Stores busy with corned beef sales for St. Patrick’s Day despite slightly higher prices

CHICOPEE, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - With St. Patrick’s Day this Friday, Western Mass News caught up with residents who are preparing for a traditional Irish dinner.

Larry Katz, owner of Arnold’s Meats in Chicopee, told us Monday how busy it’s been for them

“Right now, we have, we brought in about 80,000 pounds of whole corned beef briskets and I think we are down to about 100 cases, which is perfect,” Katz said.

For those looking to pick up corned beef, Arnold’s had around 3,000 pounds of corned beef Monday morning. As for prices, they are up slightly.

“The corned beef brisket are up 50 cents a pound from last year and the flat cut corned beef is up about 80 cents a pound,” Katz explained.

Katz suggested buying a pound of beef per person and when picking out a cut, you can choose between a flat cut or a point cut.

“The point cut is at one end of the brisket and a flat cut is at the other end. The point cut is fattier, the flat cut is leaner,” Katz added.

For those wondering if you should choose red or gray, Katz told us the only difference is in appearance. The flavor is the same.

One shopper was looking for four briskets to feed her whole crew as part of a family tradition

“When you get the whole, you get all the beef brisket on top and part of it is a point cut,” said Judith Ingram.

We spoke with another shopper, who recommended using a Crock Pot to cook the meat and veggies together, but had this advice for folks at home

“If you are cooking in a Crock Pot, don’t cook it more than 10 hours,” said Mark Kwatowski of Granby.

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