Ordered 2 Briskets from Mr. Brisket

[Jerod Broussard]

Looks like you cut the flat with the grain.

[Butterman]

Thanks for noticing that Jerod. That would explain a lot. Will look at it more today.

[Butterman]

And I never followed up on this. You were correct Jerod, I cut with the grain.

[fuzzydaddy]

Oh man that looks crazy delicious and what a smoke ring!

[RichBrew]

This brings up some questions for me. This looks like exactly what I would like to cook for an occasion on July 9th. But, I have never been a fan of previously frozen meat, especially steaks. That makes me hesitate to order a premium brisket like this because its frozen. But I know brisket isn't steak. Does freezing take anything away from it? Is it still a better hunk of meat than a local CAB Prime if the premium one was frozen and the local one was not?

Also, with a specialty cut like this, is wrapping more important? or less? same question for injecting.

[Mosca]

I can't answer for everyone, but my SRF product has been incredible. I did not wrap nor inject the Kobe gold brisket I got from them.

[Butterman]

RichBrew - The 2 best briskets I've made myself were both frozen. This one, and a SRF Wagyu Gold. For Brisket I don't think it matters that much, but they were both way better than the choice flats I can get at Costco in my area. Expecting/Hoping the Imperial Wagyu I'm making this weekend falls in to the same category.

I brought slices from the point from the prime brisket I did last weekend to work and people are still talking about it today.

If you have a local source for CAB Prime I would use it. I don't have a good option in my area which is why I'm trying these out. By no means cheap (I live in VA not TX where brisket appears to be close to free), but cheaper than the standard Wagyu from SRF. By my math $2 to $3 per pound less.

I also bought 8 frozen steaks from SRF that were excellent. I think if it is sealed properly and then you let it defrost in the fridge slowly you won't lose much from the quality of the meat. These weren't even prime, but choice.

Final thoughts....... I think you are correct, non-frozen is probably better, but the gap in quality isn't that large if you are getting it from the right place frozen and defrost it properly.

[RichBrew]

Thanks for the details. I do have a local source (sometimes) for C.A.B prime, and have cooked one. I think I'll try one of these now.

[Butterman]

Smoking the Imperial Wagyu this morning. Here are some pics of it in the smoker. Forgot to take pics of the brisket before I started but the marbling was better than that on the Meyer Natural Prime.

[Butterman]

I'll try to mock up some pics of the Imperial Wagyu from Saturday, but I neglected to take pics right when it was done. The brisket was outstanding. I won't say it was as good as the SRF Gold Wagyu I had around Christmas, but it was close.

Kind of makes sense since the Gold is a 9+ on the scale and the Imperial Wagyu was Signature which is 8-9.

I'm happy to have an alternative that's a bit cheaper though an since they are in OH, it only took 2 days to ship to me in VA and only $40 for both briskets.

[RichBrew]

glad to hear its better than the Meyer natural angus. I was torn between the two, and ordered one of the imperial wagyu last week. I haven't quite figured out how i'm going to resist cooking before the 9th. i might need a padlock for the fridge!

[Butterman]

Enjoy. Don't get me wrong I think the Meyer Natural Angus was excellent also. Just a tad more marble in the Wagyu.

[Potkettleblack]

Whatever the beef equivalent of porknography is, you have achieved it.