What Happens When You Get A Wagyu Brisket by Mistake

Well, this story is not something you hear every day. We were pretty shocked the first time we heard about it.

A few weeks ago, happened something unusual in the group. Eric Cross, one of our Facebook group members, posted that he got by mistake a massive cut of A5 wagyu brisket!

Due to the mistake of the butchery, Eric got to himself a pleasing surprise and asked started to ask for help all over the world (literally, we will get to that soon).

I decided that the story is too crazy not to share, I asked Eric if he wants to share his story and he agreed. I came up with a few questions to get to know Eric better and to know the entire story. Here you go!

1. Hey Eric, how are you? Tell us where you are from!

My name is Eric Cross. I’m from Santa Fe Springs California. A suburb in Los Angeles. My father’s family is from North Carolina and that’s where our love from Barbecue came from. My father taught me how to barbecue. My family has always been into food. My brother is a chef. So that’s how we are into food and barbecue.

My father actually bought me my first barbecue at the age of 13. He bought me a New Braunfels. I think it was called an Oklahoma Joe. Man, I forgot. My father also has bought various rigs. So we know about barbecue.

2. Can you tell us what was your original order exactly?

3. And what exactly did you get instead?

This is what I got instead! 

This is What Crowd Cow Texted me about the mistake. I also have photos of the box but that other person’s name is on it with mine.

4. How did you feel when you open the box and you saw that Wagyu Brisket?! What were your feelings?

Well, first I was stunned!!! I was driving home from the store and my wife called me. She said we got the crowd cow order. But it’s HUGE! I said what? Did my dad order extra stuff? She said it was too big I need to bring it in. I get home and I see this huge box on my porch.

Not a regular crowd cow box. I opened it and to my amazement, I saw it was from japan a Wagyu A5 Brisket. I said. NO WAY. Did my dad order this for me? I couldn’t believe it. I and my wife immediately called my father and told him what happened. See my dad ordered new the meat. So, he told them about the mistake. I context them also. That’s when they sent that text that it was mine to keep per USDA guidelines. I was absolutely stunned. We actually had to buy a freezer.

How does that happen? At the time. A $1450 something brisket was in my possession. The next day GSO contacted me because they were doing an investigation. They said Crowd cow put a claim in for $1450 something and it was for one item. They asked for the photos because he was laughing and I’m pretty sure he was going to deny the claim that Crowd cow made.

5. Were you nervous to deal with this expensive piece of meat?

Well, first I was nervous about having this piece of meat! Also, for cooking. It., I kept it a secret for some time until we were ready to cook it. But yes, we were very nervous. For months we scoured the internet to find ways to cook it. We saw about everything we could see about this brisket.

6. You used the Social media and posted in our group and asked for help, what inspiration you got from the group?

When I first posted in the group, I was just trying to get all the info I could. I actually posted on my golf Group called Dude Where’s my Par. DWMP. Then my friend Brandon Decker said I should post in the group called Low and Slow Smokehouse.

7. Can you share with us the process you did when you started to cook this incredible brisket?

Yes. Before we were about to cook it. I decided to try and get a hold of various barbecue places and Pitt masters. Such as Wayne Mueller from Texas and John Mueller from Black box barbecue. Which they did contact me. But the place that really got a hold of me was Midtown Barbecue. I spoke with Robb Shannon. I believe that’s his last name we might need to just make sure about that. I have the whole recipe and he told me EXACTLY how to make it. So, when it came to time I and my father knew what we were going to do. We were going with Midtown Barbecue recipe.

Also, a shout out to Kari Cares for reminding me about Midtown Barbecue. She might be there right now because I think she is in Japan right now! But I can’t believe they got back to me. I think I was lucky in that. They even wanted me to have updates.

• 

• 

• 

8. How would you describe the taste? Is it similar to something you eat before?

To me, it tasted, for lack of a better word, beefy. It was also very rich and melted in my mouth. The texture was amazing.

9. Been some crazy and exciting days in the group. You updated us daily about what you plan to do and it seems like the group really was part of the experience with you, you want to thank someone?

I’m going with my father on this one. His Name is Edward Cross. I think he really did everything. He says we did it together but I think he made this possible with his Yoder.

My summary is although the brisket went to the wrong address, it did end up in the right hands. We have lots of BBQ experience in the family, an outstanding platform (Yoder 640) to smoke it on, and your brother, a chef, who planned and executed a menu that totally complimented the extraordinary cut of Wagyu beef. What more can you ask for?

Special Thanks

I would like to thank Dude where’s my par (DWMP).
Chente Aguirre for inviting me to the art of smoke and grill group.
Kari Cars from the art of smoke and grill for recommending Midtown Barbecue
Midtown Barbecue owner Robb Shannon for giving me the recipe.
I also would like to thank my mother, Patricia Cross.
My brother, Chef Manuel Cross.
And my dear wife, Toni Cross.
And to you, for making that interview!

Thanks for this interview Eric, I think your story makes a wonderful story and that was awesome to get to know you better!

There is no doubt that it’s kind of a mistake that everybody wants to have! You must feel very lucky for that.

Keep grilling and smoke buddy, thanks for talking with us!