Quarterly Financial Information (Unaudited) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 25, 2021	Sep. 25, 2021	Jun. 26, 2021	Mar. 27, 2021	Dec. 26, 2020	Sep. 26, 2020	Jun. 27, 2020	Mar. 28, 2020	Dec. 25, 2021	Dec. 26, 2020	Dec. 28, 2019
Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 956,357	$ 982,248	$ 1,012,592	$ 818,148	$ 675,851	$ 619,105	$ 500,168	$ 602,919	$ 3,769,345	$ 2,398,043	$ 2,430,616
Gross profit	229,763	237,983	212,880	149,730	122,344	118,325	97,009	94,204
Consolidated net income	126,698	172,256	110,932	65,238	37,254	43,957	28,487	33,951	475,124	143,649	106,232
Net income attributable to Mueller Industries, Inc.	$ 125,601	$ 170,980	$ 108,832	$ 63,107	$ 36,420	$ 42,702	$ 27,956	$ 32,415	$ 468,520	$ 139,493	$ 100,972
Basic earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 2.24	$ 3.05	$ 1.95	$ 1.13	$ 0.65	$ 0.77	$ 0.50	$ 0.58	$ 8.36	$ 2.50	$ 1.81
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	2.21	3.01	1.92	1.11	0.64	0.76	0.50	0.57	8.25	2.47	1.79
Dividends per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.13	$ 0.13	$ 0.13	$ 0.13	$ 0.10	$ 0.10	$ 0.10	$ 0.10	$ 0.52	$ 0.40	$ 0.40