Wagyu beef - worth it? How to cook it properly?

[SaskatoonBusche]

A friend of mine and I have been looking at getting some wagyu steaks. I've been reading that you have to cook it properly - i.e. not the same as a regular steak. The fat is supposedly more unsaturated than saturated and if the middle of the steak is med rare or more, the fat melts too much and it gets dry and tasteless. It should be treated like searing tuna or like foie gras.

Does anyone have the skinny on Wagyu - how to cook it properly and if it's worth the $ to at least try it once?

thanks for any input.

[Steve Vojtek]

I've always cooked Wagyu same as any other steak - reverse sear and cooked to medium rare... Never had a dry and tasteless steak doing it that way.... Wagyu is my favourite - better than Angus IMO .. I think it's well worth the extra cost...

[Spinaker]

How do you dry brine yours? @stevevojtek

[Steve Vojtek]

I salt my raw steaks and put them back in the fridge for min 2 hours or overnight. I only put as much salt as i would season a cooked steak with - as all the salt gets absorbed into the steak. So be carefull with the salt - you can always add salt but not remove it..

[Spinaker]

Thanks Steve, I've got it in the fridge now.

[SaskatoonBusche]

thanks Steve

[Spinaker]

I would agree. I think the cost is worth it. In fact, I'm heading to the store now. I wonder what I'm gonna buy now......

[Breadhead]

Because of the extremely high cost per pound of Wagyu steaks... You will notice that they are always displayed in the butcher case as 3/4" or 1" steaks. My Son bought 2-2" Choice grade bone in Ribeyes the other day and 2-1" Wagyu Ribeyes. He called me and asked if I'm come over and grill them for he and his friends. I told him to dry brine them immediately and I'll come over in a couple of hours an grill them. When I got there I sized up the 2 different cuts, thicknesses, of meat and decided I was going to reverse sear the 2" Ribeye's and I was going to grill the 1" Wagyu's over direct heat fast and furious, flipping and rotating frequently. On a 3 burner gasser... I lite 1 burner on the far left side and stabilized the cooking temperature, with the lid down, at 250°. I put on the 2" Ribeye's and left the 1" Wagyu's off of the grill. After 20 minutes I flipped the 2" steak once and closed the lid. After about another 20 minutes the 2" steak were at 115°. I pulled them of of the grill and turned all 3 burners on full blast. I blotted the 2" steaks with paper towels and then basted them and the Wagyu's with beef love. Once the burners were as hot as I could get them I put all 4 steaks on. I rotated the Wagyu's every 30 seconds and flipped them every minute. The 2" steaks I went by color, I wanted, dark mahogany brown, flipping when I thought necessary. Toward the end of the cook my Thermapen was very active. I pulled the Wagyu's at 125° and the 2" steaks at 130°. All turned out just right... Mmmm

[SaskatoonBusche]

wow. Excellent. thanks for the report. I appreciate the feedback.

[Ernest]

Worth every penny. Just don't go past medium rare.
You will notice that the wagyu steak fat will melt when you rub the raw steaks with your body temp fingers.