I smoke a lot of briskets since they are cheaper than ground meat around these here parts. In fact I do them often enough that the wife complains. But I learned that one of our neighbor friends loves brisket, so I have added excuse to do a few more briskets lately until the neighbor complains that she has had enough brisket for a while.
Well I went to the local HEB (Texas grocery chain) Thursday night looking for a nice prime packer and there was nothing in the case. I check with the guy behind the meat counter. "Let me check in the cooler, boss". A minute later, "Sorry boss, no prime packers but I got a case of these here wagyu briskets hanging around". I asked how much and he did some checking in the books. He wasn't sure but thought the were $6.99/lb, but since he wasn't sure he'd let one go for $5.99/lb. I was curious so I said "deal". I really don't know if this is a good price for wagyu or if this is a reputable "brand" of wagyu, but what they heck. The box had Premier Proteins on it.
Good marble in the flat. The shape appeared a little different than I am used to.
I rarely cook briskets this large since I am not feeding that many people usually. I am not sure this
was actually market trimmed or what he used to enter into the scale to get that price. I will asked the
manager next time I see him. The guy that sold it didn't know. My suspicion is that it was a market trimmed.
The HEBs around here have sections in the seasoning and the condiment aisles for local
Texas rubs and BBQ sauces. I love the idea of local stuff so I have been trying a few different ones lately.
This Diamond Dave's has no salt which give some flexibility with the amount of salt on the meat. I kinda like that.
I trimmed a tad more of the silver skin off:
This was for the ribs I was gonna smoke too.
Here she is after a few hours on the UDS. I prepped and had the UDS lit with B&B lump
and several chunks of hickory and cherry. After 45 mins or so she was at 285* and
putting out thinnish blue smoke. I usually smoke overnight at 225-250* but since I wanted
to have this ready tonight I kicked up the temp. I ended up bumping to 300* later.
Next 2 picks before the butcher paper wrap. I don't wrap at a certain temp, but rather
when I get a nice bark set. This puppy stayed in the stall for 4-5 hours. No problem since it
gave me time to get a really nice bark and still have some time in the wrap.
So I got a little lazy with the pics from here, but here are the ribs done.
Not long after i took the ribs off the brisket was probing nice and tender, around 201-203*
in most sections of the flat. I separated the flat and point and did some of the point as
burnt ends (sorry not burnt end pics). The flat was nice and juicy, had a great bark
and good flavor.
Sorry no plated pics or ribs slice pics. Overall, I could tell a little difference with the Wagyu. Enough to justify $5.99 over a $2.99 prime? Probably not. Over a $2.49 or $1.99 prime (as we occasionally get around here)? Certainly not.
Mini review:
Diamond Dave's no salt rub- Good stuff. I like the idea of controlling the salt to seasoning ratio. I will try this again.
El Chupacabra Rub- Hmmm....lets see. I rubbed the ribs and they set in the fridge wrapped tightly for about 12 hours before smoking. This rub has a lot of salt and other stuff like MSG, etc. I don't typically prefer that kinda stuff in my rubs, but I am not a nazi about it either. Ok to use occasionally. I think the prolonged "dry brine" with this rub on made the ribs a bit hammy tasting. They weren't bad, in fact the flavor was pretty good, but it was enough to affect the texture as we'll. Also I bit salty. I may try it again without the extended rest period.
Happy smoking this weekend fellow chain smokers!
Well I went to the local HEB (Texas grocery chain) Thursday night looking for a nice prime packer and there was nothing in the case. I check with the guy behind the meat counter. "Let me check in the cooler, boss". A minute later, "Sorry boss, no prime packers but I got a case of these here wagyu briskets hanging around". I asked how much and he did some checking in the books. He wasn't sure but thought the were $6.99/lb, but since he wasn't sure he'd let one go for $5.99/lb. I was curious so I said "deal". I really don't know if this is a good price for wagyu or if this is a reputable "brand" of wagyu, but what they heck. The box had Premier Proteins on it.
Good marble in the flat. The shape appeared a little different than I am used to.
I rarely cook briskets this large since I am not feeding that many people usually. I am not sure this
was actually market trimmed or what he used to enter into the scale to get that price. I will asked the
manager next time I see him. The guy that sold it didn't know. My suspicion is that it was a market trimmed.
The HEBs around here have sections in the seasoning and the condiment aisles for local
Texas rubs and BBQ sauces. I love the idea of local stuff so I have been trying a few different ones lately.
This Diamond Dave's has no salt which give some flexibility with the amount of salt on the meat. I kinda like that.
I trimmed a tad more of the silver skin off:
This was for the ribs I was gonna smoke too.
Here she is after a few hours on the UDS. I prepped and had the UDS lit with B&B lump
and several chunks of hickory and cherry. After 45 mins or so she was at 285* and
putting out thinnish blue smoke. I usually smoke overnight at 225-250* but since I wanted
to have this ready tonight I kicked up the temp. I ended up bumping to 300* later.
Next 2 picks before the butcher paper wrap. I don't wrap at a certain temp, but rather
when I get a nice bark set. This puppy stayed in the stall for 4-5 hours. No problem since it
gave me time to get a really nice bark and still have some time in the wrap.
So I got a little lazy with the pics from here, but here are the ribs done.
Not long after i took the ribs off the brisket was probing nice and tender, around 201-203*
in most sections of the flat. I separated the flat and point and did some of the point as
burnt ends (sorry not burnt end pics). The flat was nice and juicy, had a great bark
and good flavor.
Sorry no plated pics or ribs slice pics. Overall, I could tell a little difference with the Wagyu. Enough to justify $5.99 over a $2.99 prime? Probably not. Over a $2.49 or $1.99 prime (as we occasionally get around here)? Certainly not.
Mini review:
Diamond Dave's no salt rub- Good stuff. I like the idea of controlling the salt to seasoning ratio. I will try this again.
El Chupacabra Rub- Hmmm....lets see. I rubbed the ribs and they set in the fridge wrapped tightly for about 12 hours before smoking. This rub has a lot of salt and other stuff like MSG, etc. I don't typically prefer that kinda stuff in my rubs, but I am not a nazi about it either. Ok to use occasionally. I think the prolonged "dry brine" with this rub on made the ribs a bit hammy tasting. They weren't bad, in fact the flavor was pretty good, but it was enough to affect the texture as we'll. Also I bit salty. I may try it again without the extended rest period.
Happy smoking this weekend fellow chain smokers!
