The Magic Word 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. When customers buy their groceries in bulk they get to save money by cutting the costs of packaging and distribution. This model lets people pay the cheaper wholesale price instead of the normal retail amount.

While many already know about the deals they can get by buying their staple groceries from the warehouse brand — things people go through a lot of like eggs, milk, flour, and anything else you can find in the maze of aisles — there are some secrets 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, you just need to flag down a butcher 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.

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 — 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 that they are 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, which is just a funny word for a large, tube-shaped pack of meat that resembles a giant sausage. Asking for a chub gets you a 10-pound container of ground beef that you can then take home and portion out and keep in your freezer for 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 usually sells ground meat for roughly $3.99 per pound. Chubs however go for anywhere between $2.99 and $3.29 per pound, which adds up to somewhere between $0.70 to a whole dollar saved per pound.

If you prefer a leaner ratio of meat to fat in your ground beef, chubs are certainly a better option for you. The regularly available ground beef is typically an 80/20 ratio of meat to fat, whereas chubs are typically 92% to 95% lean so you get to save on money and calories to boot.

After buying a chub of meat, it is simple to weigh it out into one-pound servings at home, which you can then store in bags and keep in the freezer until dinner time calls for some ground beef. Chubs are also a great option if you are throwing a party or a barbecue where you will be feeding a crowd with juicy grilled burgers. However you use it, be sure to ask for a chub whenever buying ground meat from Costco.