A cook questioning the price and quality of ground beef at Sam’s Club found what he claims is a better workaround at the same store—a brisket that can be prepared at home to be a more cost-effective alternative.
The instructional TikTok video came from creator Hellbilly’s Kitchen (@hellbillykitchen), who specializes in cooking content with a very specific perspective. This particular video got more than 3.2 million views in a single day after going up on Thursday.
In it, the creator begins by saying, “The price of ground beef never ceases to amaze me. You’re paying for scraps that are ground up, but I’m not paying that.”
He then goes through a step-by-step process to convert a Sam’s Club brisket, which he said was “$3.98 a pound,” into about 12 packages of meal-ready ground beef—plus some additional chunks of fat, which he converted into beef tallow through a slow-baking process.
“Do not throw that fat away,” he instructed. “That is liquid gold. You just don’t know it.” Then, after a moment to consider, he added, “Or maybe you do.”
Some commenters came in to applaud him for showing people how to get what’s perceived as better quality meat without paying for ground beef processing.
“Better quality meat than store-bought, *and* cheaper? That’s a win-win,” one remarked.
The creator replied, “I don’t really know if it’s cheaper in the long run but the quality is definitely superior.”
Another commenter, seeing that it required a grinder, a vacuum sealer, and a good deal of labor to get the end result, sniffed, “All that just to save $3 per bag.”
Someone else replied, “The dude saved like 70 bucks.”
The creator added, “I can assure you I didn’t save that much. I did a little better than break even but got a better end result.”
In response to someone else’s complaint about store-made ground beef, he revealed, “I saw what went in grind 20 years ago when I ground beef for a living. Don’t even want to know what’s in that sh*t now. ALMOST turned me vegetarian.”
@hellbillykitchen #groundbeef and #beeftallow from #choice #brisket #dogsoftiktok #hellbillykitchen #grinder ♬ original sound – HELLBILLY'S KITCHEN
A Sam’s Club representative responded to the Daily Dot’s request for comment, noting, “We are proud of the value we offer to members on our meat selection at Sam’s Club.” That spokesperson also pointed out, “Regarding the video by Hellbillly’s Kitchen, it’s worth noting that the ground beef he showed and referenced in the beginning of the video is not Sam’s Club. That’s from another retailer.”
Even for people who couldn’t see themselves grinding and vacuum sealing their own brisket, the video was a fascinating watch.
“Am I ever going to do this?” asked one commenter. “No. Do I like beef? No. Did I watch this entire thing? Yup.”
That elicited some laughing emojis from the creator.
The cook’s dog, named Loki, was featured in the video enjoying raw meat at several points in the process and gathered some attention from the commenters.
“Your dog is so cute,” one observed. “I do the raw meat with my dogs as well.”
One made a Parks and Recreation allusion, saying, “This is giving Ron Swanson energy, and I am here for it.”
In a follow-up video, he showed the rest of the process for making beef tallow, which can then be used for cooking, and the residual fat chunks can serve as “little snacks” or dog treats.
@hellbillykitchen Replying to @jessh283 #beeftallow #hellbillykitchen #groundbeef #brisket ♬ original sound – HELLBILLY'S KITCHEN
One commenter noted, “I sear my steaks in it and make my roux for gumbo with it. It’s cooking oil, use it as such.”
Someone else enthused, “You won’t get a better fry than animal fat.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Hellbilly’s Kitchen via TikTok comment.