BBQ pitmaster Doug Pickering rolls out super-prime, grass-fed, hormone-free “never ever” briskets at his Ferris Wheelers Backyard & BBQ

You’d never guess that the incredibly flavorful, juicy, buttery-soft briskets now served at Ferris Wheelers Backyard & BBQ are from grass-fed, grass-finished midwest cattle, but if you ask, pitmaster and co-owner Doug Pickering will haul a couple of the 12-pounders out for you just to prove it.

“We started using these grass-fed, grass-finished briskets a few weeks ago, and they’ve been a huge hit,” says Pickering, who’s long impressed me with his low-and-slow skills since debuting his DWP BBQ brand at the now-defunct WORK restaurant in Deep Ellum a few years ago.

The briskets are all USDA Prime (I checked the packaging just to make sure) and sourced from Grass Run Farms, a high-end “never ever” (no antibiotics, no hormones) supplier. Pickering says the briskets are so flavorful and well-marbled, they’re now the only beef he uses. Each gets an overnight smoke in the Ferris Wheelers pits then a long, slow rest for the meat to soften, render and turn buttery.

But don’t look for the never-ever briskets anywhere else in DFW; Pickering says he’s buying the entire allotment for the area – and is first in line to buy more if the supply kicks up.