Wet-aged brisket - Where to buy online?

[BrandonBBQ]

I have a party on Friday and would like to find a brisket that's already wet-aged enough to smoke for the gathering. I'll be doing a pork shoulder as well and firing up the WSM on Thursday night.

My question is, where is the best place to buy already wet-aged brisket? I'll pay for overnight shipping, but I'm just wondering where to get already wet-aged stuff. And it also needs to be able to be thawed by Thursday as well.

SRF says it's wet-aged, but from what I hear is frozen solid when it gets to you.. and I can't find anywhere where Creekstone says it's wet-aged prior to shipping. Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

 

[Norm]

Go with the SRF and thaw in cold water if necessary. I like their stuff better than creekstone.

 

[Mattb82]

SRF is outstanding

 

[jasonjax]

I'd check out Costco if you have one near you and snag a prime. It's already been aged to an extent, and you could easily leave it in your fridge in the cryo for a week+.

 

[BrandonBBQ]

I'd check out Costco if you have one near you and snag a prime. It's already been aged to an extent, and you could easily leave it in your fridge in the cryo for a week+.

Unfortunately Costco over an hour away, and we actually have a local BBQ place that carries frozen Snake River Farms stuff (didn't see if it was Wagyu or Prime) but it's like $200

I'll probably order one online and give them a shot. Now the real question is, do I roll with their Northwest Prime or the American Wagyu Black grade?

 

[Mattb82]

Wagyu!

Definitely the wagyu

Unfortunately Costco over an hour away, and we actually have a local BBQ place that carries frozen Snake River Farms stuff (didn't see if it was Wagyu or Prime) but it's like $200

I'll probably order one online and give them a shot. Now the real question is, do I roll with their Northwest Prime or the American Wagyu Black grade?

 

[sudsandswine]

What are you hoping to achieve with cooking a wet aged brisket? Ive aged a ton of them at home, sometimes purely out of convenience or laziness, and I think it can help with a more tender finished product if I do my part as the cook.....but if you buy a wagyu brisket, thats going to have a far greater impact on the final product than something being wet aged or not. My .02

 

[BrandonBBQ]

What are you hoping to achieve with cooking a wet aged brisket? Ive aged a ton of them at home, sometimes purely out of convenience or laziness, and I think it can help with a more tender finished product if I do my part as the cook.....but if you buy a wagyu brisket, thats going to have a far greater impact on the final product than something being wet aged or not. My .02

It's about the tenderness. I know that wet-aging helps tenderize the meat by the enzymes breaking it down a little bit, but I've never experienced a Wagyu brisket so I assumed it was just extra tender to begin with. A friend of mine who competes around here basically has said that's his secret to good brisket, letting it sit for about 30 days after pack date.

Looking at...

Northwest Prime - $140
American Wagyu (Black) - $140
American Wagyu (Gold) - $190

Im not really looking to ruin a Gold just yet, but I will swing one of the others to impress the party.

 

[pharp]

SRF Black no question.

 

[Nomamm]

I had just done my first Brisket ever. It was the northwest prime. It was very good. Very tender. Shipped about 11.5 pounds. My guest have been asking when we will be doing another.
Knowing that the price was the same for the prime and black grade. I went with the prime as my first ever brisket cook to help me learn the process better with a “normal” grade meat. My 2 cents

 

[BrandonBBQ]

I had just done my first Brisket ever. It was the northwest prime. It was very good. Very tender. Shipped about 11.5 pounds. My guest have been asking when we will be doing another.
Knowing that the price was the same for the prime and black grade. I went with the prime as my first ever brisket cook to help me learn the process better with a “normal” grade meat. My 2 cents

Now you got me thinking/worried. I've done 2 briskets now, one wasn't hot enough and the other one I didn't leave on long enough. But I think I've got the process down otherwise.

I wouldn't mind cooking another one this week but the CAB flats we get at the grocery are probably only a week or two packed so I don't know how good of a comparison it would be.

 

[sudsandswine]

I find wagyu briskets to cook a bit differently than commodity brisket, so that is something to keep in mind. I have a personal rule that I never try something new for guests, which has served me well. If you're trying to impress guests, introducing a new variable could make things interesting.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

I find wagyu briskets to cook a bit differently than commodity brisket, so that is something to keep in mind. I have a personal rule that I never try something new for guests, which has served me well. If you're trying to inpress guests, introducing a new variable could make things interesting.

100% agree!

If you've only done 2 briskets before I wouldn't just jump right into spending that kind of money on a waygu. I'd just take the drive to Costco and buy a $50 prime (or similar). Waiting on SRF to ship might be an issue because it will arrive at least partially frozen, and your timeline is a bit tight (less than a week). It usually takes 3-5 days for a brisket to thaw out from frozen in the refrigerator, so you'll be pushing it and there's no need for it. Plus, if you don't cook the wagyu properly, it's going to taste like nothing but chewy fat.

Stick with what you know and have a good cook! Make sure to pull the brisket off the smoker when the flat is probe tender. If it's snug at all just let it keep on cooking.

Tip : Overs beat unders, so it's better to slightly overcook your brisket than it is to undercook it. Overcooked brisket is still great, while undercooked brisket is chewy, stiff, and bland.

 

[BrandonBBQ]

100% agree!

If you've only done 2 briskets before I wouldn't just jump right into spending that kind of money on a waygu. I'd just take the drive to Costco and buy a $50 prime (or similar). Waiting on SRF to ship might be an issue because it will arrive at least partially frozen, and your timeline is a bit tight (less than a week). It usually takes 3-5 days for a brisket to thaw out from frozen in the refrigerator, so you'll be pushing it and there's no need for it. Plus, if you don't cook the wagyu properly, it's going to taste like nothing but chewy fat.

Stick with what you know and have a good cook! Make sure to pull the brisket off the smoker when the flat is probe tender. If it's snug at all just let it keep on cooking.

Tip : Overs beat unders, so it's better to slightly overcook your brisket than it is to undercook it. Overcooked brisket is still great, while undercooked brisket is chewy, stiff, and bland.

The only non-frozen briskets we have access to around here are CAB flats, and they're great, but they're only like 7-8lbs pre-trim and I'm going to need a bit more than that for the party. I'd also rather just focus on 1 brisket than try and tame 2 at the same time for this specific cook.



I'm probably going to do is get one of the Northwest Prime's to use instead of the Wagyu just so it's about the same consistency of what I'm used to.

 

[Nomamm]

You will not be disappointed with the northwest prime.
Smoked on my Yoder, 225 degrees for 10.5 hours. Dinner time was coming up fast. Wrapped it until tender, rested for 2.5 hours.
No pictures because I’m to new to this forum and just was to excited I guess

 

[BrandonBBQ]

You will not be disappointed with the northwest prime.
Smoked on my Yoder, 225 degrees for 10.5 hours. Dinner time was coming up fast. Wrapped it until tender, rested for 2.5 hours.
No pictures because I’m to new to this forum and just was to excited I guess

I'm going to go to Meijer tomorrow and see what they have. If I can find a brisket that's 14+ days packed I might just go that route and get 2 flats, but if not... I'm ordering a Northwest Prime tomorrow for sure.


Ps.. How do you like that Yoder? I'm seriously considering building my own (with help from pros) or making an investment in something like that. That 460 looks like just the size I might be looking for.

 

[Nomamm]

I'm going to go to Meijer tomorrow and see what they have. If I can find a brisket that's 14+ days packed I might just go that route and get 2 flats, but if not... I'm ordering a Northwest Prime tomorrow for sure.


Ps.. How do you like that Yoder? I'm seriously considering building my own (with help from pros) or making an investment in something like that. That 460 looks like just the size I might be looking for.

I have had it since beginning of March. I have done a lot of cooking on it and have tried different methods with each meat. Pork chops, burgers, steak, tri tips, brisket, chicken, sausages, salmon and some stuff I’m forgetting.

I have the 2 piece diffuser and grill grates. The Yoder can smoke a steak at 225 till 110 degrees then I can take the diffuser lid off, insert the grill grates, turn the Yoder to 500 and within 15 minutes I’m ready for a sear.

It is my first and only pellet smoker so I don’t know much about pellet usage, I’m not concerned with that though.

Rock steady temperature though. Usually within 3 degrees of set temp.