American Wagyu Brisket Timing/Temp Questions

[EZCUSE]

So my Washington Football Team won me $200 this season from a couple of buddies and I have decided to treat myself to a Snake River Farms American Wagyu Gold Grade Brisket. I am going to buy the 16-18 lb size.

I am smoking it on my Yoder YS 480.

My thought process is to smoke it at 225. My plan is to wrap in butcher paper around an internal temp of 160-165 and once it hits an internal temp of 200-205 I will let it rest in a cooler for a few hours.

My plan is not to inject because of the high quality of meat.

My questions are this:
1. Is there any sort of guideline for American Wagyu briskets in terms of how long the cook should take smoking it at 225? An hour a pound? An hour, twenty minutes per pound?
2. Should I wrap when the stall comes? I know it helps speed up the cooking process vs. not wrapping.
3. Should I consider injecting the flat?
4. Should I consider smoking it at a higher temp? 250?

Any and all feedback would be much appreciated.

[Henrik]

1. No idea
2. I would wrap at the _end_ of the stall (ca 80 deg C). It won’t speed up the cook much, but I prefer top notch bark over a speedy cook. Wrap in butcher’s paper (since you have a rich, fatty brisket)
3. No, I wouldn’t. That’s comp style, it’s gonna turn out perfect anyway.
4. Yes, I would. Smoking at 225 doesn’t add anything at all, it’s just gonna take a looong time. 250 is perfectly safe, and will take less time.

Just my 2 cents.

[RonB]

I've never wrapped a brisket, but if I was gonna do that, I'd wait until the bark was the way I wanted it before I wrapped.

205° may be too high - start checking for probe tender around 190°. It probably won't be ready then, but you sure don't want to overcook that hunk of Heaven. Pull it when the probe slides in like a knife in warm butter.

For temp, I'd shoot for 250° to 275° and not worry if it went a bit lower or higher.

Please let us know how it turns out.

Almost forgot - ya must have been betting against the WFT if you actually won $$. (My team too - since the mid '50s.) And I think they should call themselves Washington Team Football - WTF...

[bbqLuv]

"I'd wait until the bark was the way I wanted it before I wrapped."
Dito

[EZCUSE]

I am actually a diehard WFT fan. I live in Denver though so bet a couple of my buddies based on better record and we prevailed.

[HouseHomey]

I wouldn’t cook any higher than 250. Start checking the probe at 180° and only wrap if you need to as that’s a game time decision based on the way the meat is cooking, bark development Etc...

I am clueless on injecting... I wouldn’t.

[Troutman]

Ahh the old two hour discussion on how to cook a brisket. I can tell you this for sure, American Wagyu briskets cook a lot faster than even Prime. The reason is the high Oleic fat content that is so pervasive within the meat proteins. We get both Mishima Reserve and SRF American Wagyu in our grocery so I cook them 3-4 times a year. I find that they usually don't stall (thus no wrapping needed, although that's on a brisket by brisket basis) and are finished well below 200*, usually between 190-195*. Injecting is pretty much a waste of time, but I do so it if the flat is super thin.

Hate to say it, but you may have to discover most of this yourself. Watch your temps when you get up over the 165* threshold and that will tell the tale. Don't think you have to go up and over 200*, like I said they usually finish at a lessor temp for me. Here's one I did back in July, was probe tender right at 195* mark as I recall;

[EZCUSE]

Any idea what weight the brisket was? Any idea how long it took? I am just trying to get some sort of idea of how long it should take. If I want to eat it at 7pm, I want to pull it at 5pm to let it rest. However, I have no idea if it's going to take 12 hours, 16 hours, etc.

[Troutman]

I don't remember the weight, I'm gonna say 12#. Better figure on a total of 12 hours, that's 10 smoking and 2 resting. It may get done sooner, especially if you up the heat to 275*. I've never done one in much under 8 hours, and that was hot and fast (like 320*).

[ofelles]

What Troutman said. Have done a few on my YS640 and have not wrapped them. Faster and lower temp at tender. Cooked at 225F