Wagyu Brisket -- 15 lbs, Help!

HendersonTRKing

Haven't posted (or egged) in a while due to difficult personal circumstances, but, with things clearing up, I decided to come back in a BIG way.  Went to Meat House yesterday intending to pick up a generic 9# packer and ended up buying a 15# wagyu.  (Don't ask what I paid -- I'm embarrassed.)

Cook will be Saturday overnight for Sunday afternoon slice and serve.  Have searched and read, and I totally understand that "every brisky cooks in it's own way," but I've got at least one BIG question/confusion that needs clearing up before this beast goes on the egg.  It's been suggested that IT should be much lower than a standard packer -- some say as low as 170 rather than the 200-203 that I've found to be the golden zone.  

Plan is S&P only, per Franklin's wise counsel -- that's worked well for me in the past and I have no intention to mess with success (or Texas for that matter).  Will go low and slow -- 225-250 dome temp, assuming I can hold it for the duration with minimal spiking.  So . . .  dare I pull it off at 170 or even 180 IT?  Or do I steel myself to the task and wait til 195, 200, 203?  It would be a terrible shame to mess up this expensive and impulsive purchase, particularly when getting it right ought to unlock the door to brisket heaven.

What say you, Forum?  Appreciate the thoughts.  Will check in later and, of course, post before, during and after pix.  

Boileregger

Never done a Wagyu brisket before, but I follow the preachings of brisket god CenTex and I bet he would tell you that if you think it might be done earlier, start checking it earlier. Brisket is not as much about temp as it is feel. So if your probe goes in the thickest part of the flat like butter at 175, then pull it. If not, let her ride and check every 5 degrees or so until it is. Enjoy!

DMW

You don't want to call the finish based on temp alone with a brisket (or butt). Temp is simply to let you know when to start checking for finish indicators.

First of all, be sure your temp probe is in the thickest part of the flat. Make sure it's not in the fat pocket. 170* IT sounds way too low, even for Wagyu. I would say start checking at 180*. You want to be able to probe the flat like butter. The probing should be vertical on the flat. Check in several places. If it doesn't glide in and out like butter, it's not done.

badinfluence

For comp cooks i use wagyu brisket and i pull and wrap at 165 put back on and pull off to rest at 207. Right or wrong i must be doing something right as have won in the class.

lousubcap

Here's a recent thread about SRF (wagyu) brisket that should help you out:

Questions about a SRF brisket   It will be most eggcellent eats!

Happy Birthday USA!

HendersonTRKing

Many thanks for the good advice. The beast went on at 11. I cleaned out the egg completely, carefully filled the firebox with RO, and am using a maverick for the first time (gift from wifey a few weeks back). Temp is creeping up a bit, but being able to watch it from the house is a game changer. What could possibly go wrong?

DMW

@HendersonTRKing‌ Nothing can go wrong at this point. Any smoking wood added to the lump?

HendersonTRKing

Using cherry and pecan. Fingers crossed for overnight success!

nolaegghead

Temp doesn't mean jack.  I can sous vide a brisket and have it done at 145.  Like what DMW said, probe the thickest part of the flat and when it's like buttah, it's done.  Poke it all over and you'll get a feel of what cooks fastest.

Eggpharmer

Fwiw - my wagyu brisket was done at 187

HendersonTRKing

Update, and call for help:

So, as I said, never used the maverick before. It went off 2x last night -- both times temp had creeped up to 300, a degree past the 299 I'd set as the high (prolly shoulda set the high at 275, but was more worried about breaching the low than the high). Shut the vents progressively til I reached the steady 245 where it is holding now.

Brisket has been on for 9 hours only. IT reads 194! I thought I had the probe in the thickest part of the flat (see pic 1) but maybe not?!? Addl probing to left and right of the flat is like buttah in some spots, and getting close in others. Moved probe to the other side where I found a thicker part of the flat (see pic 2) and temp is showing 190, with not-like-buttah probing.

So, the big Q is whether this thing never stalled? And is it possible it will be done pretty soon? That's gonna screw me big time for 4 pm guests (8 hours from now) and what I'd thought would be a 6pm slice after 15 hrs on the egg and a few hours of FTC.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Any thoughts? (Pull it off for a few hours, FTC, and put it back off to finish around noon?)

Too early for a tasty beverage to help with the process. All other suggestions welcome.

lousubcap

I'm sure that by now it has been declared "finished" based on the feel.  You can FTC for the duration you describe if you pre-warm the cooler with hot water, then fluff dry (with heat) some towels, double foil it tight and load the cooler.  Place cooler in the sun and you will be just fine when time to slice and eat.  FWIW-

grege345

^ +1

HendersonTRKing

Yup. It is double wrapped, FTC in the sun. Maverick now says 199, but it might be in a weird spot in the flat (slid in with zero resistance after the double wrap). I *may* give it a little direct fire before serving to firm up the crust. We'll see. Now to prep ABT's and little neck clams for later. Will post sliced pix this evening. Fingers still crossed, but I think it'll be ok. I get by with a little help from my (forum) friends . . .

GATraveller

i pulled mine at 197 and it was money. You are in for a real treat! Enjoy!

grege345

Well what happened? How did it turn out ? You still in a meat comma?

HendersonTRKing

Well, I was worried about holding it FTC for 4-5 hours, but shouldn't have.  Temp went from 205 when it went in to about 170 when I pulled it out to slice it.  Considered giving it some add'l fire just before slicing, but once I opened the foil, I knew there was no need.  This was the best brisket I've ever had, by far. 6 adults and 6 kids devoured it -- sliced and chopped, plus burnt ends (mixed in with the chopped, served on Martin's Potato Rolls, with an amped up sauce on the side).  It was tender, moist, crusty -- everything I want in a brisket (if I do say so myself . . . )

This is not an "everyday" piece of meat, but for a special occasion, I can't recommend the waygu enough.

All that said, the hand's down winner was my first stab at ABT's -- everyone went crazy for them. Filled them with a very basic sausage/cream cheese/sharp cheddar.  They were disappearing so fast I had to cut the last 3 in half to spread them around to the group.  Clams didn't suck either.

This was probably my best cook in my relatively short tenure with the egg (since Christmas time) and I've definitely got the forum to thank -- read and read, studied and got lots of good advice when I had questions.  Plus, I'm pretty sure I've "sold" the egg to at least one friend who came over.  No commission, though!

grege345

Sooo jealous. Looks like you'll be asked to host more get togethers

Brisket_Fanatic

Wow does that look tasty, nice cook but I think there is no way that ABT's were better than that brisket but then again I love brisket. 

lousubcap

Congrats on the great outcome.  Most eggcellent!