Smoked my first ever wagyu brisket while the in-laws were in town since my father-in-law likes to smoke meat occasionally himself. The brisket was about 13# from Snake River Farm. I'm embarrassed to say how long it'd been in my deep freezer--I got it as a gift from my boss (who is from Central Texas and taught me how to BBQ) for Christmas 2020! I was so nervous to find the right time and not ruin it that I kept passing it over and cooking other stuff. I finally got up the nerve since it had been so long and we had some extra mouths to feed who would appreciate it. Somehow it still looked and smelled great, and the results speak for themselves.
Trimmed it up with a bit more aggressive trim than I usually do to get a more rounded/aerodynamic shape (still more to learn here haha). Took the fat down to about 1/4 inch everywhere best I could too. Vacuum sealed the meaty trimmings to use for chili, and piled up the fat in an aluminum pan in the oven at 250 to render some tallow.
I seasoned the brisket with Meat Church Holy Cow--one of my favorites on any cut of beef, and popped it on the Camp Chef Woodwind with comp blend pellets on hi smoke 220 at about 7pm. I've had better luck running them low and slow on this setting, so I stuck with it. To help keep the smoker clean I put a large foil pan under the brisket which was up on a rack for air flow. Ran it low and slow all the way until 8am the next morning when my Meater probe said it was still hovering in the 160s. The bark was already pretty dark, so I wrapped in butcher paper and cranked the temp up to 300 to get it done with some rest time before lunch. I added some of the rendered tallow on top of the brisket before I wrapped. I didn't spritz at all (on account of going to sleep), and running that hi smoke on it that long makes for a pretty dry bark. I figured the tallow would add some moisture and soften up the bark just a touch without making it soggy (thanks to Jirby BBQ of Goldee's fame who gave this tip for resting beef ribs on the Meat Church YouTube channel ). After about another 3 hours it was 200 in the thick part of the flat and 190ish in the point and probing like butter with no resistance at all. I pulled it off to rest and held it in a previously warm oven turned off until the temp dropped to 150.
I have to say this was not only the best brisket I've ever cooked, it was the best one I'd ever eaten too--though I haven't been to the best spots in Texas. It drew rave reviews and plenty of exclamations to a higher power, and pretty soon we were all in a beef coma
. The slices out of the flat were so moist and ended up being plenty of food, so the best part is I've got the point cut in half and vac sealed in the freezer when I need my fix again! There was not a thing I'd change about this one--it was simply perfect for my taste. I think I about could have cooked this beauty high heat over easy light charcoal and it would still have tasted good as the quality was unreal. I'll have to come up with an excuse and the money to splurge on one again. Enjoy the pics, thanks for looking!
Trimmed it up with a bit more aggressive trim than I usually do to get a more rounded/aerodynamic shape (still more to learn here haha). Took the fat down to about 1/4 inch everywhere best I could too. Vacuum sealed the meaty trimmings to use for chili, and piled up the fat in an aluminum pan in the oven at 250 to render some tallow.
I seasoned the brisket with Meat Church Holy Cow--one of my favorites on any cut of beef, and popped it on the Camp Chef Woodwind with comp blend pellets on hi smoke 220 at about 7pm. I've had better luck running them low and slow on this setting, so I stuck with it. To help keep the smoker clean I put a large foil pan under the brisket which was up on a rack for air flow. Ran it low and slow all the way until 8am the next morning when my Meater probe said it was still hovering in the 160s. The bark was already pretty dark, so I wrapped in butcher paper and cranked the temp up to 300 to get it done with some rest time before lunch. I added some of the rendered tallow on top of the brisket before I wrapped. I didn't spritz at all (on account of going to sleep), and running that hi smoke on it that long makes for a pretty dry bark. I figured the tallow would add some moisture and soften up the bark just a touch without making it soggy (thanks to Jirby BBQ of Goldee's fame who gave this tip for resting beef ribs on the Meat Church YouTube channel ). After about another 3 hours it was 200 in the thick part of the flat and 190ish in the point and probing like butter with no resistance at all. I pulled it off to rest and held it in a previously warm oven turned off until the temp dropped to 150.
I have to say this was not only the best brisket I've ever cooked, it was the best one I'd ever eaten too--though I haven't been to the best spots in Texas. It drew rave reviews and plenty of exclamations to a higher power, and pretty soon we were all in a beef coma
. The slices out of the flat were so moist and ended up being plenty of food, so the best part is I've got the point cut in half and vac sealed in the freezer when I need my fix again! There was not a thing I'd change about this one--it was simply perfect for my taste. I think I about could have cooked this beauty high heat over easy light charcoal and it would still have tasted good as the quality was unreal. I'll have to come up with an excuse and the money to splurge on one again. Enjoy the pics, thanks for looking!
