Smoked Wagyu Cheeseburger

Ingredient Spotlight

Apple or hickory wood chips (soaked 30 minutes)

Wood chips are small pieces of hardwood used to add smoke flavor when grilling or smoking; soaking them briefly is a common technique to make them smolder and produce smoke rather than burst into flame. Apple wood is a mild, sweet, fruity smoke often used with poultry and pork, while hickory is a strong, bacon-like, slightly bitter smoke associated with American barbecue. You can find them at grocery stores, hardware/BBQ shops, or online; substitutes include other fruit woods (cherry, maple) or a few drops of liquid smoke for indoor cooking.

Ingredient Spotlight

Wagyu ground beef (80/20)

Wagyu refers to a Japanese breed of cattle prized for intense intramuscular fat (marbling) that gives beef a very rich, buttery, and umami-forward flavor; 80/20 indicates the grind is 80% lean meat to 20% fat. While true Wagyu comes from Japan, Wagyu-style cattle are also raised in the U.S. and elsewhere, and the meat renders and cooks more luxuriously than typical ground beef. Look for it at specialty butchers, upscale grocers, or online; a good substitute is high-quality USDA Prime or a custom grind of chuck/brisket at an 80/20 ratio to mimic the richness.

Ingredient Spotlight

Brioche buns

Brioche is a French enriched bread made with a high proportion of butter and eggs, producing a soft, tender crumb and slightly sweet, buttery flavor that toasts beautifully for sandwiches and burgers. It's a bakery/pastry-style bun rather than a basic hamburger roll, and can sometimes be less familiar to cooks who use standard supermarket buns. Brioche buns are sold at bakeries, supermarkets, and artisanal bread shops; substitutes include potato rolls, challah rolls, or any soft, slightly sweet dinner roll that you toast with butter.