Using tallow for smoking brisket?

jjdbike

Hey folks,

I'm assuming many of us have seen Jeremy Yoder demonstrate that painting the butcher paper w/ tallow before wrapping. Jeremy and Harry Soo went further and injected w/ Tallow. In an experiment he compared injecting out of fridge, at 101 (internal cow temp), at wrap and when done. He claimed that injecting at 101 internal was the best. He said it improved the texture. 

I do have some aged SRF Wagyu "Chef's Gold" tallow. I'm also going to make some of my own from my current SRF Gold Wagyu. I may add some to my injection and will definitely paint the butcher paper wrap.

Do any of you use beef tallow when prepping, smoking for briskets?

I will report back afterwards.

Best regards,
JD

WeberWho

This might answer some of your question.

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1227185/aaron-franklin-secret-is-beef-tallow/p1

WeberWho

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=289640

JohnInCarolina

I think this is one of those things we've seen from time to time that might make a small impact around the margins, but is unlikely to be the "one key step" to making a killer brisket.  In the past we have seen things like slathering the brisket in pickle juice before applying the rub, and other kinds of tweaks.  

Franklin's "secret" being beef tallow seems pretty far-fetched to me.  I just don't see how that's somehow more important than all of the other things he has working for him that are much more likely to play a big role, such as his pits, the quality of the starting material, or the custom warmers he uses. 

But by all means experiment and see how you like it, with and without.  That's half the fun of this whole activity!   

lkapigian

It is a fad and a "For Looks" on the end product , makes it shiney on camera, that being said , it will help soften and overcooked spots on ribs brisket etc----your Beef is already loaded with Tallow without topping it off 

But Ya, I do it from time to time, throw some trimmings is a pan, let it render during the cook, strain and jar the extra  

jjdbike

Thanks everyone!

CornfedMA

If I were cooking SRF Gold- I’d salt and pepper that baby and let it roll. Wrap if you want. That’s one of the highest quality commercially available briskets you can find. Let it shine! 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Like Larry said- tallow is a fad. Especially for a home cook. Adding more fat to brisket is...well, just gross. It's already 50% fat in the point. Does it need to be 75%? you have a way better chance of ruining your $200 SRF gold by adding tallow than you do if you leave it off.

FWIW- Franklin does not do this (I have been there in the pit room at a corporate dinner when they were wrapping briskets) but some of the other local guys do. Those guys are not on any "best of" list s that I know of.

That other thing to consider for the commercial guys who do it- these briskets are held for 12+ hours before service. If there is any advantage to doing this (which I don't think there is) it may help keep it moist during a long hold in a CVAP oven waiting for service.

Don't get caught up in all the youtube videos. I like Harry Soo as much as the next guy but he has to sell ads. You can't do that without pimping something new every few weeks. That's all he's doing. Selling ads.

jjdbike

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Like Larry said- tallow is a fad. Especially for a home cook. Adding more fat to brisket is...well, just gross. It's already 50% fat in the point. Does it need to be 75%? you have a way better chance of ruining your $200 SRF gold by adding tallow than you do if you leave it off.

FWIW- Franklin does not do this (I have been there in the pit room at a corporate dinner when they were wrapping briskets) but some of the other local guys do. Those guys are not on any "best of" list s that I know of.

That other thing to consider for the commercial guys who do it- these briskets are held for 12+ hours before service. If there is any advantage to doing this (which I don't think there is) it may help keep it moist during a long hold in a CVAP oven waiting for service.

Don't get caught up in all the youtube videos. I like Harry Soo as much as the next guy but he has to sell ads. You can't do that without pimping something new every few weeks. That's all he's doing. Selling ads.

Thanks man,
Yes, I do see you point.
Videos are most def commercials.
JD

The Cen-Tex Smoker

jjdbike said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Like Larry said- tallow is a fad. Especially for a home cook. Adding more fat to brisket is...well, just gross. It's already 50% fat in the point. Does it need to be 75%? you have a way better chance of ruining your $200 SRF gold by adding tallow than you do if you leave it off.

FWIW- Franklin does not do this (I have been there in the pit room at a corporate dinner when they were wrapping briskets) but some of the other local guys do. Those guys are not on any "best of" list s that I know of.

That other thing to consider for the commercial guys who do it- these briskets are held for 12+ hours before service. If there is any advantage to doing this (which I don't think there is) it may help keep it moist during a long hold in a CVAP oven waiting for service.

Don't get caught up in all the youtube videos. I like Harry Soo as much as the next guy but he has to sell ads. You can't do that without pimping something new every few weeks. That's all he's doing. Selling ads.

Thanks man,
Yes, I do see you point.
Videos are most def commercials.
JD

Harry is like an engineer for a city water facility or something like that who does bbq on the side. he makes all his money selling ads on his youtube content. He's super knowledgeable and I respect the hell out of the guy. He truly is a science-minded bbq nerd. That said, he has to keep creating content or the ad revenue dries up. Things that appear to be the secret ingredient (yesterday's injection or secret rub ingredient is today's tallow)  sell more ads