Snake River Farms Wagyu Brisket on the #3

[RG 2.0]

As you may know from This Thread I bought a Wagyu brisket from Snake River Farms as well as a Choice packer from Walmart. I wanted to compare the $139.00 Wagyu brisket to the $34.00 choice brisket. So I did and here's the results.

After trimming, they both were close to the same weight. I took far more off of the choice than the Wagyu. I prepped them the same, rubbed with a mixture of pickle juice and yellow mustard as John Lewis of LA Barbecue does and then I applied the rub he uses which is 8 parts coarse black pepper, 3 parts kosher salt, 3 parts Lawry's Seasoning Salt, 1 part granulated garlic. I used teaspoons as my "part". I made several batches of this and put it into a shaker. The reason I used this rub is that John used to work for Aaron and I am pretty sure it's a monkey see monkey do type of thing.

I smoked them with white "post" oak like they do in Texas. I put them on the Smokin-It #3, the choice on bottom and the Wagyu on top. The choice had some of it's bark washed off from the drippings above. I knew that would happen, that's why I put it on bottom

My initial plan was to pull at 160° and wrap but when I went down at 4:30 this morning to check, the color wasn't where I wanted it yet so I let them ride for a while longer. I let them both get through the stall and then wrapped. After wrapping, I put them in a towel lined cooler to hold for a few hours and then took them out and took off the butcher paper and let them cool to around 145° then sliced. A little of the flat and some of the point of each were sliced. I called my Wife in to take pics while I was doing brisket surgery, some of the pictures were not so hot as she is a one click and done photographer for the most part these days. She used to take 10 shots of the same angle, lol.

After the slices were laid out, I had her close her eyes and gave her a small taste of the choice flat, then the little burnt corner that's the first cut piece of the flat, then a little taste of the point. The same procedure was done on the Wagyu, same order. In every single piece given, she liked the Wagyu best. It was more moist and had a deeper beefier flavor and was more tender. Overall though, I would say it was definitely better than the choice but if I am being honest here, it's not $100 better! I would like to cook one on an offset but I no longer have one. I thought about cooking them on 2 different Kegs but I went with just putting them on one smoker so I could say that all things were equal.

Here are some pictures to gander - there's a lot of'em so be warned!

Wagyu got the top bunk

Just pulled out of the cooler

Wagyu

Choice

Wagyu up top, choice near

Choice

Wagyu

The "sample" board - Wagyu closest, choice up top

Wagyu fatty

Served with pickles, onions, red potato salad, corn on the cob and white bread ( yes, that IS sauce, y'all know I like it! )

Mixture of Wagyu and Choice - The Rest is about to be Vac sealed

 

[gregbooras]

Jason,

Both briskets look amazing and I want to try a brisket from both Snake River and Creek Stone (Franklin uses both vendors).

Like you I really enjoyed the brisket from LA Barbecue who uses as you stated 8 parts coarse black pepper, 3 parts kosher salt, 3 parts Lawry's Seasoning Salt, 1 part granulated garlic.

After trying his mix, I have done several trials and I like 7 parts course black pepper, 3 parts kosher, 3 parts lawry's and 1 part garlic....

For me the 8 parts was a bit to much, could have been the grind.

Since they are both on sale today, I will order at least one to try out in the future.

Thanks for sharing.

Greg

 

[RG 2.0]

I look forward to hearing your thoughts when you cook one!!

 

[Perkolater]

Gonna be awhile before I try one but just looking at and reading your story RG, I am muye impressed!

 

[DivotMaker]

Fantastic!  I see a beautiful faux smoke ring...did you use a little TQ, or is that from the pickle juice?

 

[SUMORAY]

Wow. They both looked incredible. That WAGYU looked incredible. Off the Charts man. Well done.

 

[RG 2.0]

Fantastic!  I see a beautiful faux smoke ring...did you use a little TQ, or is that from the pickle juice?

30 minute TQ treatment has become my norm, lol. Even on $$$ Wagyu

 

[gregbooras]

Great looking faux smoke ring, I applied QT for 15 minutes yesterday on the brisket I did it hardly had a ring.

Next time I will go with your advice on 30 minutes!

Thanks Greg

 

[RG 2.0]

It helps if the meat is a little wet, helps spread the TQ as you rub it on. I know Tony leaves it on much longer and has good results but a normal "real" smoke ring only penetrates about a 1/4", sometimes as little as 1/8" so I try to leave it along those lines. Either way, I like the looks of it. I don't consider it cheating, I consider it taking advantage of an opportunity

 

[RG 2.0]

As to whether I was able to replicate Franklin's brisket, I meant to elaborate more but I posted that in a rush, lol. I was out fooling around with the pool then my wife wanted to go putt around in her Jeep once it cooled off outside a bit

Did it taste like Franklin's? Not no but hell no! As you can see by the pics of the point, it was glistening whereas the choice, while moist, was not. So it WAS a nice brisket but by no means was it as good as Franklin BBQ. I wish I could say it was. Truth be told (and I know you're going to think I'm nuts) the Wagyu could've gone longer on the smoker. I probed it at 196° and it was close so I went ahead and pulled it hoping carryover heat would do the rest. It was perfect in some spots, not rendered enough in others. It was the strangest brisket that I've ever cooked. I think I could've went to 210° with it!

Although it did taste better than the choice, it wasn't a giant leap forward. It was more tender and moist but not like "WOW, THIS BRISKET WAS MADE BY THE HAND OF GOD". It was I'd say 10-15% better so like I said earlier, most definitely not worth $100.00 more in price.

Lastly, did it smell like it did at Franklin's? Nuh Uh, not even a little like it. The reason being, I don't have 7 smokers billowing out post oak goodness into the air. As y'all already know, the Smokin-It, like the Cookshack and Smoking Tex, uses very little wood to smoke or you'll make your food oversmoked and bitter. So......I failed there too! No reproducing that wonderful smell I got to enjoy while in line at Franklin's.

One other thing to consider, the smoker. Nothing I own, not my SI, not my 2 pellet grills, nor my 3 Kegs, not my PBC, nothing is going to match Aaron's Smokers. I can get meat like him, we all can. I can prep it like him, I can season it like him, I can wrap it in peach butcher paper like him but I can't make it turn out like he can! Nobody can, so I don't feel too badly

Stephanie, my Wife, was all too happy to help with the test BTW, she LOVES brisket! She might as well be an honorary Texan As y'all know, we here in Georgia are pretty keen on our swine. I grew up eating pork as BBQ and brisket is something that quite honestly I didn't eat until probably 5 years ago! I have done my best to make up for lost time though!

All of that leftover brisket was put into foodsaver bags for many meals to come. Tonight is brisket quesadilla (case a dill uhs)

I think we'll fire up the wife's keg and throw'em on there. Might make some black beans to go with it, who knows? I'm still full from last night so the thought of food is making me sick

 

[RG 2.0]

Wow. They both looked incredible. That WAGYU looked incredible. Off the Charts man. Well done.

Thanks! They were pretty photogenic I guess, lol.

 

[RG 2.0]

Also, for those wondering about this pic

I know it looks weird but the way I cut briskets is also like Aaron does his. I start on the flat and cut that little corner off and then cut it in half.

I then continue down the flat, cutting smaller pieces at first that widen as I go toward the point. Once I reach the area where the point extends under the flat, I make a cut to separate the two pieces and then I cut the point in half and then begin cutting wider sections of that working my way out toward the bark. When I cut off slices, I only take what is needed and leave the larger piece intact so it doesn't get oxidized and dry out. I either turn the cut side toward the cutting board or face it against another whole piece, butted up against each other. That's what you see in that first pic where my hand is a blur, lol.

This shows my cutting pattern, the white indicates the splits while the thinner red lines show slice pattern.

 

[BedouinBob]

Nice job on the briskets Jason. I thought the choice one was a little drier from the pics. That kind of surprises me given it was underneath. BUT, you still got some great brisket either way! It's good to know the difference wasn't worth $100 difference since I doubt I'll be affording Wagu ant time soon! Thanks for letting us live vicariously.