Regular Guy
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- May 11, 2012
- Location
- Conyers, GA
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, I like it, sue me, lol)
Mixture of Wagyu and Choice - The Rest is about to be Vac sealed
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, I like it, sue me, lol)
Mixture of Wagyu and Choice - The Rest is about to be Vac sealed
