Wagyu Brisket

Snake River Farms is probably the best and most reliable I know of. Their Wagyu brisket is a flat $75 regardless of weight. (They guarantee it will be 11-14 lbs)

Wagyu beef is NOT a scam. One guy posts the same "Scam" article from a newspaper writer and everone buys in. Do your own research. Is Wagyu Kobe beef? No. Is it cattle bread with Japanese strains? Yes. Is it superior to Prime beef? Yes!

I didn't want to use names, I'm nice that way. I get my Wagyu from a reputable source, Strube Ranch in Pittsburgh, Texas, to be exact. Check them out. Now, as to you being a meat purveyor, I can understand your point of view. However a difference of opinion on a cut or style doen't constitute a "scam".

I'm w/ Boatbum - I thought the beef was hand-selected, culled from a specific lineage, bred & raised from birth till slaughter by the same farmer, tended to like he was the cow's personal assistant (massaged, fed, etc), and ensured the highest quality.  And that "Kobe" is just a city in Japan where this occurs (sort of like "Champagne" being a city in France, and the ONLY place where the "bubbly" can legally be called "champagne"

Anything other than that & it cannot be called "kobe" from "Kobe"


:P

I didn't want to use names, I'm nice that way. I get my Wagyu from a reputable source, Strube Ranch in Pittsburgh, Texas, to be exact. Check them out. Now, as to you being a meat purveyor, I can understand your point of view. However a difference of opinion on a cut or style doen't constitute a "scam".

Im all for boutique preveyors of meat (or anything else for that matter) and I know there are reputable people out there doing this. I was speaking of the meat indusry as a whole and the way they use words like Kobe and Wagyu to dupe people into thinking they are getting something they are not. I don't think most peole would be thriilled to know their $80 Wagyu steak came from a cow in Iowa that was some angus crossbreed with a tiny bit of "Wagyu" (which can be any of dozens of "japanese" strains of cattle) . It's way more common than your guy in Pittsburg who is doing it right and providing superior quality beef. I will say this though, I'll bet you anything even his cows have very little japanese lineage and are mostly Angus or another breed that suits american palettes. I'm sure it's high quality and well marbled etc but calling it "wagyu" is simply marketing. You are not getting some rare japanese breed of super beef in Texas (or anywhere else in the US for that matter).

I just looked up their website and they ship their cows off to Iowa feedlots to finish in an "all natural, low stress environment" Have you ever been to an Iowa feed lot? I have. There is nothing natural or "low stress" about them. I don't think a 3 day truck ride from TX to Iowa in sweltering heat or freezing cold , a** to mouth with 50 other cows is what I would call "low stress" ) This is exactly what I'm talking about. It's all marketing (and I would do the same thing if I were them). These are very well marbled cows but the furthest thing from "japanese" beef you will ever find. The word Wagyu is totally unregulated and can be anything. I'm sure their beef is great, but it's just really good beef.

I went to Wiki -

Kobe beef (神戸ビーフ, Kōbe bīfu^?) refers to cuts of beef from the black Tajima-ushi breed of Wagyū cattle, raised according to strict tradition in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan

My belief is the result is more a factor of the "raised according to strict tradition" than it is the breed.   It's the manner in which the beef is raised, fed, standing in a stall.  

"distinctive feeding techniques"  (source: wiki )

 

 

Whatever happened to Select, Choice, and Prime?  Works for me.  8-}

@ Cen-Tex-try the new Woodford-"Double Oaked".  Will get you to the finish-line twice as fast and perhaps mellow this thread-but once you get outside the choices described by Howdy Doody you are in a whole 'nother game!

@lousubcap great move.  Get CT talking about bourbon and he will forget all about some old cow.  Man likes his beef, but he has his priorities.  Kentucky Bourbon.

IM kinda new to the Egghead Forum here and dont want to be an outcast... I know you guys know your stuff.  This topic got me up though, I have had Waygu/Kobe in many various locations and bought it to cook myself in various places....San Diego, Tampa, OKC, Chicago, you get the picture  If it really is Kobe beef, then yes it really is that much better.  But unfortunately some places  either meat counters/butchers or restaurants label it as Kobe and it isnt.  When I lived in Tampa, FL many times a restaurant would serve something that was not as it supposed to be. They would sell a whitefish and it would be cod or sell scallops and they werent scallops- I wont get into what they were selling... hence lots of genetic testing is done now on seafood. Its a great way to make profit.  I dont know if buying a brisket Waygu is going to really be that much better.  Kobe/Waygu is really a premium steak beef, ie Filet, Sirloin, etc type of meat..  The fat content wont be remarkably different in Wagyu to Prime.. how do I know I..I can get a good look at a T-bone by sticking my head up a bull's ass, but I'd rather take a butcher's word for it.

My family has several meat packing houses in the Midwest... they know about meat....Just be very careful with buying meat from someone... they could be selling a prime cut as Waygu etc.. Know your butcher or meat source!  But real Waygu-Kobe is much better than Prime cut.  I have had it many times and it really does melt, you dont have to chew it.  Its really that good.

ok, so what I wonder about is Kobe Hot Dogs.   Was at resturant in Florida a while back, they had Kobe Beef Hot dog on the menu - yep the meat tube on a bun thing.   $27.   

OK, I totally agree Kobe is a superior tender beef ( for whatever reason) - but I don't think through out my life I have ever had a hot dog that I thought just was not tender enough.   Have had some chewy steaks, ribs that were glued to the bone, brisket that was tough...    but even the oscar meyer ball park franks have always been pretty tender.

What makes someone dream up Kobe Hot Dogs --- and no - I didn't order one.

 

And be careful when buying bath salts, too.

Lit - I think that's part of the point of the discussion, is that, in the US, there really is no law dictating what is "Kobe" or not. 

So for them to put on their packaging "American Style Kobe Beef" - that really doesn't mean ANYTHING. 

It's similar to how herbal-supplement manufacturers can play fast & loose w/ some of their "claims" of health benefits. 

Correct. It looks awesome and i'm sure it is, but they aren't getting $35 per lb for it without calling it something fancy (in this case "Kobe") there is no such thing as American Style Kobe. It's a label. Great looking steak though.

My new Profile Pic --- Yes -- its a Kobe Dog Boat.....

Freaking awesome. All it needs is a little mustard )

I think I need to add a drunken discussion with Cen-tex on my bucket list

God help you. I get pretty smart when I'm drunk )