Have you ever heard of the famous Schwartz’s Deli in Montreal? Or have you tried a smoked meat sandwich? Schwartz’s Deli is famous for their smoked meat sandwiches and Costco carries a version of their main ingredient so that you can try making your own sandwich at home. How does the Costco product compare to going to the real deli?
My dad grew up in Montreal and always talks about Schwartz’s Deli and the smoked meat sandwiches from there. I’ve never been to Montreal so thought I’d pick-up the Schwartz’s Smoked Meat from Costco to try and review today.
Some similar products from Costco might be the Costco 44th Street Entree Beef Pot Roast, Costco Kirkland Signature Spiral Sliced Ham, Costco EastWest Cuisine Kung Pao Chicken, Costco La Sierra Serrano Ham, Costco Kirkland Signature Oven Roasted Turkey Breast, Costco Gio Italian Style Gourmet Pack, Costco Cappola Charcuterie Pack and the Costco Kirkland Signature Roast Beef.
Location in Store
You can find this in the refrigerated meat section near the sausages and bacon. The item number is 1012120.
Taste
Schwartz’s smoked meat tastes like a well-seasoned, slightly peppery ham. The flavor is fairly mild, but really tasty.
In a sandwich on rye bread with mustard, I find the mustard flavor overpowers the flavor of the meat a bit, though not in a bad way.
The heat of the mustard and the pepperiness/spiciness of the meat complement each other well. One pack makes a very meaty and satisfying sandwich, even on a fairly large pieces of rye bread.
The meat looks a little fatty in spots, but I didn’t notice this too much as I ate my sandwich. The texture is buttery soft but according to my dad this isn’t near as good as the real deal Schwartz’s Deli sandwiches you get in the restaurant.
Cost
The box comes with six 175 gram packages of vacuum sealed smoked meat and the cost is $22.99 Canadian.
Convenience
The smoked meat is already fully cooked and there are two different methods on the box to heat your meat, boiling it or in in the microwave. We boiled ours which involves putting the pouch in a pot of boiling water and cooking it for 7 to 10 minutes.
The best before date is about a month and a half from the date the smoked meat was purchased from Costco. You can also freeze the smoked meat to make it last well past the best before date. I’m sure there’s many ways to use the smoked meat but I recommend trying it first on a sandwich!
Nutrition
Calories
One pouch of smoked meat is 280 calories, 13 grams of fat, five grams of carbohydrates, one gram of fibre, one gram of sugar, 36 grams of protein and 1010 mg of sodium! I used one pouch to make one very meaty sandwich so it was high in protein but unfortunately had tons of sodium!
Ingredients
The Schwartz’s Deli Smoked Meat from Costco is gluten-free and dairy-free. It contains soy and some preservatives like sodium nitrite. There’s lots of salt listed on the ingredients which is probably why it tastes so salty!
Scoring
Taste: 7/10
Cost: 7/10
Convenience: 10/10
Nutrition: 3/10
Overall
Give it a try!
If you’ve been to Schwartz’s Deli before and miss the smoked meat sandwich, this is similar but not quite as good. If you’ve never tried smoked meat before, this might be worth picking up to try!
Have you tried the Schwart’z Deli Smoked Meat from Costco? What did you think of it?
Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. This product was purchased by Costcuisine for the purpose of producing this review. The opinions in this review are strictly those of Costcuisine. Costcuisine is not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. In the event that Costcuisine receives compensation for a post from the manufacturer of a product or some other third party, the arrangement will be clearly disclosed (including where the manufacturer of a product provides Costcuisine with a free sample of the product).
I eat Schwartz’s smoked meat regularly and I also go to smoke meat Pete’s because their fries are so good the problem with the smoke Meats in the pictures in this article is that there isn’t enough meat and there isn’t enough fat, smoke meat sandwich has to have a lot of fat that’s a big part of what makes it taste so good
at smoke meat Pete’s if you ask for a lean smoked meat sandwich that’s definitely a No-No they charge you extra $2 for that
Former Montrealer and Mtl smoked meat lover. I no longer living in Montreal. I heard about these packets and not in a positive way. I recently joined Costco and saw them. Many here have complained that it’s not like Schwartz’s and ( for example) just like the frozen PF Chang dishes in the supermarket isn’t like eating at the restaurant this can’t be compared to the in store experience. That said, today a Mtl smoked meat sandwich runs between $14-$17. These packets run $3.83. Overall, the flavour is darn close and the fat content is similar except if you ask for very lean. The real difference is that at the restaurant the meat is cut by hand and a bit thicker rather than the machine sliced here. I have no complaints and once I finish this box I will buy it again.
Inferior product.
Utter garbage.
Watch How it’s Made, Season 24, episode 7 to see exactly how they make the retail product. Made me soooo hungry! Time to plan another trip to Montreal!
Is it gluten-free?
The best smoked meat ever!
It’s gluten-free.
I grew up in Montreal and loved Schwartz’s smoke meat, I now live in Saskatchewan and was so excited to see these packages at Costco. The ones I tried were flavourless and I was so disappointed. The texture and layers were perfect but for some reason there’s did not have any flavour. I’m sorry I spent the $24 on it.
Butter! People it’s the lack of butter.
Don’t pour out the juices from the pack, instead put them in a bowl. Add butter to the juices in the bowl.
Now toss the warmed meat in the butter juices.
Add to rye. Done. Very close taste profile.
I agree. Not even close to the original. The smoked meat at a safe way deli is about the same. This is inferior to what Schwartz deli produces on site!
Dry fatty meat and absolutely rancid farts thanks
Could your judgement be based on the fact that you posted this at 4am? This can not be dry as there is plenty of liquid in the packet. Even after it’s drained out the meat itself is very moist.
If you haven’t experienced the real deal why are you reviewing this in the first place? And you can’t tell the difference between ham and beef? How absolutely special.
I cried at “Ham”
Yes. Kinda funny actually
I used to buy Schwartz’s Smoked Meat. Then, our Costco switched to Dunn’s. I bought this a few times but didn’t like it. Flavour was OK but way way too fatty. I stopped buying it but kept walking g by the Smoke Meat refrigerator hoping they’d switch back to Schwartz. But not. Eventually I stopped looking. I will look again on my next visit …
Oh my gosh!!! You think it tastes like HAM??? Ima guessin’ you sure ain’t Jewish! 😂
Haha!
Hi, does it really have to be cooked? I just bought some from Costco, opened package, sliced it against the grain, added pickles, mayo and mustard to the sandwich. Heated in the microwave for 40 seconds. Heaven
Do not buy this fake smoke meat which cost me $25 at Costco. It is laced with a deadly amount of salt (42% to be exact). Wife and I just ate a sandwich and now we are gulping down water to get the salt out of our bodies. We ate half of the package and now well have no choice but to throw it out in the garbage. We wouldn’t dream feeding it to our dog. Such a waste and shame on Costco for labelling this as a Schwartz’s smoke meat. You have been warned !
I fess you’ve never been to Swartz Nate’s or moshes
Don’t forget the garlic dill pickle! 🙂
As a Canadian living in New Zealand since 2015. I unfortunately have not been able to get my hands on one of these since. I have had them in Montreal and in the box from Costco. So right about now I would allow my left arm and testicle to be removed for one of these sandwiches. And if the negotiations got tough I would give you my first born (Sorry Nicole).
Haha!
1st: doesn’t taste like ham at all. it’s beef.
2nd: to make a sandwich like Schwartz does: use 1 1/2 pack per sandwich. yes they pile it high
3rd: slow simmer (or steam), not boil, not microwave. low and slow is the key to get it tender
4th: costco version doesn’t compare favorably with the real thing. Restaurant Schwartz’s is so flavorful and tender. it just comes out of the smoke house. they slice it with care, making sure every sandwich has just enough meat vs fat vs spices. they can actually make a sandwich with pieces from many different briskets to get it right.
I had last had Schwartz’s in MTL a few weeks before stumbling on these in CGY and… DAAARN. It tasted like the real thing. If anything, a bit less fatty is all!
I love these. I use one pouch to make two sandwiches. Add grainy mustard and Swiss or Havarti cheese. Almost as good as visiting Schwartz in Montreal. Also great as a Reuben Sandwich.
Mmmm! I want to try it with Havarti!
I love these pouches. Generally, I can make 2 sandwiches from each pouch. On buttered rye with mustard—-delicious!
Have been to Schwartz’s in Montreal. Crazy busy and lots of fun! Everyone eats family style, with strangers (soon new friends!) at big long tables. And watching those guys work the counter is magic. Especially the meat cutter. A definite bucket-list experience for all smoked meat lovers.
That description of Schwartz’s makes it sound so fun! Somewhere I need to go.
I discovered this goodie in Guelph a number of years ago. A loaf of good rye bread, mustard, some fresh onion, and I am in heaven. Those individual packs give me two or three servings, too. I’m glad they don’t stock it all the time.