Has wagyu become a bad investment?

Coz said:
My .02 is that Waygu can pick up a slight margin on a well cooked entry vs a similar brisket that isn't Waygu . I would really like to know the truth between who did and didn't cook Waygu vs Prime or choice etc when you look at the Sams Finals brisket scores . The last few years we have not been great brisket cooks but when we cooked whatever brisket we had well it scored low 170s .When we cook the Waygu well it scores better.
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You know where I stand, but for all else, I cook CABs at the most, sometimes just choice if I find a good one. My avg score the last two years is 170, 7-8 calls in the last 10 comps and one 11th. I personally cant figure out how to get waygu to taste as good as my normal brisket. I keep playing with Waygu's because I wonder if my 2nd 3rd place calls could be consistent 1sts. I would hate to be leaving points on the table.
 
Kave Dweller said:
You know where I stand, but for all else, I cook CABs at the most, sometimes just choice if I find a good one. My avg score the last two years is 170, 7-8 calls in the last 10 comps and one 11th. I personally cant figure out how to get waygu to taste as good as my normal brisket. I keep playing with Waygu's because I wonder if my 2nd 3rd place calls could be consistent 1sts. I would hate to be leaving points on the table.
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And you have consistently beat our waygu .Your a damn good brisket cook for sure . When we cook the brisket properly I feel our score is better then when we cook the primes well. I think we need to go back to trading slices to compare again .
 
I've never done and never will do competition but I am curious as to how many that do are selling something. Are they selling smokers they build or a restaurant or something else?
 
rabidawg said:
I'm selling a lifestyle.:cool:
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I should stay off of the computer late in the evening. I did not do a very good job of saying what I was thinking. There are people who go to comps. because they are selling something and they will spend what ever it takes to win. I do not blame them at all. There are some that compete, like you, because it is a lifestyle. Some compete to improve their BBQ. And some just like to compete. I don't think that anyone is going to comps. to make money from the competition itself. So there are going to some who will pay what ever they think they need on a piece of meat. All of that said, I need to put a breathalyzer machine on my computer to stop me from late night post.:redface:
 
Coz said:
And you have consistently beat our waygu .Your a damn good brisket cook for sure . When we cook the brisket properly I feel our score is better then when we cook the primes well. I think we need to go back to trading slices to compare again .
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I'm always up for trading samples! Pretty sure last year you beat me twice in brisket (Fremont and Sams) I got you at Kenosha and Libertyville, so that's about as even as it gets. As hard as I've been working on the other 3 categories, I'm afraid my brisket is going to suffer this year..... Looking at your schedule and my tentative one, I don't think we will see each other much this year. Dwight, St Charles, Kenosha are the only 3 solids I have so far. Libertyville, Windy City, Davenport all maybe's. Grafton, Warrens on my radar but doubtfuls.
 
jaestar said:
For those concerned with cosr, just cook one wagyu brisket instead of two choice or prime. Focus your attention on getting the one brisket right. That alone will help you become a better brisket cook.
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That's what we do and he's right. When you only have on brisket you give it all of your attention. Cook however many choice/prime briskets you want but my one wagyu is gonna beat ya. ;-)
 
Here's some hard numbers. In our first 12 contests last year we cooked choice cab and averaged 168.55 and had the 2 GC's. Our last 11 we cooked Wagyu and averaged 169.53, no GC's, but two 1st places in briskets which we never had before. We cracked the top 100 in brisket last year which I was very happy with since we worked the hardest at improving it. Now I'm not showing these numbers to "brag" (especially since there are those better who's opinions you may hold more valuable than mine) but showing them to make a point highlighted below.........

I fully believe you can win with either and be consistent with either. In our class we cooked both to show how great they can both be and how when cooked well you can win with either and at the end of the day you need 4 good scores. Of course we aren't the end all be all when it comes to brisket, but this conversation can be a little misleading without hard numbers as to who is cooking what and exactly what they scored on average compared to those who cooked a "lower quality product". We'll never see those numbers, but it would be interesting to see if they matched up to what people were saying.........

When we were at the Royal last year we stopped at Costco and I was shocked to see full packers and they were prime and only $3.79/lb. I bought one and cooked it a few weeks later. We can't get that here in GA for that price, but if I could I would not be messing around with Wagyu :becky:.
 
This reminds me very much of my mother-in-law. Whenever she was going to blow some money, she referred to it as an "investment," as in, "I think I'm going to invest in some new curtain," or "I think I'm going to invest in some chocolate cake for dessert." Or, in this case, "I think we should invest in some Wagyu." In this context, what really is a good and bad investment? :noidea:
 
Podge said:
Last year I cooked a wagyu and a prime for backup. The wagyu always tasted better to me. I think Wagyu slices hold their moisture better, which could give the judges a moister slice than prime.
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Step up and just cook 1 this year like the big boys :)
 
image.jpg


On any given day anything can win, but I like to help myself as much as possible!
 
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I have done well with briskets from restaurant depot and know a couple of teams who have won cooking briskets from Walmart. Wagyu or prime might give you a slight advantage but if you cook your brisket properly any brisket can win. With the much lower cost it also allows me to cook 2 briskets for MUCH less than a Wagyu and determine which one is best for the turn in.
 
I can give you guys my (totally jaded) perspective as a vendor who sells Wagyu.

Can you win without Wagyu? Absolutely, no question, we all know that. You can prove that by looking at the top 50 (or so) on this list http://www.kcbs.us/team-of-the-year-results.php?y=2014&c=brisket and knowing that 100% of them don't use Wagyu.

The other side of that coin is that of those top 50, the % that use Wagyu isn't far from 100%. So, with that logic, using Wagyu = winning, right? Wrong.

The use of Wagyu is just one choice in the hundreds that a team/cook has to make. Here's the thing - the teams that are using Wagyu (and winning with it) are the same teams that are making all the other important/hard choices that it takes to win. They're the ones showing up a couple of hours earlier than everyone else to be all set up and ready to go. They're the ones not drinking (or not drinking much) while they cook so they can focus. They're the ones practicing in the offseason. They're the ones working hard to get all the little details right. Using Wagyu is one of those little details.

Only you can decide for yourself (and your team) if it's worth the "invetment" :-D
 
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