[Aerindel]

I'm doing a brisket right now for my fire department meeting monday, and as usual, I end up with about 5lbs of fat after its trimmed.

Now, the original recipe I read for brisket said that this isn't the right kind of fat to render down into anything useful.....but is that really true?

Seems like I should be able to make something useful with this rather than just throw it away?

 

[browningv308]

Beef cracklins? Or give it to somebody that is a trapper, dogs would love it but probably not good for them.

 

[Nomad 2nd]

Tallow
Pemican
Or save for ground meat. Turkey or deer or something that needs fat.

Other things, but those are what come to mind first.

I'd stick it in the freezer

 

[PalmettoTree]

Chew the fat and spit it out.

 

[Hammer 1]

I sometimes used brisket fat for deer burger. The price has got so high, I won't buy them any more. Last one I bought was .79 a pound
Might work for seasoning and a new cast iron skillet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[IamZeke]

Trimming a brisket? Heresy!



But it is perfect when you need fat for game sausage. Fat has its own flavor, so a deer sausage done with beef trimmings will taste a lot different than deer sausage made with pork trimmings.

 

[MTShawn]

Brisket makes a damn fine burger when fresh ground and cooked on fire. Screw Chuck. You want the fat for the perfect burger, it renders, adds flavor and keeps it juicy. Cooked at 10,000 degrees to a perfect medium, YUM.


You could also smoke under light smoke, low and slow for 8 hours, so, half done. Pull the fat cap, slice and pressure can it to finish. It holds up well because the meat itself is tough. Can make a mean sandwich with it or use it wherever flavorful beef is desired. Fajitas, tacos, Asian street food (without the flu) etc. the choices would be limitless because of the muscle structure.

 

[Aerindel]

Trimming a brisket? Heresy!



But it is perfect when you need fat for game sausage. Fat has its own flavor, so a deer sausage done with beef trimmings will taste a lot different than deer sausage made with pork trimmings.

Yeah, yeah, I understand, but nobody here wants to eat 1' thick slab of solid fat so its going to get cut off anyway before or after cooking. I'm not trying to make it lean or anything, just tidy it up to something that is actually edible.

I've cooked quite a few so thats not the issue...I'm just looking for ideas for all the fat.

 

[mtviolet]

render it down for tallow. useful in waterproofing boots, like bear tallow. you can make candles from it, but they really smoke and have a smell. good for frying potatoes, or other meats. decent in pie crust for savory pies, not so great for sweet pies.

 

[IamZeke]

Yeah, yeah, I understand, but nobody here wants to eat 1' thick slab of solid fat so its going to get cut off anyway before or after cooking. I'm not trying to make it lean or anything, just tidy it up to something that is actually edible.

I've cooked quite a few so thats not the issue...I'm just looking for ideas for all the fat.

Carefully slow cooked it won't be an inch thick. It will melt into the meat and keep it moist.

After cooking, that fatty point section is typically cut and set aside while the lean flat section is consumed at the cookout meal. That point (also called the deckle) portion is typically chopped up to make sandwiches or for stuffing baked potatoes.

But there's no reason to compound the heresy by tossing that fat you chose to trim off before cooking. If you hunt even a little that trim fat will have value because game meat is notoriously lean.

No matter how you cook a brisket the entire slab has value.

I might call you a heathen for trimming it before cooking, but just to throw it away is foolish.

 

[Nomad 2nd]

Yeah, yeah, I understand, but nobody here wants to eat 1' thick slab of solid fat so its going to get cut off anyway before or after cooking. I'm not trying to make it lean or anything, just tidy it up to something that is actually edible.

I've cooked quite a few so thats not the issue...I'm just looking for ideas for all the fat.

As was said:

Cooked right it won't be nearly that thick.

But it's funny you say that.

Dinner tonight was leftover smoked sausage and brisket warmed in the oven of my wood stove.

The brisket dried out a bit since I smoked it (just not as good as I was doing last year for some reason) and I was very glad to have bits of that fat in each mouthful.

Very little fat was left to put in the cats bowl.

 

[Aerindel]

Cooked right it won't be nearly that thick.

Interesting you and zeke say that. The 'recipe' I learned to cook brisket claims the fat layer between the point and the flat will not render down during cooking and should be removed...so I always have.

As you southern boys may have realized, cooking whole brisket is not a cultural touchstone up here so I've had to learn how to do it online.

Even so, its become my favorite cut of meat, if a pricey one.

I generally trim the fat cap down to 1/4, and cut away most of the thick fat layer between the point and the fat. I rub the whole thing in a mix of about half a cup of brown sugar, and an equal amount red pepper and black pepper and leave overnight before I throwit in the smoker at 250º for about 12 hours and then wrap in foil and finish cooking for another 4-6.

I might call you a heathen for trimming it before cooking, but just to throw it away is foolish.

Well, I agree which is why I came here asking for a second opinion. I'm glad I did. I generally save all my bacon drippings etc for re-use but for reason when I read that brisket fat wasn't good for anything I believed it.

 

[IamZeke]

Nonsense, whoever wrote what you read. It's good fat.

The reason yours stays so fatty is the speed you cook it. Briskets take all night to cook. It takes a long time for that fat to cook out.

What I suspect the complaint is based on is the nature of that fat. It's a spongy belly fat with a lot of nonmeat tissue. There is a lot of white solid interconnective tissue left once the fat cells release the actual fat oils. It's not real appetizing on it's own.

That's why the deckle is cut off and put aside. A day in the fridge is best. That interconnective tissue will shrink a lot now that the oil is gone. You start the brisket the evening before, work in a loose rotation at night, pull it around lunch time, and cut the flat for serving then. The deckle goes to the fridge for the next day. You chop it up real good and mix well, so the crusty bits, meat, and that interconnective fatty tissue blend together. This is how you get a classic chopped brisket sandwich. Load up a bun, sprinkle some sliced onions on, ladle over the BBQ sauce and chow down.

 

[Nomad 2nd]

I marinate mine for a day with a honey glaze, and smoke it all night with the fat cap up.

I usually slice it and vacume deal it into portions that go into the freezer, not chop or pull it.

Low and slow.

 

[Aerindel]

I will certainly try that on my next brisket. I see the logic.

Worst thing about brisket....

Its 1:30 AM here, brisket has been in the smoker since 9 PM, yesterday....dinner is 6 PM today....

But damn....it already smells really good and now I have to go to bed and just trust that $70 cut of meat to do its thing all night on its own...

Mind you, Its always turned out for me, not that I do it often...but I always sleep lightly when a brisket is in the smoker.

 

[Nomad 2nd]

I have a non electric smoker.

I stay up.

 

[Aerindel]

I have a non electric smoker.

I stay up.

Mine is a hybrid, it can run in charcoal or electric...but I admit....I really find the electric element handy for stuff like this.

 

[IamZeke]

now I have to go to bed and just trust that $70 cut of meat to do its thing all night on its own.

That's what beer and the boys are for. A couple guys to sip suds until about 4am. You go to bed before 10pm and get up at 4am. The guys hit the hay when you wake up. They will come back to life about noon in time for the meal.

There are other tricks when you are alone. Choose to hold the meal at dinner time instead of mid day. Start it off in the oven around 11pm and roll out of bed at 5am to get the smoker going. The oven being completely controllable. A million Jewish grandmothers can attest to that. Then smoke it all day. Sometime in the heat of the afternoon you take a 2 hour siesta nap and have someone you trust keep an eye on it for a couple hours.

Or take up insomnia for a hobby like I did.

The difficulty is having a 18 hour run that ends with you being a fabulous host at noon.

Moving the serving time or getting help is the key.

 

[Aerindel]

Or take up insomnia for a hobby like I did.

The difficulty is having a 18 hour run that ends with you being a fabulous host at noon.

ugh....tell me about it.

This has been a long week already and here I am making dinner for the fire department...my own fault for forgetting what week it is.

Training all week for my biennial EMT refresher...out on a wreck last night that involved two naked inebriated ladies putting their truck into the river...more training today....replacing the struts on my moms car, in the snow inbetween....and now doing food this week for the monday meeting.

Wife WOULD have been able to help except she has to work today because someone showed up for work at the hospital drunk and got fired so now they are trying to cover his shift...

My own fault. Last month when I found out the FD spent $100 on pizza I had the bright idea that for that much I could smoke a brisket and have money left over for potato salad and bread instead of the same nasty pizza we have month after month....

Oh well, time to top off the water pan and try and get some sleep.

 

[cook]

Aeridel,I cooked literally tons and tons of brisket commercially,and always trimmed them down,no one evr wanted a inch of fat when they are paying for a meal,and its kinda gross cutting it off and leaving it on your plate with the rest of your meal.
In the fall,I would cube and freeze some for hunting season,about 2 days was enough for me and a few friends.

just for fun,I rendered some down once in a electric crock pot.Diced and on low for 12 hours or so.Strain with a metal sieve,then again in cheese cloth.Poured in icecube trays,used it for pan frying,it worked.
Made a couple candles,stinky and smokey/sooty.