The first steak was a disaster due to my overcooking it. I usually eat my
steaks medium-rare and was shooting for that. This was a wagyu sirloin, 8oz,
and I seared it in a hot CI skillet both sides then put in a 400F oven to
finish for a minute or two. Oops, came out medium. Flavor was very good and
unique but texture was a guge disappointment. The fat rendered out leaving
me with a steak resembling a $1.99 top round grocery store special.

OK, next one I'll shoot for rare...

The second round was a huge success. Cooked a ribeye in the same method but
just barely seared it and served it rare. I did not finish it in the oven,
just seared in cast iron. A completely different flavor and texture. The
first bite I said "mmm, now this is a good steak" and it kept getting
better.

It has a fresh beefy onset and aroma, with a buttery finsihing note and
unique flavor. Texture and tenderness was fantastic and hard to describe,
somewhere between a great steak and perhaps an organ such as beef liver. The
fat that coats the mouth while chewing it was extra creamy, again similar to
that of liver. Whoever said Wagyu is the fois gras of beef nailed it. It
has a subtle tang of flavor that lingers on the palate, hard to describe,
but similar to Madeira wine. I was tasting this flavor for a good half hour
afterwards and it was intoxicating. Like fois gras, I couldn't eat a whole
lot of this - too rich.

I can't see this turning out any good on a grill, unless perhaps it was a
DCS with the ceramic heating elements set at Inferno level. Certianly not my
Weber Silver B. Well, maybe a very thick wagyu steak could first be seared
on CI then finished on a grill for the flavor of beef over flame. I *might*
try this with the single 8oz fillet mignon in my package but I doubt it.

Is wagyu worth it? After shipping costs I paid just under $20 each on
average for the steaks in the family gift pack, each steak being a scant
8oz: 4 sirloins, 4 ribeyes, 2 strips, 2 fillets mignon. That's pretty
expensive for most of us. I can now say I'd rather eat $20 worth of USDA
Prime fillet mignon than $20 worth of wagyu sirloin or ribeye. At $40/lb
this wagyu is pushing my tolerance levels for decadence. But I'll have to
see how the wagyu fillet mignon turns out, a piece that sells for something
like $50/lb when sold by itself. I can say I'm glad to have taken the
plunge, and recommend the experience to anyone who can afford it.

On Thu, 06 May 2004 14:23:51 GMT, "kilikini"
wrote:

snip 40+ lines of text

Interesting read.

Yes, but hardly worth duplicating in full a second time.

--
Kevin S. Wilson
Tech Writer at a University Somewhere in Idaho
"Anything, when cooked in large enough batches, will be vile."
--Dag Right-square-bracket-gren, in alt.religion.kibology

"Jason in Dallas" wrote in message
om...
The first steak was a disaster due to my overcooking it. I usually eat my
steaks medium-rare and was shooting for that. This was a wagyu sirloin,
8oz,
and I seared it in a hot CI skillet both sides then put in a 400F oven to
finish for a minute or two. Oops, came out medium. Flavor was very good
and
unique but texture was a guge disappointment. The fat rendered out leaving
me with a steak resembling a $1.99 top round grocery store special.

OK, next one I'll shoot for rare...

WTF man. The Wizard will not mislead you.

"Jason in Dallas" wrote in message . com...
The first steak was a disaster due to my overcooking it. I usually eat my
steaks medium-rare and was shooting for that. This was a wagyu sirloin, 8oz,
and I seared it in a hot CI skillet both sides then put in a 400F oven to
finish for a minute or two. Oops, came out medium. Flavor was very good and
unique but texture was a guge disappointment. The fat rendered out leaving
me with a steak resembling a $1.99 top round grocery store special.

OK, next one I'll shoot for rare...

It's recommended that you don't sear wagyu beef:

http://www.lobels.com/store/main/wagyumain.htm

No, searing is not always a good thing.

Do you have an instant read thermometer? That's
the best way to check for done-ness.

-- Yip

"Yip Yap" wrote in message
om...
It's recommended that you don't sear wagyu beef:

http://www.lobels.com/store/main/wagyumain.htm

No, searing is not always a good thing.

It depends on who you ask. Plenty of sources I read, spoke with or
corresponded with recommended searing. Some of these say to sear at lower
heats then normal, some said to sear as hot and fast as possible. I am
confident that I've read in excess of 95% of the Wagyu and Kobe beef
methodology available on the 'net including the blurb at Lobel's and that's
not saying much.

If there's one thing I learned about Wagyu it's that there is precious
little published about cooking it, and that precious little contains little
consensus other than overcooking being a terrible and expensive fate. I'll
cook the renmainder of the steaks in various ways and publish the remainder
of my findings here.