One Word Can Save You Even More Money At The Costco Meat Counter

You might think "please" is the magic word, but there is another single syllable that contains just as much magic — at least when shopping at Costco. Some might even say, a meatier amount. "Chub" is one of the goofiest (and stoutest) words in the English language. It's also a way to order ground meat at the Costco meat counter for extra savings.

A chub is the name given to an amount of ground meat sold in a flexible plastic tube, with metal-clamped edges. The packaging name comes from the 1940s, which is appropriate, given the old-fashioned savings meat chubs can provide. Meat prices are on the rise. If you're spening too much money on McDonald's Big Macs, the time might be right to maximize savings with a chunky Costco chub.

Snapping up ground beef chubs for below-market price at Costco could prove a sound money-saving grocery shopping strategy. Plus, the chub grub you cook up could even pair well with the savings you can get on Costco wine.

On occasion, Costco is known to sell 10-pound chubs of bull meat in its meat section. Bull meat has more mixed reviews and legends behind it than typical ground chuck. While some ground beef chubs in smaller five-pound packages are sometimes sold in the freezer section, the holy grail ground beef chub of savings of which we speak is a 10-pound chub of ground chuck, available by request only.

These hefty chubs of heifers must be asked for (politely) at the Costco meat counter, and usually sell for about 15% cheaper per-pound than Costco's other meat products. They're made by combining scraps with already-produced tubes of lean ground beef to make fattier blends.

The resulting 82/20, 82/10 range chubs are then packaged and sold as 92-95% lean beef, for usually around a dollar less per pound than what Costco charges for their regular ground beef. For meat-eating families in the habit of making and prepping meals like burgers, tacos, spaghetti sauce, that's a savings as thick as the meat chub packaging itself.

Ten pounds of ground meat is nothing to sneeze at, and certainly not easy to store. Before making a chub of ground meat one of the mistakes that could cost you money at Costco, make a few preparations for cheap ground beef bliss.

First and foremost, check in with your local Costco to see if it actually sells chubs. You don't want to plan ahead for big meal prep savings if someone has already beaten you to the chub punch, especially around busy grilling seasons. Make an inquiry from the meat counter. Once you get confirmation that chubs are sold there, make some space in your meal plan, refrigerator, and freezer. Better yet, partner up with a neighbor or coworker if you don't need 10 pounds of meat, and split the bill — and chub — between the two of you. That leaves plenty of savings and ground chuck for all.

Once you've lined up some recipes to make sauce, burgers, casseroles, or nachos fit for royalty, head back to Costco. Smile politely, request your chub, and prepare for savory savings. If for some reason they're fresh out of ten-pound tubes of meat, stop by the concession stand for the miniature version that comes in the $1.50 hot dog-and-drink combo. Or, pick up one of Costco's mysteriously cheap rotisserie chickens as a consolation prize.