Tallow and Lard Experiment

With all the buzz around the tallow brisket thing I decided to give it a go. Did tallow brisket and lard ribs. Basically during the wrapping phase I slathered the butcher paper with tallow for the brisket and lard for the ribs. To make it short and sweet I give the tallow thing a thumbs down as I didn't notice any difference whatsoever in taste other than the tallow making my bark softer than usual. I know a lot of people swear by it but I wasn't impressed.Either that or I just know how to make damn good brisket. :becky: Needless to say I'll stick with how I do brisket which has worked for me fine all this time.

Started with a CAB Prime brisket I had in the freezer. Would you look at the price :twitch:



Quick trim



And hung in the beast. God, I can't remember last time I used it





About five hours it was ready for the wrap



Wagyu tallow slathered on the BP



Amazing color



After wrapping the brisket I hung a rack of baby backs and STL spares. Just S&P



A few hours in and I wrapped the ribs and slathered the BP with lard. Only fair right? :-D



After about 5 hours of rest





Really moist but again, that's how most of my briskets turn out anyway







The fat cap and fat rendered really well



Moist flat



Of course the point was spot on also



On to the ribs





Pretty darn good but again I usually get kickarse ribs in the offset



Thanks for looking! Don't let me hold you back and I'm interested what other brethren think.

kevinstaggs said:

I’m with you. When you say softening the bark I get a little nervous. We all have our individual tastes/preferences but I think I’m a no tallow guy.

Wonder if the tallow is best combined with the super long hold techniques. I suspect it is.


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It pretty much ruined my bark but the flavor was totally there. Honestly Kevin, I've had great results with longer hold times in the 4-5 hour range using my Cambro.

This typically is my brisket bark

:thumb:

You're results will probably be more conclusive holding it in the Alto Shaam. Looking forward to it.

sudsandswine said:

Thanks for sharing, nice lookin’ briskey.

I plan to try as well, I will probably also hang it but on my drum, and will probably do an “active hold” in my Alto Shaam for quite a while.

PS...I'm jealous of your brisket price, still north of $4.00/lb at my Costco as of last week.

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gtsum said:

Looking good as ever!

I did the tallow thing and ultra long hold last week and thought it made my bark way too soft. I should of pulled before it probed tender as I pulled at 202 and even letting it rest for hours until the IT came down to 150 (and then into roaster oven for 19 hours)…flat was juicy but a little over cooked, but not sure if it was the long hold or the tallow. But I didn’t like what it did to my bark


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I remember your thread. :thumb: I'm pretty certain it's the tallow as far as soft bark goes. This tallow was so dang silky I fried some fries in a skillet, washed it really good with soap and water and the surface is still slick.

jzadski said:

Great looking cook Sako...however...
Line of the Month

I just know how to make damn good brisket

:twisted::eusa_clap:thumb:

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Thanks Joe!

I can say with confidence because I ultimately found out for myself that long and proper rest was the key to great brisket. I hardly ever screw up briskets anymore.

thirdeye said:

Did you by chance watch the 11-part Harry Soo series on tallow and brisket? At one point he introduces ghee and lard into the equation. And his findings lean toward lard for both an injection and a component for wrapping brisket.

I took a competition cooking class about 10 years ago, and as a means to understand flavors, the cooks made a few racks of ribs basted in lard. They were amazingly good.

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I haven't actually. Nothing against Harry Soo as I like the guy but I can't for the life of me watch his videos. Especially 11 parts. :laugh: He just goes on and on and on...

Before I did this I thought to myself that any kind of cooking grease should work using this method so Harry def makes sense with the ghee and lard. I have to say I did favor the ribs with the lard. Definitely tasted difference there.

Learning to BBQ said:

Thanks Sako, I appreciate your take on the tallow BS. I can't imagine adding ever more fat to what ends up in the paper or foil after a good rest. Have we all become milenials? Just cook a good brisket like you always have. Franklin, god bless him, is causing some social meadia peeps to make money off of his name. Just like the tallow thread..........

And I digress, I've never had a Franklin brisket..............

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It was a fun project George plus I hadn't used my offset in a while. Don't compare us to millennials. :laugh::thumb:

I'm sticking to my tried and true method. And you're right about Franklin as I think he's got a system he set in place that made him a success which works till today. Pretty sure it's simple and no tallow is involved. :biggrin1:

Oh and his brisket is the rage and then some. :nod: