I bought a 4 lb corned beef brisket point from Walmart last week and put it the crock pot on Saint Paddy’s Day. Yes, I know; corned beef is really an American thing and not Irish but it’s tradition. It was pretty cheap, something like $3/lb.

Let it cook on low for 8 hours, it was nice and tender but DAMN. The texture was AWFUL! The only way I can describe it would be gelatinous and it had a strong chemical flavor above and beyond the regular cured flavor that corned beef has. YUCK!

The label said “tenderized with papain” which I suspect led to the gross texture. I’m guessing this was from a very old cow? Low grade beef?

Next time I’m making my own corned beef, I’ve done it before and it’s not hard. Thinking of corning an eye round of beef this time. Brisket is just too damn expensive anymore.

After several disappointing experiences, my wife and I absolutely will not buy cuts of beef at Walmart. In an emergency, we'll buy ground beef.

It is the tenderizing chemicals that do that. I've had pork loins like that, and it is very unappealing - they have a weird rubbery but mushy character. Avoid meats that are brined or injected with stuff to keep them moist. They often contain "tenderizing" agents. Papain breaks down long protein chains into shorter ones. It is definitely the culprit.

quote:

Originally posted by ohioup:
After several disappointing experiences, my wife and I absolutely will not buy cuts of beef at Walmart. In an emergency, we'll buy ground beef.

That’s been my experience with Aldi as well. We won’t buy any meat there except ground beef.

Natural papaya juice works well to tenderize inexpensive cuts of beef but I've never heard of this chemical concoction, or it being used on a corned beef brisket like this.

It's Walmart. Probably imported It from China.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
That’s been my experience with Aldi as well. We won’t buy any meat there except ground beef.

Aldi also has good chicken breasts, ground turkey, and (some) sausages.

I do much of my shopping at Aldi. But I do go higher quality for my pork or beef. (I've occasionally grabbed Aldi steaks on clearance, and while they're not the greatest, they're worth the ultra-cheap clearance price at least.)

Their meat follows the trend of all their other products... Aldi is good for the simple basics, and the occasional interesting oddball item, but you'll have to look elsewhere for specific high quality items or specialized items.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
Natural papaya juice works well to tenderize inexpensive cuts of beef but I've never heard of this chemical concoction, or it being used on a corned beef brisket like this.

Papain?

It’s a tenderizing enzyme derived from papaya and other fruits that contain it.

https://www.healthline.com/hea...ood-nutrition/papain

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
Natural papaya juice works well to tenderize inexpensive cuts of beef but I've never heard of this chemical concoction, or it being used on a corned beef brisket like this.

Papain?

It’s a tenderizing enzyme derived from papaya and other fruits that contain it.

https://www.healthline.com/hea...ood-nutrition/papain

Papain appears to be a concentrated enzyme extract of papaya. Why use it? Plain old papaya juice works well enough on its own as a tenderizer.

I buy a few things at Walmart, but I wouldn't even consider buying meat, fish or poultry there.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by ohioup:
After several disappointing experiences, my wife and I absolutely will not buy cuts of beef at Walmart. In an emergency, we'll buy ground beef.

That’s been my experience with Aldi as well. We won’t buy any meat there except ground beef.

They have some marinated chicken breasts that turn out rather good in the air fryer.
Their salmon is absolutely horrible.

You had me at

quote:

Walmart: Never Again

First and last time buying meat at WalMart was over 20 yrs ago. Around here Publix has good meat and so does Sam's. Same basic company as WalMart but meat is so much better.

One of my top rules in life..

"life is too short to eat cheap food, drink cheap liquor, smoke cheap cigars or buy cheap guns.... and etc."

quote:

Originally posted by Blume9mm:
One of my top rules in life..

"life is too short to eat cheap food, drink cheap liquor, smoke cheap cigars or buy cheap guns.... and etc."

Words to live by.

It's not so much a Walmart problem as it is an enhanced meat problem. "Enhanced meat product" is an actual, defined phrase that I knew nothing about until my wife bought a package of enhanced ribs from Publix. Once you know, you can read the label and avoid them at any grocery store.

I won’t buy any meat from Walmart. Used to, but last time I bought steaks, they were horrible. The taste was way off, texture was tough and just not like a normal steak. Even their chicken is off. I try to stick to the local butcher shops now, prices are decent, and the meats are fantastic. I will buy from Meijer, their meat is pretty good, especially if they are having a sale.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by ohioup:
After several disappointing experiences, my wife and I absolutely will not buy cuts of beef at Walmart. In an emergency, we'll buy ground beef.

That’s been my experience with Aldi as well. We won’t buy any meat there except ground beef.

just had a Aldi's corned beef this week,

it was fantastic, not gelatinous at all,


we have had good luck with Aldi's meats,

steaks, chops, and chicken,


only thing I did not care for was the cubed steak, they only run it thru once, not the multiple times like we did when I was a butcher

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by ohioup:
After several disappointing experiences, my wife and I absolutely will not buy cuts of beef at Walmart. In an emergency, we'll buy ground beef.

That’s been my experience with Aldi as well. We won’t buy any meat there except ground beef.

just had a Aldi's corned beef this week,

it was fantastic, not gelatinous at all,


we have had good luck with Aldi's meats,

steaks, chops, and chicken,


only thing I did not care for was the cubed steak, they only run it thru once, not the multiple times like we did when I was a butcher

I bought a skirt steak and bone in/skin on chicken breasts at Aldi one time. BOTH needed a chain saw to cut them and vowed to never buy them again. A friend of mine who eats a lot of good meat does tell me that Aldi's petite sirloin steaks are very good.....I wouldn't know.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I bought a 4 lb corned beef brisket point from Walmart

...It was pretty cheap, something like $3/lb.

There's the problem.

If I'm buying meat for a special occasion, I'm going to a reputable place like a butcher shop or, meat market, and while WalMart has its uses, food stuffs is not one of them.

On a related note, as prices of brisket has risen (thanks to TX BBQ), markets have introduced Top Round as an alternative to brisket corned beef. The VAST majority of shoppers I watched, hadn't a clue or, took notice, the difference between brisket & top round, let alone the difference between point vs flat cut on the brisket.