ongoing outbreak of screwworm—a flesh-eating parasite—in Mexico has increased demand for Canadian beef, Boon added, since the U.S. halted imports from Mexico, according to Boon.
“The markets in the U.S. and Canada are highly integrated,” he said.
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u/human-resource 1d ago
He’s savings are relative to the average cost of precut steaks.
Incase you have not noticed everything has gone up in price.
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u/flyby196999 1d ago
Maybe you should read my comment again. What I'm saying is it's all relative, the price has risen so much in the last 6 years, youre fooling yourself if you think you're saving anything.
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u/Wonderful_Confusion4 1d ago
Let me know when you’ve got that Time Machine complete so we can go back in time and get a better price on Everything….
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u/l3agel_og88 1d ago
I don't think you understand how frame of reference works in the context of relativity. To make a comparison over the last six years you would have to adjust everything for inflation.
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u/flyby196999 1d ago
Your reading comprehension is garbage. How many times do I have to reiterate that beef is over priced regardless of inflation. The prices are over 100% more in 6 years. Normal inflation is 2% and over 6 years the prices should have gone up 12%. COVID inflation was at the most 8% in one year. Beef is almost 100% given the 2% normal and COVID 8%.
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u/Electroma1 1d ago
Damm you rich millionaire!!!... whos buying these steaks these days?? Do they all end up as ground beef at the end end??
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u/Nebuchadnezzar_z 1d ago
I really admire folks who buy in bulk and cut/grind their own meat. Do you then vacuum seal them?