The Price-Slashing Tip You Need When Buying Costco Ground Beef

If you're grocery shopping at Costco, there's a good chance you're already planning to buy in bulk for cheaper prices. However, if you're there for ground beef, you might still be spending more money for a smaller amount. That's because Costco has cheaper ground beef behind the counter.

Instead of just buying a regular package of the store-brand Kirkland Signature ground beef, go to the butcher and ask for a ground beef chub, which you can only purchase from behind the counter. The butcher will hand you a long tube of extra lean ground beef. What's the difference between that and the normal stuff? While prices change slightly depending on your location, a tube-shaped Kirkland Signature chub is nearly always cheaper per pound than the normal, square packages of ground beef you'll see on shelves.

The trade-off is that the chubs tend to be larger: they come in 5-pound and 10-pound tubes, while the usual ground beef package is 4 pounds. So you might pay more upfront, but so long as you plan to use all that meat, you'll have more for less money in the long run.

The word "chub" is just a not-so-fancy term for the cylinder shape of the ground beef packaging. It's not a term that's exclusive to Costco, either; lots of butchers sell ground beef in heavy tube containers, which are securely tied up at both ends and then vacuum-sealed to keep them safe. Compared to the regular square containers, the shape is already round and therefore a little less effort to shape into patties if you're planning to cook up hamburgers from ground beef. The price point is more significant, however, as is one other minor difference between the chubs and normal beef.

At Costco, the chubs tend to be more lean — 90 or 91% lean, while the regular ground beef on shelves is 85%. Leaner ground beef is healthier because it has lots of protein and less saturated fat than more fatty meats. However, some people prefer the taste of fattier meats, so that's another thing to consider before you make a sizable ground beef purchase.

Let's say you buy the big Kirkland Signature 10-pound chub from the famous wholesaler, and now you've got about six more pounds than you may have bought normally. Ground beef usually stays fresh in the freezer for about three to four months, so you've got plenty of time to use it. If you're planning to grill regularly over the summer, it should be easy to go through that amount of beef; an average burger will have about 4 to 6 ounces of beef per burger, which means you'll burn through the 10-pound chub after somewhere between 26 to 40 burgers. And if you make some meatloaf or beef enchiladas on the side, it'll get used even quicker.

The chubs are leaner, which makes them a good choice for beef sauce, chili, or meatballs, all of which have extra liquid to stop the meat from drying out while cooking. A leaner burger has a greater risk of drying out, and some folks do consider fattier ground beef a better choice for burgers. However, it's still a small difference between the regular Kirkland Signature ground beef and the chubs, so don't let it stop you from grilling slightly leaner burgers.