Newsday
Circulation: 357124
DMA: New York, NY
City: Melville
State: NY
4242A0
Account: 06/03/2010
Date: NY­D285
Pub Num: 76
Section/Page: 1 / 5
Page Count: Phil Rizzardi explains how to
choose good cuts of meat
here he checks what s available
at Sam s Club in Medford
BIGdeals
BY ERICA MARCUS
erica marcus@newsday com
quantities and low prices are
the hallmarks of price club shop
ping And as the grilling season gets
under way that s exactly what most
backyard barbecue enthusiasts are
looking for
We visited the meat departments at
Sam s Club Costco and BJ s Long Island s
three price clubs to figure out each one s
strong suit There is no winner here all
three offered everything you d need for a
successful party soyou needn t purchase
asecond or third membership They are all
pretty reasonable in their annual fees Sam s
Club is 40 BJ s 45 Costco 50
NULL
ABBQ
MASTER S
ADVICE
FORBUYING
MEAT
AT THE
PRICE CLUBS
For meat shopping expertise we relied
on Phil Rizzardi founder of the internation
al barbecue federation BBQ Brethren bbq
brethren com pit master of the award win
ning barbecue team Brothers in Smoke He
also cooks alot in his Nesconset backyard
Since he founded BBQ Brethren in 2003
Rizzardi has become ever more selective
about the meat he buys and he readily ac
knowledges the virtues of butcher shops
and specialty markets where the organic
grass fed and heritage breed pickings are
more plentiful and where he can handpick
each individual steak and chop
But if I m feeding 15 to 20 people or
more he said I gotothe price club
RefNo: 73a6a8
Newsday
Circulation: 357124
DMA: New York, NY
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State: NY
4242A0
Account: 06/03/2010
Date: NY­D285
Pub Num: 76
Section/Page: 2 / 5
Page Count: SAM S CLUB
Store in Medford samsclub com
1 Jennie Oturkey tenderloin
garlic and herb marinated
13 87 for 3 75 pounds two pieces
These are very good Rizzardi said
and require no prep work You just
cook them on indirect heat about
275 degrees until the internal tem
perature reaches 145 degrees Then let
it rest These are great to have around
for when aparty of 10 suddenly grows
to 20
2 Beef butt tenderloin
10 48 apound
Rizzardi was taken by this rarely seen
cut of meat the fat end of the tender
loin He said it would be perfect for a
family of four Cook it ashort time
over high heat then move it over to
indirect Cook it until it reaches 125
degrees then let it rest
3 Beef flank steak
5 96 apound
Between the two most popular fajita
steaks Rizzardi prefers flank to skirt
4 98 apound because it has a
firmer texture and a steakier flavor
Both cuts take on seasoning intense
ly and require no more than 30 min
utes with arub or marinade These
cook really quick don t turn your head
And don t let them rest or they ll over
cook Take them off the grill let the
smoke clear and eat
4 Pork country style ribs
1 88 apound
Country style ribs aren t ribs at all but
sliced pork butt which is to say part
of the shoulder There s no bone and
lots of meat Rizzardi said He likes to
cook these using acombination of the
grill and the oven Grill the meat over
indirect heat until it reaches 150
degrees Then put it in apan and
almost cover it with liquid apple juice
tomato sauce and seasonings cover
tightly and braise in a300 degree
oven for about an hour until the inter
nal temperature is 190 degrees At this
point the pork is going to be very
tender Take it out of the liquid dry it
off and finish it on the grill Then serve
with the sauce
NULL
5 Pork top loin chops
2 98 apound
Rizzardi saw agreat deal of variation
among the packages of boneless loin
chops Some had an even pink color
the hallmark of achewy chop
but others were extremely well mar
bled These would cook up very
tender he said
6 Tyson chicken thighs
98 cents apound
For grilled chicken pieces Rizzardi
prefers thighs with both skin and
bones To prepare them he puts them
skin side down then trims off the two
strips of fat on either side without
cutting off the skin He also trims off
that little nut of meat that is barely
attached He ll rub seasoning under
all the skin and then draw it up over
the skinless side of the thigh there s
usually plenty of extra skin tomake
chicken pillows
7 T bone steaks
8 67 apound
T bones and porterhouses are both
cut from the short loin and contain
two types of meat the strip and the
filet separated by aT shaped bone
Porterhouses come from the rear end
of the animal and have acomparative
ly generous amount of filet That s why
they command ahigher price T bones
are from farther forward and have a
smaller filet It drives Rizzardi crazy
when he sees porterhouse labels on
steaks that are actually T bones but
here at Sam s Club the opposite was
true Many of the T bones had enough
filet to qualify them as porterhouses
RefNo: 73a6a8
Newsday
Circulation: 357124
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CONTINUED FROM B9
City: Melville
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4242A0
Account: 06/03/2010
Date: NY­D285
Pub Num: 76
Section/Page: 3 / 5
Page Count: meat
BJ S
Stores in East Setauket Farmingdale Freeport Islandia
Levittown Riverhead Valley Stream Westbury bjs com
YTSEROCBULHIGP
Botto s sausage patties 11 99 for 4 5 pounds at BJ s
1 Botto s sausage
patties sweet and hot
11 99 for 4 5 pounds 12
patties
Ilove these Rizzardi said I
make sausage burgers and top
them with some grilled pepper
Idon t know why the meat
tastes different from when it s
in the casings but it does
2 Prairie Fresh pork
spareribs
1 99 apound
These are nice and meaty
Rizzardi said with good
marbling and anice fat cap
He inspected all the packages
in the case and found no
shiners places where the
bone shows through the meat
and indicates the butcher cut
them too close to the bone
NULL
3 Beef brisket flat
untrimmed
5 Prairie Fresh boneless
pork loin
Rizzardi was very impressed
with this nicely marbled
6 pound specimen Most
brisket is too lean and
over trimmed he said I d
consider joining BJ s for this
6 Jimmy Dean sausage
3 49 apound
4 American EZ Cut
lamb loin chops
7 99 apound
Rizzardi usually avoids lamb
from Australia and New
Zealand which is more
common at the price clubs
American lamb is slightly more
expensive he said but it has
much more flavor
2 29 apound
Rizzardi was impressed by
most of the pork at BJ s He
found these 6 to 7 pound loins
nicely marbled the fat cap nice
and white
4 39 for 32 ounces
We call this the fatty
Rizzardi said Roll it in your
favorite rub and barbecue on
low indirect heat about 250
degrees until the internal
temperature is 160 degrees
7 Shoulder Boston butt
1 59 apound
This is perfect for pulled pork
Rizzardi said
RefNo: 73a6a8
Newsday
Circulation: 357124
DMA: New York, NY
City: Melville
State: NY
4242A0
Account: 06/03/2010
Date: NY­D285
Pub Num: 76
Section/Page: 4 / 5
Page Count: COSTCO
Stores in Commack Holbrook Melville Nesconset Westbury
costco com
1 Sirloin steaks
5 99 apound for prime
Sirloin is my absolute favorite
steak said Rizzardi The flavor
is much beefier than strips He
thought that 5 99 was agood
price but noted that most of
the packages contained one
larger and one smaller steak
and that one was usually more
marbled than the otherl At the
butcher you can say I ll take
that one and that one but here
you gotta take what they give
you His advice is to buy a
couple of packages so you have
at least two of each size
2 NY strip steaks top
sirloin
12 99 apound for prime
7 99 for choice
Rizzardi noted ahuge variation
in fat marbling among the
choice steaks with some of
them having nearly as much as
the prime These steaks he
said pointing to some extreme
ly marbled ones are the very
top of choice right below
prime They are agreat buy for
7 99 These others with
their even red color and no
white marbling
be very chewy
are going to
3 Beef tenderloin
trimmed
14 99 apound
Even though it is more expen
sive than the untrimmed tender
loin 9 39 apound Rizzardi
prefers the trimmed Unless
you are askilled butcher trim
ming your own tenderloin will
result in alot of waste You can
grill this whole or cut it cross
wise into filet mignons
4 Coleman organic
boneless skinless
chicken thighs
Rizzardi often serves this brand
of bratwurst You put them in
abeer bath with some sliced
Vidalia onions acouple of
cloves of garlic bay leaves and
asmall jar of Frank s hot sauce
Heat them up on the stove
then let it sit on the grill while
you do everything else They ll
cook through in about 30 min
utes Then move them to the
grill for afew minutes to get
some marks on them Men love
these
3 99 apound
Dark meat holds up better on the
grill than white meat the same
brand of boneless skinless
breasts is 5 99 apound and
this chicken would be ideal for
kebabs For grilling thighs
Rizzardi prefers bone in skin on
5 Costco s own flank
steak with lime cilantro
marinade
6 99 apound You get
2pounds
Rizzardi doesn t usually go for
pre marinated meats but said
these were outstanding
Another good pre marinated
product is Costco s garlic and
onion pork loin for 2 99 a
pound
6 Premio pork
sausages sweet and
hot
13 99 for a6 pound package
These sausages are fairly local
they are made in Hawthorne
N J and Rizzardi likes both the
hot and the sweet varieties
7 Johnsonville brats
7 99 for 3 5 pounds
Johnsonville brats 7 99 a
pound at Costco
Here are some price
club meat buying tips
from New York state
barbecue champion Phil
Rizzardi
BE SELECTIVE
In the meat case there
is alot of variation from
package to package
Make sure you look
through the entire case
to find the best Meat
should be neatly cut
have an even color
except for the white
fat and spring back
when you press it with
your finger
LOOK FOR THE FAT
Asteak whose meat is
uniformly red or apork
chop whose meat is
uniformly pink will be
tough eating Look for
the fine white lines of
intramuscular fat
marbling that makes
meat tender and
good tasting With
larger cuts of meat
such as beef briskets or
pork loins or ribs look
for a fat cap alayer of
fat Fat should be bright
white not yellowish
SIZE MATTERS
It s not that the steaks
or chops need to be big
but they should all be
the same size and
thickness for even
cooking Price clubs
often package asmaller
piece with alarger one
so consider buying a
few packages and then
grouping them by size
freezing aportion for
later use
VACUUM SMARTS
Given achoice Rizzardi
will go for the
vacuum sealed meat
over the cuts in the
plastic wrapped
Styrofoam trays Just
make sure he says the
vacuum seal is intact
there should be no air in
the package
ERICA MARCUS
NULL
RefNo: 73a6a8
Newsday
Circulation: 357124
DMA: New York, NY
NULL
City: Melville
State: NY
4242A0
Account: 06/03/2010
Date: NY­D285
Pub Num: 76
Section/Page: 5 / 5
Page Count: RefNo: 73a6a8