Bull Brisket and Tallow Trial

[Smagnus]

So here goes my disaster. May not be the “prettiest” trim job but separated the flat and point- flat on the left side of bull. Currently got trimmings in cast iron skillet on the bullseye running at 225. Started the bullseye @ 250 to get everything hot, then lowered to 225 trying to simmer. More pics as things get done. Hoping I don’t completely waste this. Started as a 14lb prime packer from sams

 

[DenStinett]

Looks like a nice start
We tried rendering our own Tallow .... once
It's so much easier to buy it from South Chicago Packing
Let us know how you liked the (separated) Brisket

 

[SmokeOCD]

Is it because you want PLAIN Tallow that you're doing it separate from the brisket?
I see you have a pan on the smoker - same temp as the CI Pot.
I've rendered in the pan under the brisket; and I don't know what else to use it for other than brisket that will be seasoned the same way as the tallow anyhow.

 

[Smagnus]

Sorry for such a long delay in responding to this. This was only my 2nd attempt and I learned many things. I separated the two pieces because we love burnt ends and SWMBO isn’t the biggest fan of brisket flats yet. First lesson is tallow is very easy to make and it’s cheaper than buying a vat somewhere. I don’t have a grinder yet so the trimmings were going in the trash so why not play? Burnt ends turned out so so and the flat was a roast. Which brings me to lesson two. Spent the better part of the week reading up on briskets tasting like pot roast and behold - too much time wrapped which steams the meat creating the pot roast taste. I started the cook at 200 til it stalled - first mistake. Need to cook til the bark is to set to my liking. I then double wrapped the flat and point in butcher paper after about 9 hrs and raised the temp to 250 before going to bed. Set alarms on the app for temp to be 205. Mistake number two. Woke up at 530 Sunday morning and both pieces of meat were around 215(!!!!). Immediately went to check and could tell just by lifting they were done done. Very flimsy and squishy. So break out the aluminum foil to wrap the flat and throw in the cooler and proceeded to cut the point into cubes for butter, sauce and seasoning. Burnt ends in the pan foiled and back on the bull - now turned down to 225 for a couple more hrs. By this time I’ve come to realize it’s all gone wrong but kept pushing thru just to complete the process. Mistake number 7 was getting distracted to long and letting the flat sit in the cooler for 7 hrs resting -oops.
Overall I’d call this a learning fail. I did learn how to make jerky- back to not wasting anything. All the scrap pieces of meat got sliced up and and put on the grill for the muts. You know all the ugly edge pieces and little cuts here and there that just end up being “scrap”.
The burnt ends had almost all the fat rendered out and like I said before the flat tasted like a pot roast. It did have a very nice smoke ring and a good smoke taste just needed some onions and carrots with some mashed taters.
As far as the tallow- I’ll find a use for it. Steak butter in a cast iron cook?? Enjoy the pics and the chuckles and hopefully learn from some of my mistakes

 

[Jim6820]

My dad had two favorite sayings; “learn from your mistakes” and “the man who never made a mistake never did much!” Thanks for posting your experience. I like the fact that you referred to them as “lessons.” The only way we learn is through “lessons,” some from formal schooling and some from the “school of hard knocks.”

Brisket seems like a simple cook, but it really isn’t. There are a lot of things to be considered and even experienced brisket cooks get a new “lesson” periodically. Keep at it!

 

[elgueroylaflaca]

I did this with a flat the other day.. I smoked it at 225 until about 165-170it and then I added tallow and wrapped it up and let it go til prob tender around 195-200it.. took it off let it cool to 175-180it and vacuum sealed it with the tallow and let it rest in a sous vide for 6 hours at 150… it was amazing

 

[DenStinett]

We've been separating our Briskets for years
Momma doesn't care for the Fat Stirp that lies between the two Muscles
Here's how we've been doing our Briskets:

MEAT

SMOKER TEMP

SMOKING TIME

MEAT TEMP

RUBS OR SAUSES

MISC INFO

Beef Brisket

U@LO / W@270

Start time 10:00 pm

U@150 / W@200+/-

Garlic, Onion, Pepper and Salt Blend for 24 hrs

U 8 hrs+/- (Paper)W 8 hrs+/- Rest 4+ hrs

Only thing not there, is we slather on Smoked Tallow when I wrap it

 

[Roaniecowpony]

Sorry for such a long delay in responding to this. This was only my 2nd attempt and I learned many things. I separated the two pieces because we love burnt ends and SWMBO isn’t the biggest fan of brisket flats yet. First lesson is tallow is very easy to make and it’s cheaper than buying a vat somewhere. I don’t have a grinder yet so the trimmings were going in the trash so why not play? Burnt ends turned out so so and the flat was a roast. Which brings me to lesson two. Spent the better part of the week reading up on briskets tasting like pot roast and behold - too much time wrapped which steams the meat creating the pot roast taste. I started the cook at 200 til it stalled - first mistake. Need to cook til the bark is to set to my liking. I then double wrapped the flat and point in butcher paper after about 9 hrs and raised the temp to 250 before going to bed. Set alarms on the app for temp to be 205. Mistake number two. Woke up at 530 Sunday morning and both pieces of meat were around 215(!!!!). Immediately went to check and could tell just by lifting they were done done. Very flimsy and squishy. So break out the aluminum foil to wrap the flat and throw in the cooler and proceeded to cut the point into cubes for butter, sauce and seasoning. Burnt ends in the pan foiled and back on the bull - now turned down to 225 for a couple more hrs. By this time I’ve come to realize it’s all gone wrong but kept pushing thru just to complete the process. Mistake number 7 was getting distracted to long and letting the flat sit in the cooler for 7 hrs resting -oops.
Overall I’d call this a learning fail. I did learn how to make jerky- back to not wasting anything. All the scrap pieces of meat got sliced up and and put on the grill for the muts. You know all the ugly edge pieces and little cuts here and there that just end up being “scrap”.
The burnt ends had almost all the fat rendered out and like I said before the flat tasted like a pot roast. It did have a very nice smoke ring and a good smoke taste just needed some onions and carrots with some mashed taters.
As far as the tallow- I’ll find a use for it. Steak butter in a cast iron cook?? Enjoy the pics and the chuckles and hopefully learn from some of my mistakes

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If the whole brisket challenge becomes too much, I recommend some tri-tip, smoked to med-rare and seared. It's not brisket, but it is served in a similar fashion and will get you some good beefy eats. I like brisket, but I think I'm more of a tri-tip person.

 

[Smagnus]

If the whole brisket challenge becomes too much, I recommend some tri-tip, smoked to med-rare and seared. It's not brisket, but it is served in a similar fashion and will get you some good beefy eats. I like brisket, but I think I'm more of a tri-tip person.

Seasoned only with Susie q though. I got schooled a few years ago on tri-tip and enjoy it. i Haven’t tried a reverse sear on one yet as the kids from Santa Maria told me to cook it around 350 to med rare. Maybe one day I’ll experiment with it. I’ve seen people cook it like brisket which doesn’t excite me but a slower process with the reverse sear sounds good.