33 replies to this topic

[Rick Hagen]

Hi all...

I'm hoping for suggestions on where to shop in the city of San Diego or east SD county for these high-end cuts. (T&H is over an hour away from me)

I'm getting everything else from Sam's and Restaurant Depot but they don't carry Wagyu Briskets and I'd like to try one.

Thanks in advance.

[Thom Emery]

I would bet 75% or more of Wagyu sales are over the web

[mark evenson]

Bring yer check book!!!!!

[Rick Hagen]

I assume that's what most people are turning in?

If not, what are you all cooking?

[matt brailey]

PacificQ, on 25 September 2011 - 02:11 PM, said:

I assume that's what most people are turning in?

If not, what are you all cooking?

I wouldn't assume that to be the case. Plenty of teams win with commodity brisket. Some of the top ranked teams in KCBS on a national basis use choice grade brisket from good old Angus cattle.

That said, find yourself a meat wholesaler who will set you up with an account and be willing to place orders for you in small quantity. You'd be surprised how accommodating these guys will be when you tell them what you are doing. Most of them get pretty jazzed about competitive BBQ.

If you don't know who to call and googling doesn't help, I'd suggest reaching out to the nicest steak house in your area. Find out who supplies them. Heck, ask if you can piggy back on their orders to avoid minimum order size that might be more than you can reasonably expect to store or eat.

Bottom line is that there are creative ways to get interesting products to cook without spending an insane amount online.

Good luck,

Matt

[matt dalton]

Here is my reason behind using waygu..your already spending quite a bit of money..do we spend 40 bucks for a average brisket or double that for the great one?..yes many teams use the average stuff and do well but why not increase your quality..it's kinda like steak would you rather eat top round with little to no marbling or would u rather have a nice rib eye with great marbling and better taste?..I've cooked well over 100 RD briskets they were all good but the waygu ones have better marbling and taste better without a doubt..good luck!

Edited by matt dalton, 26 September 2011 - 05:01 AM.

[Craig Pippin]

Even if you are too far from T&H, they will ship it to you in a cold container.

[Ryan Chester]

Im 1.5 hours from T&H Meats. I use them every time!!! Chances are, other teams will help you out and pick your meat up for you. Call Roberto, you won't be sorry.

[andy allen]

Im going to second Ryan's comment. Im a good hour away and always make the trip out, berkshire pork, prime brisket and free range chicken. make a trip out of it and get some bbq there well your at it.

[Thom Emery]

We finally got a chance to eat those sausage links Roberto from T and H had at Vista
KILLER GOOD
So order those with your Brisket

[matt brailey]

matt dalton, on 26 September 2011 - 04:56 AM, said:

Here is my reason behind using waygu..your already spending quite a bit of money..do we spend 40 bucks for a average brisket or double that for the great one?..yes many teams use the average stuff and do well but why not increase your quality..it's kinda like steak would you rather eat top round with little to no marbling or would u rather have a nice rib eye with great marbling and better taste?..I've cooked well over 100 RD briskets they were all good but the waygu ones have better marbling and taste better without a doubt..good luck!

An important point is that by establishing a relationship with a wholesaler you can get top quality Wagyu for far less than double what you'd spend on commodity product. In the San Francisco area there are several wholesalers who will get you Wagyu from the same ranches that the online purveyors use at a substantially lower cost. I have to imagine that the same is true in SoCal with some digging.

Matt

[Rick Hagen]

matt brailey, on 27 September 2011 - 12:15 AM, said:

An important point is that by establishing a relationship with a wholesaler you can get top quality Wagyu for far less than double what you'd spend on commodity product. In the San Francisco area there are several wholesalers who will get you Wagyu from the same ranches that the online purveyors use at a substantially lower cost. I have to imagine that the same is true in SoCal with some digging.

Matt

Thanks Matt. That is exactly what I'm hoping... that someone knows one of these wholesalers who has a soft spot for us BBQ nuts. I was confident that asking the CBBQA would give me some places to start.

[Adam Hollman]

To add to Matt B's point, there are producers of Wagyu who sell to high end restaurants and they have demand almost exclusively on the loin cuts. They end up with a surplus of briskets because the steakhouses don't buy it and they only sell so many hamburgers. So, if you can find these guys you can get Wagyu briskets for about he same price as a choice brisket at a regular meat market.

That said, I am also in the camp that you don't need Wagyu to win. I have proven it a few times this year. Maybe choice doesn't do so well with hot and fast...not sure...but I can get a choice brisket to be tender and juicy enough to win.

[Abel Tirre]

matt dalton, on 26 September 2011 - 04:56 AM, said:

it's kinda like steak would you rather eat top round with little to no marbling or would u rather have a nice rib eye with great marbling and better taste?.

You nailed it, that's exactly what I would do.

I don't cook brisket often since I only cook at home, but whenever I do I always get Wagyu, however that's only because my bro owns a restaurant and I just piggy back on his weekly meat order so I get a pretty good deal. Not as cheap as the costco or smart and final prices, but wow the difference is huge.

I can tell you hands down Wagyu makes a huge difference in taste and tenderness.

[Brandon Santifer]

What kind of lead time to you have to give T&H to get a prime packers cut brisket?

[Ryan Chester]

Brandon Santifer, on 06 June 2012 - 07:51 AM, said:

What kind of lead time to you have to give T&H to get a prime packers cut brisket?

Call T&H and talk to Roberto 760-471-9192.

[Jerry Aguilar]

You can order way ahead of time from T&H. You can even pick out your brisket and leave there to age until you need it.

You should call at least 2 weeks ahead for prime, although he usually gets them in weekly, but he will make sure to have some there for you if you put in your order.

[Lance Miller]

Was checking the meat selection yesterday at the RD in Colon. They must of had 50+ CAB Prime briskets to choose from on the pull rack. Talked to the meat dude and he said brisket selection has been horrible, but now they are getting multiple cases a week. Just and FYI to any other teams who need the brisket practice like we do.

Edited by Lance Miller, 15 June 2012 - 08:11 AM.

[Abel Tirre]

Does anyone ever age their briskets? I found a website that sells aging bags that allow you to essentially dry age your beef in your home fridge. Never tried it before, but read a lot of good reviews. Although you loose some weight in the process aging for 21-28 days is suppose to make a big difference in taste.

[andy allen]

we wet age ours at either T&H or in our home fridge. we store it in the back of our fridge wrapped in two trash bags to keep light out