At the end of the day the results of my Waygu vs. CAB were more than conclusive. In the picture below the Waygu is on the right and the CAB is on the left...
CAB on the left, Waygu on the right. These pictures were taken a half hour after slicing - after the taste tests were complete. Hopefully that explains why the slices are a bit ratty looking - this is what was left after the "judging" was complete. The burnt-ends didn't make it to the photo-op :)
Waygu
CAB
I prepared each of the briskets using the exact same methods and products. I injected with Butchers - the rest I'll keep to myself. Both briskets looked good and held moisture well.
Of the five people who judged, two were competitors and certified judges, and one was a hottie who could have married much better than she did! The results were:
3 chose the CAB
2 chose the Waygu after a lot of deliberation (almost came down to a coin toss).
Clearly the issue could have been the cook - but my experience has left me feeling happy with the meat I am able to get at Sam's.
1 comment:
Interesting comparison you did here, and a pretty compelling result of your taste test.
I'd also share with you that at a competition that we did last year, a neighboring team was overly anxious to get us to try their Waygu brisket, as they had started using them earlier in the year.
So shortly after our brisket turn in, these guys waived me over to try their fabulous Waygu.
With all 3 members of this team staring wide-eyed and anxious, I tried their brisket. It was ok, but frankly I found it to be slightly dried out and I wasn't real fond of the texture either.
I politely told them it was good, but I think they were expecting some kind of an over the top "wow" reaction.
I then proceeded back to our tent and munched on a little of regular ole Sam's Club brisket, and concluded I liked it much, much better.
In the end, the judges did as well, as our brisket faired better than their Waygu in the final contest results.
I think our experience at least on that day showed that starting with a really good quality piece of beef is important, but not as important as what you do with it after you unwrap the packaging.
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