Just got my first smoker

[MileHighGrowler]

(02-26-2021, 04:46 PM)Sled21 Wrote: Yep, and if you're trimming briskets, it's very easy to make your own. It's just easier to buy it.... (and I'm not at all confident that is Franklin's secret. I watched the video and all, but I just don't buy it)

I'm not convinced it's THE Franklin secret, but I'm willing to bet it's part of the equation.  And having been to Franklin's, what he explains in his videos and what you'll see if you're able to pop into the smokehouse isn't telling the whole story.  His briskets do get unwrapped in soaking wet paper, but there's no good explanation if he's not adding fat somewhere along the line, so I do believe it's at least a factor.  The rest of it comes down to to technique and to equipment in my mind.  He gets some of the most consistent packer briskets ever delivered to him, and his smokers are massive and as a result, easy to control.  The lack of variation from one brisket to the next is, in my opinion, his biggest secret.  But the moisture content in those briskets?  It has to be coming from some added fat.  I just don't think brisket smoking is complex enough to really allow for much more to factor into the picture.  

As far as making your own tallow or lard, it's not hard, but it's definitely more work than buying a tub of it.  Honestly, just getting the fat cleaned up to render cleanly is enough extra labor it's not worth it in my mind.  Time is money and there are just some things I don't want to deal with.