It's American Wagyu, on huntspoint and snakeriver it's about $160-180 a brisket. I get a deal from a local butcher.
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I did Wagyu once, not sure I could tell the difference between that and a CAB for about $3.99 a pound. But I imagine it is my novice smoking that fails to draw out the difference.
Wagyu steak medium rare, on the other hand — I can tell the difference.
First smoke of the year, smoked whole chicken. Nice on a warmish mistyish sorta day.
Apple today. Smoke at whatever temp the BGE settles at between 230 and 245. Internal 170 in the thigh. That low, there is not a lot of continuation cooking.
This is six pounds, should be about 2:45 from lighting the grill to pulling. Let rest 15-20 minutes after pulling.
I insist that my chickens be vegans, so there's that. As a friend reminded me, vegetables are what food eats.
(had tofu chili last night...)
It adds a significant additional step but I swear by brining my chickens and turkeys overnight before I cook them on my BGE. There is a truly noticeable difference in the retained moisture (and flavor). I also like to stuff the cavity with veggies to increase flavor and maintain moisture level inside the egg. The combo is hard to beat. I serve one heck of a brined/smoked turkey on the fourth Thursday of November.
My neighbor (who is an immaculate cook) brines pretty much all his meats before cooking. Well, everything but beef. That's everything from pork ribs to whole turkeys to chicken wings. From watching him, I wouldn't call it a "significant" step - you just have to plan a bit more ahead. And yes, it definitely makes a significant difference in the moisture retention, and if you rinse after the brine, it doesn't really change the flavor much as far as sodium.
I have neither brined nor injected. Will have to give brining a whirl.
Agree with veggies in the cavity, and I usually put a few aromatics in the drip pan as well.
Pulled the chicken at 165 in the thigh because I was hungry -- really good. USDA says at least 165, some suggest that the dark meat tastes better if you wait until 170 or so (have even seen 180 -- that seems crazy to me because the breast will be dry). Did not want to overcook the white meat. Everything was juicy.
I know brining works very well for meats like turkey where you don't want to have a large, dry breast...but I've found that most modest sized chickens (up to five or six pounds) don't need it,
there seems to be enough fat in the beast (and cooking time is short enough) to keep the breast moist ....2.5 hours of smoking never seems to dry them out (using indirect heat).
Except that you can approach brining with added flavor in mind... so “cooking” the brine with spices, stock base, etc., and then cooling it before throwing in your poultry can take some time. Plus I use one of those gatorade style water coolers with the spout at the bottom to brine the meat. So there’s some clean up. It’s just added planning and time. Not hard though. And totally worth the effort, especially for big meals.
A close friend of mine used to have about 20 restaurants (three different concepts), one concept was a steakhouse in which he did rotisserie chicken which he would have in his cooler brining for days, lots of coarse salt, lemons, oranges and many spices. Absolutely delicious; his training was from the CIA.
I also brine my turkey each year before cooking, usually 48 hours using a turkey brine solution from World Market and I buy two oranges and two lemons, halve them and squeeze their juices in and throw them in as well.
From World Market:
"sea salt, raw sugar, cranberries, sage, juniper, rosemary, orange peel and more, your bird is sure to taste delicious."
Website:
https://www.worldmarket.com/product/...urkey-brine.do
I rinse it, pat it dry, then just before frying or smoking, inject it, in the deepest part of the breast with: 1 melted stick of butter with one cup of maple syrup, one cup of brown sugar and one cup of drambuie. This adds interior moisture and flavor while cooking.
Worth a try!!
I learned a lot from watching Alton Brown for years. His technical explanations made sense to me. And I have rarely found his recipes and guidance to be off. The brining concept that I picked up was from him and my chicken and turkey smoking efforts have turned out far better since I adopted the approach.