CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2021	Dec. 26, 2020	Dec. 28, 2019
Income Statement [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 3,769,345	$ 2,398,043	$ 2,430,616
Cost of goods sold	2,938,989	1,966,161	2,035,610
Depreciation and amortization	45,390	44,843	42,693
Selling, general, and administrative expense	184,052	159,483	162,358
Litigation settlement, net	0	(22,053)	0
Gain on sale of businesses	(57,760)	0	0
Gain on sale of assets, net	0	0	(963)
Impairment charges	2,829	3,771	0
Insurance recovery	0	0	(485)
Operating income	655,845	245,838	191,403
Interest expense	(7,709)	(19,247)	(25,683)
Redemption premium	(5,674)	0	0
Environmental expense	(5,053)	(4,454)	(1,321)
Pension plan termination expense	0	(17,835)	0
Other income, net	3,730	4,887	1,684
Income before income taxes	641,139	209,189	166,083
Income tax expense	(165,858)	(55,321)	(35,257)
Loss from unconsolidated affiliates, net of foreign tax	(157)	(10,219)	(24,594)
Consolidated net income	475,124	143,649	106,232
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(6,604)	(4,156)	(5,260)
Net income attributable to Mueller Industries, Inc.	$ 468,520	$ 139,493	$ 100,972
Weighted average shares for basic earnings per share (in shares)	56,011	55,821	55,798
Effect of dilutive stock-based awards (in shares)	787	569	545
Adjusted weighted average shares for diluted earnings per share (in shares)	56,798	56,390	56,343
Basic earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 8.36	$ 2.50	$ 1.81
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	8.25	2.47	1.79
Dividends per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.52	$ 0.40	$ 0.40