What the heck is Wagyu Beef anyway?
and a report on the Barnesville, GA BBQ Contest
Originally written in 2009:
Dear BBQ Friend:
Well... we're smack dab right in the middle of BBQ season and things are getting busy on the BBQ competition circuit. The Chatham Artillery BBQ Team has already won it's first Grand Championship and Laura & Lee did a great job
taking 5th place overall in Barnsville, GA last weekend with a respectable 2nd place in brisket. Congratulations to Joe and his Bethel Smokers team with an impressive 1st place brisket and a great score of 197.83. I know he is
proud of that. Congratulations to Rub at Swamp Boys for winning the Grand Championship and Forrest's Fine Foods for Reserve. Here's some miscellaneous pictures from the contest...
If you are like me in Savannah, your meat selection may be pretty bad. The big grocery chains took over years ago and drove the small meat shops out of business. Now all we have to choose from is select beef which is usually tough
as shoe leather. It has been over 10 years since I bought a steak at a grocery store. Sam's does carry choice briskets but even those are only average. Most of the time they only have flats available. Piggly Wiggly carries Certified
Angus Beef (CAB), but it is just the flat - they never carry the whole briskets.
So what is one left to do?... The answer may be American Kobe or what they call Wagyu beef. It's supposed to be better than prime beef. Now, I'll tell you right up front, this is not for everybody. The briskets are
not that expensive, but the shipping will cost you just about as much as the brisket. So if you want a little better meat for your next contest or for your backyard cookout, maybe try some Wagyu beef. I'm not even going to try
to tell you all about Wagu beef because I have a newsletter by David Rosengarten which explains it all in fine detail including several places where you can order some... to open the pdf file, just click on the link:
I get mine at Snake River Farms - I used a 17lb black grade wagyu brisket to win "best brisket in the world" in 2013. Just click the banner below to order yours today...
Sincerely,
Bill Anderson