Wagyu Brisket

Wow, wish I could help but I've never done prime or wagyu. I envy you! Please report back!

From my experience wagyu and prime do finish a bit faster than choice. Not a big difference in cooking time between wagyu and prime,

i don’t think the magic 203 degrees necessarily applies. Go by feel. Your probe will tell you when its done. 

Winslow I replied to your PM but will paste a copy here. I smoked one for July 4th and it was well received...from Snake River Farms. I season with Kosher Salt and course ground black pepper. I wouldn't use an injection for Wagyu. You can paint the surfaces (post trimming) with Worcestershire just before seasoning. I like 235 o for Waygu and that usually works out to just over an hour @ pound cook time.  You can wrap at stall if you need to speed things up a bit. If you do, I suggest peach paper over foil. Personally, I just leave it be. Don't think I've ever had a brisket, Wagyu, Prime or otherwise finished at 190. I use a wooden skewer to probe test around 195 internal (on flat...point always feels done due to high fat content) When I can go easy in and out thru the flat, it's done. Typically around 202 - 205. My last one was done at 202.  Rest it for at least an hour...peach paper, towel, cooler. Let me know how it works out. 

I've done a few of these and will add on to what MaxQ's thoughts are. Not all wagyu's are made the same, some of them have more bloodline to them, have been feed a different feed regiment, etc. Because of these factors there can be 10* difference in finish temp. You will find that times will be close to what you have done with your prime briskets.

Like Chris said, I've never had a brisket done at 190* in my life, but I too cook a little hotter than 225*, so that will factor into your finial temp.

Thanks everyone! At the last minute my butcher called me and said the Wagyu was a no-go because it "didn't meet their quality standards." They should have another one coming next week so will definitely take all your great advice into account. Thanks!

Hey Cal! Just noticed your reply up there...how ya been? Winslow you can take anything this man says to the bank! He's had more contest calls than ticks on a Georgia Coondog <G>

Hi everyone! I've finally secured a Wagyu brisket and am going to give it a go this weekend on Saturday. I did have one follow-up question. @maxq mentioned not to inject Wagyu brisket. Max, what is the rationale for not injecting (and do others agree)? I was thinking of only injecting in the flat, my logic being that I've never had a flat that's TOO moist... more often than not I'd wish it wasn't quite so dry and I find injecting helps with that. What do folks think?

Personally I've only injected a brisket once and I didn't like the way it turned out.  Tasted like pot roast to me.  Very odd.

The best brisket I ever cooked was a Snake River Farms wagyu.  I did nothing to it - just kosher salt and coarse grind black pepper.  It wobbled like crazy, was moist all the way through.

There is so much marbling in the wagyu that I don't think you will find it to be dry.  I cook them fat side down in the FEC-100.

YMMV

Thanks for the feedback @kengolden! My brisket is from Snake River Farms as well, so glad to hear you were happy with the results. Out of curiosity, did you wrap the brisket at all around the stall, or just let it ride through? Also, do you recall what temperature it was finished at?

Given that I actually like the flavor my injection imparts I guess my question is what is the downside of injecting the flat? Wouldn't that only make for a moister brisket, or is there something I'm missing here?

Its been awhile since I cooked it.  I probably cooked it at 250 but now I do briskets at 225.  I didn't wrap.  I never wrap.  I can't recall what temp it was done at but as I mentioned a year ago, I'm not beholden to 203 as the magic temperature.  I've cooked some to 203 and they were overdone and cooked some in the 190s and probe penetration told me it was ready to come out..  I did a prime recently and pulled it at 195.   It was perfect.  This is just my experience.  

If you like the injection flavor and texture I guess there is no downside to trying.

I inject all my briskets, but only the flat area. I wrap all my briskets, because I use a little(1/2 cup) marinade in it for flavor.

With that said, I have found that wagyu has a little different feel when probe tender, I would suggest you cook it another 20 minutes when you feel that it's ready. 

Good luck!

In a nutshell, I found that brisket injections weren't needed for USDA Prime and Wagyu packers. The increased amount of marbling didn't require the phosphate component to achieve a moist end result,  and the underlying flavor was more than sufficient to my palate. The aftertaste from the injection powder was always detectable and I just grew to prefer the natural taste of  the meat. Were I to smoke a flat or Select packer today, I'd probably opt for some kind of injection of my own making or use Cal's approach of wrapping at stall with some marinade.

Thanks for the insight guys! 

@cal 2, what internal temp would you recommend I start probing for tenderness?

Not to take this too far off topic...

Has anyone tried the "boat" technique of partially wrapping the brisket?  Seems to be getting some attention now.

@kengolden, haven't tried or even heard of the boat technique, so I googled it.  seems like it would result in the same pot roast type consistency which is what I hate about brisket fully wrapped in foil.  Could be wrong though...  Maybe enough of the moisture would evaporate and not boil the meat.  For now, I'll stick with either no wrap or wrapping in butcher paper.

Winslow I'd test/probe at 190 

Depends on your cooking temp, I cook at 260* and start probing at 201*. Like I said, I do wrap my briskets in foil. Never had a pot roast brisket, unless you mean softer bark?

Thanks fellas! I'm thinking I'll cook at 240F.