The Magic Words To Say At Costco For Cheaper Ground Beef

Costco is already well known for the deals it offers to shoppers by selling everything in bulk. There are some secrets, however, that only the most devoted Costco members know about. One secret in particular is hiding in the meat section and can save you big bucks if you know how to ask for it. If you have a need for ground beef on the cheap, flag down a butcher behind the Costco counter and ask for a chub of meat and they will hook you up. The chubs are 10-pound tubes of ground beef, and they cost significantly less per pound than the regular packages of ground beef.

You should be sure to ask about the composition of the beef, however. One Facebook user reported purchasing such a chub and being informed by the butcher that it was 95% lean beef. This extra-lean ground beef is no good for grilling unless you mix in some fattier meat (try ground pork for a tasty flavor upgrade), but it's perfectly fine to use in chili, Bolognese sauce, casseroles, or other dishes with sufficient moisture to compensate for any dryness in the meat.

After wandering past the snacks, produce, and pantry staples that often live at the front of the store — and of course all the magnificent offerings of $1.50 hot dog combos and pizza in the Costco food court (which has its own share of secrets) — the meat section in the back of the store is where you need to go for this hack.

There will already be dozens of packages of ground beef portioned and sealed for your convenience with pricing labels that will usually show they're divided into roughly five-pound servings, give or take. It's a better deal, however, to ask for a chub of meat from the butcher. A chub is just a funny word for a large, tube-shaped pack of meat that resembles a giant sausage. Basically, asking for a chub gets you a 10-pound container of ground beef that you can then take home and portion out whenever you need it.

Prices tend to vary by location, but a chub of meat will always save you money in the long run. For example, my local Costco sells ground meat for $6.46 per pound. Chubs however go for anywhere between $3.29 and $4.39 per pound, which adds up to more than $2 saved per pound (prices may vary).

A 10-pound chub of beef is rather a lot, so before you commit to the purchase you'll need to clear space in your freezer. Unless you're in the habit of feeding an army, you might also want to divide it up into smaller portions so you can thaw just a pound or two at a time on an as-needed basis. If you freeze the entire chub, you'll need to thaw it and use it in one go. It doesn't need to be cooked immediately after thawing, but the USDA advises doing so within 48 hours. In such a case, you could always throw a barbecue and invite the entire neighborhood.

Another idea for using up a large amount of ground beef before it goes bad is to do some serious meal prepping. A pound or two for chili, another pound in spaghetti sauce, three pounds to make three different casseroles, a pound for tacos, another one for meat pies, a pound for meatloaf, a pound for a beefy stir-fry. If you're daring enough, you could even work some ground beef into a vintage dessert like a mid-century recipe for beef fudge or a holiday mincemeat pie like you're back in the 1700s. There's certainly no shortage of ground beef recipes, but again, you'll want to pick ones that can be frozen so your 10-pound beef purchase can last as long as it takes you to eat it.