Confit Brisket | Mad Scientist BBQ 

“On a scale of 1-100 I give it a C” 😂😂

Erika's hilarious-- that was such a wife move. Your look of disagreement was priceless.

What Erica is highlighting at the end is so incredibly important. To me, BBQ is about the memories you make around a table full of foil trays, cutting boards and paper plates. We can get real specific about minor details to make that food taste the best to us but to the average person who isn't eating good BBQ on a weekly basis that choice brisket is a delightful treat! We gotta remember what we love about bbq and go back to just enjoying it for the love of the food and the memories.

the back and forth at the end had me dying.. lmao “you’re really putting a strain on our relationship” 😂😂

This episode is gold. The back and forth with your significant other.. priceless. Not in a bad way obviously.. we all have things we love, and we hope to share those things. I can feel the two of you living this moment! Love it!

Okay.. now that I got that out of the way… thank you for always sharing so much with us. You are part of the BBQ community that is absolutely awesome!

I started using my old Masterbuilt electric cabinet smoker as a warmer. Works amazing! But you do have to set it at about 175 to keep internal meat temp between 145 and 150.

This is crazy!!! When you showed the beef cheeks done this way I thought, "I wonder if you could use the same method on a brisket?" I went and bought a flat seasoned it with my own tried a true rub, smoked it on my MB 1050 until it built a nice bark, about 6 hours. I had put an aluminum pan half full of some fresh and some tallow that was smoked already in at the start of the cook so it was all smoked when I was ready to put the brisket into it. I won't mention any names but because I planned ahead instead of "pouring" slightly warmed tallow over the top of it, I gently lowered it into the pan of hot, smoked tallow that was already the same temperature. The bark stayed perfect and it only took 3 more hours and it was probing like butter so I pulled it out, gave it a quick dust of my rub, wrapped it in paper and put it to bed for 6 hours. I probably would have left it in the pan but was afraid of spilling it trying to put in my electric cooler, turns out it was a good decision since it allowed come down in temp and avoid it from over cooking. When I pulled it out and unwrapped it it looked amazing and when I made the first slice I thought I had over cooked it because there was so little resistance but I ate it and it wasn't. I continue slice after slice and they were so effortless. I swear it was the best brisket I have ever had, juicy, perfect pull and bend over knife tender, and exploding with flavor. My very first thought was "why aren't people doing this in competition? It is a complete game changer in my book.

I love it when the house smells like BBQ! The bathrooms, the closets and the garage!!!😮

I just saw the video again. The best you have ever done and I like all your video's.

Glad you found that Vevor food warmer! The winch on my truck and even my welder are Vevor brand and they're great! I gotta start looking at their cookware now.

Love the banter at the end.

That warmer is a game changer. I picked the exact one up about 6 months ago. Makes life so much easier. The timing of finishing different meats is no longer an issue. So glad you are showing this! Great content as usual.

Great video. Interesting as usual. I love your scientific, comparative approach.

Thanks! Great experiment and funny outtakes 😅

More great content. The "Nope. Sorry" to editing out the issue at the beginning of the video made me LOL. Well done Erica.

Your comments about taste and texture of these mass produced briskets are spot on. While they are all that is available to the vast majority of us, I have NEVER been happy with the briskets I have purchased from the local chain grocery stores.

I enjoyed the end of the video of you and your wifes conversation. Fun video.

excellent as always

I did a similar thing about a month ago. Smoked a small rough choice cut brisket and I originally thought I got it a little too hot, but there was just not enough fat in it to render, so at about the 3.5 hour mark I put a deep 9x13 baking dish in my oven at 160° and filled it with a mix of mesquite and applewood bacon grease that I collect after our weekly 2-3lbs of bacon. After it all melted down I pulled the brisket off the smoker at about the 4h mark then placed in the dish, covered it, & confit'ed it at 200°F for another 4 hours before letting it rest at 160°F for about 10 hours (lowest my oven goes). It was noticeably more firm and didnt taste like traditional brisket due to the hints of applewood bacon, but it made for great sliced brisket sandwiches and beef cubanos.... because I always have some smoked pork lying around.

I did this cook over a year ago and it works.

Accidentalmente termine un brisket en confit por usar papel de aluminio en forma de canoa y el brisket solto bastante grasa en las últimas horas y se almacenó en la canoa de aluminio, y la verdad fue uno de los más jugosos brisket que he hecho.

You two cracked me up with this one. Con fit will be New for me if I try it.

Thanks for the tip on the warmer. I've been thinking about using an electric smoker to hot hold food, but at around the same price, this may be the ticket!

Love watching this! I find it interesting you have a very strong opinion (differing from Erica) on what perfect BBQ should taste like. I think it would be great to have you visit a BBQ competition and be a guest first round, and final round judge. You'd likely be surprised which meats make it to the final table... and rest assured these are the meats that the general public (first round judges) said was the BEST.

Confit is a cooking method they used to preserve meat pre refrigeration. It is short for confiture or to preserve. They would cook meat, usually duck, in the fat and then store it in that fat. After the fat cooled it would coagulate and create an oxygen free environment keeping the meat preserved! Great with pork as well. Well done Jeremy ! 👏

I did purchase a warmer. I've been looking for one. Thanks

Part of me wishes I'd seen this warmer option before I went with my Vollrath single-pan warmer, but honestly the single-pan one works for me most of the time, holds temps dead-on (max 5 degree variance), and takes up a lot less space.

Hey man I love your videos went from getting into bbq to having a much better understanding and better end product from them just wanted to say thanks

You just described the briskets we get in Florida. 🤙🏻🤙🏻

I saw you post that warmer in your IG...I love that you found that & tried it out for me ;-). I've had the exact one in my "Save for Later" cart FOREVER...just wasn't sure I wanted to risk it. Pretty sure I'm going to be in trouble in the near future when another appliance shows up on the porch LOLOLOL

When you have a bbq channel and you're cooking high end meat all the time, of course regular stuff isn't gonna taste like thousand-dollar wagyu. But for 90% of the population, eating a good barbecued meat doesn't happen often, and so anything done well will taste delicious.

I would love a video, specs and review on that Vevor food warmer. I’ve been in need of a very good budget warmer. Love the vid…info amd keep smokin’em!

A hive of knowledge thanks mate

Lol. That conversation was hilarious.

I’m on the list for a fridge pit from TMG. Such cool smokers and can’t wait to cook on one. Excited to hear your opinion on this pit.

very nice that you got a creekstone, those choice tend to come out just like primes

I think I would have used a 2-gallon ziplock bag and sous vide cooker! It would have used MUCH less tallow and still would have been able to keep it at a constant temp for as long as you want.

Longtime subscriber here Jeremy. Wished maybe you’d discussed the practical use of confit in the real world. I know Snows BBQ infamously uses Select Grade Brisket, cooked hot n fast, Texas crutch in foil, very little to no rest. Surely they’re using plenty of tallow in the foil (ie confit) to get the brisket to tenderness by 11am. I enjoyed seeing the effect of submerging the brisket but definitely not practical 😂. Great seeing you and Erica back home cooking again!

Awesome video as always! What size warmer did you go with? There are several options

I think it’s really interesting how although you clearly know the ins and outs of cooking a brisket, personal preference still plays a big role. Erica liking the plain Choice brisket from Costco demonstrates that completely. At the end of the day, there is a level of personal preference involved.

One of the other guys I enjoy watching does a lot of testing/sciency things like you do. His method is pull the brisket off at 190 temp, and then let temp drop to about 160, wrap and then put it in the warming oven for 18-20 hours. This way the brisket doesn't get over cooked, and while in the warming oven (at 150) all that fat gets rendered down nicely.

Finally an experiment from the “Mad Scientist” 🎉 for being Mad Science BBQ we don’t see experiments often

Love your videos, particularly the new methods/experiments. I did a kind of confit method prior to seeing your video and it turned out great. Have another suggestion which I'm try today. A double smoked brisket. First low temp 200 is until 140-150F internal reached. Then cover and refrigerate overnight. Repeat the smoke the next morning and wrap or confit roast two 200F ish internal. Using a Costo Prime brisket. Let you know how it turns out.

I recently picked up a vevor box as well. I haven't had a chance to use it yet though but soon.

Erica deserves her own mic. Love hearing her comments, when I can hear her. We love Erica You should compare ghee versus tallow, confit.

Thanks Jeremy! Question, what size warmer did you have on this video. I have been looking for an affordable warmer and of course you came to the rescue! Thanks again.

What size VEVOR Hot Box Food Warmer was that in the video? Also, do you think this will hold up in the winter? I was looking at those too as I don't want to do a 150 hold in the oven due to the overwhelming smell. Was also looking at the Anova Precision oven but I'm not sure I would want that outside in winter either.

Yess! Such a tough critic on myself!

Now you need to do the creekside brisket confit. Plus you now have a ton of flavored tallow to use in the kitchen after straining it through cheesecloth

Yup same here in Nj and Pa. They had prime briskets up until mid march and I havent seen any since in Costco near me. And the flats are just like the piece you trimmed off. Hardly any marbling. I thought i was doing something wrong, but now I know im not the only one. Where can you buy a Creekstone Choice brisket at? I checked online and they only had prime

Thank you for this great video! I’m actually coming back to it to see how the warmer is working for you? I tend to need a lot of hot holding space when doing GM gatherings of 30+ people at my home and this looks perfect for my needs. Just wanted your feedback on if it’s worth it after, hopefully, some more usage. Thanks in advance!

Glad to see someone try this. I've considered doing this as I've accumulated lots of fat trimmings to render down.

Yummmm. I want some more.

I went to Costco here in Melbourne Australia last week and went to the briskets. The cheapest one was ~$95 USD for a ~12 pound brisket.

Love this..."On a score from 0-100 - I give it maybe C+ (Costco Choice Brisket + Paper); I say it's a B+ (Costco Choice Brisket + Confit); I'd give that a 94 out of a 100 (Creekstone Choice + Paper). Love how you are real and keep it real - just like the rest of us. Makes it more authentic. Thanks for sharing this 'experiment' - it was fun to see it as well as what you would do differently. Cheers!

Interesting vid. Thx again for the content Jeremy! I'd like to see you redo a confi comparison. Besides taking it out of the tallow when it’s done, also consider preheating the tallow before you put the protein in to keep consistent protein temp

That ending was golden haha

well done. nice test !!!

What was the temperature of the tallow poured onto the confit brisket? I'm wondering how much that impacted the brisket's temperature since it would have taken time to get up to speed with the smoker?

Whats the brand of the smoker you are running ?? Awesome videos.

Dude marriage tip......don't argue with mama bear!! Lol. Great video. Awesome as always!!

Awesome video! Please do a comparison video of a cook on the modified Brazos and a more expensive smoker.

Hey Jeremy. Love all of your videos including the ones that you’ve given reviews/comparisons on smokers. This is the first time I see you put logs inside the smoker. Just wondering why? Is this smoker missing the proper heat deflection plates or is it just running too hot? What’s up with that? Other than that, awesome looking smoker for sure. Thanks again for all of your awesome videos, keep up the great work.

Cool idea for a video. Wearing the same shirt while watching 🤙🏼

I’m running Bacon Up on my wrap I like the flavor. Thank for info on the warmer my Birthday is this month so I hopefully I can pull it off 😊

I bought one of these warmers before your video ended. I have an alto shaam half unit I lug around to events so thought this would be a nice break as its smaller. It came in and looks like I built it myself. several holes were not aligned parts were overlapping others its a mess. it has a dent but not their fault. I emailed them hopefully that helps. It looks a yr old fresh out the box, lol. I haven't used it yet. but.... its sooooooooo much cheaper than my alto shaam I don't know if I'm allowed to complain.

Bruh that ending . So relatable 😂

I recently purchased a Vevor warmer, I couple cooks in and I am finding the meat a little dried out. after pulling off the smoker what internal temp do you let it come down to before putting in the warmer? Love your channel

Jeremy can you do a full review on the volunteer. Looking at that one or their fridge. But I’m concern that the fridge will not cook even. Specially at the bottom from the reverse flow. Thank you

20:12 the disappointment LOL that's real love right there

Any chance of you doing a review of that warmer

Almost had her agreeing with you right up to the the bitter end where then you realized it was back to square one! LMAO

I went ahead and bought the food warmer that you recommended. I have been looking for a while now, so I figured it would be a good one. Only question I have is. Did yours come wrapped in the white plastic that they didn't bother to take off before assembly??? Cuz this stuff is huge pain in the a** to get off

Ericka standing her ground was awesome. You go gurl! 😅

I totally get the excitement on the warmer. I've been chasing an affordable hot hold solution for over a year, landing on a an Aroma roaster oven that will go down to 150 and works well for ONE brisket. This is an affordable Alto Shaam and a game changer for home BBQ.

I've been looking for a food warmer. I see there are several sizes for the VEVOR. What size do you recommend?

Glad we still have Prime at Costco here in Wisconsin

You really are a mad scientist! 😀

Hey bossman, how's the warming cabinet holding up? Thinking of ordering one myself.

I am trying to figure out if those are the wheels on that smoker or if it is on something, they are awesome. Great video as always.

Lol the "Mad" part of Mad Scientist really came out there at the end... 😂

Thank you Erika - I can only get costco choice near me.. And I don’t want to pay the cost of ordering expensive briskets online. Hopefully Costco brings back prime briskets at some point. Either way it made me feel better that she enjoyed the paper wrapped choice so much. I will definitely try some creekstone and SRF briskets for occasions.

Just a thought, what about doing a normal wrap, then rest it in the tallow pan in the warmer, that way the tallow never gets hot enough to carry it over final temp. Have the tallow tempered before adding the brisket in the warmer. And as a final point, smoke the tallow for an hour during the cook.

Thank you for all you do good sir. The epilogue had me rolling in stitches. You two are epic.

Love your content 🙏🏽 i really loved your review of the over under smoker and im almost sold as my first smoker Any chance of doing a review or opinion on the Oklahoma joes Marshal center box smoker? Its the only one I'd consider over the over under Mouth waters almost every episode and learning everything i can

Glad you went ahead with the cook regardless, because I rarely have access to choice meat.

Hi Jeremy! Love your videos but I really think it would be best for you and Erica to always blind taste test. No matter how objective we try to be it's just impossible to eliminate bias. Regardless, I have only smoked one brisket and several chickens my whole life and yet I am subscribed to your channel and watch almost every video so you are doing something right for sure. Thanks for the content!

Do you trim some of the fat between the point and flat first I’ve been trimming some of that fat out and really enjoying the way it turns out

Can you confit in smoked tallow in the holder? No smoke? How does the confit impact flavor?

One must remember that fats create a flavour barrier, so in this case the tallow flavour would replace alot of the smoke/bark flavours . The spend on the tallow and cheap brisket probably also works out more expensive than the good quality brisket . Spend the extra and just get the superior cut from the start.

What temperature would you be running that warmer for? How long can you leave it in the warmer?

I had a heart attack just looking at the brisket soaked in tallow

I agree with Ericka, when brisket is soaked in fat, it loses it's texture and meat flavor, meat flavor is different from tallow flavor, still perfection is found in just the right amount of beef tallow per brisket

Hey Jeremy. Appreciate all the videos. Would you be willing to do entry level smoker cooks like in the past. Have an Oklahoma Joe and would love to see you manage the fire and end product. Thanks for considering.

Hey Jeremy, do you think that a cotsco choice brisket would be a good canidate for a Pastrami? Being in a brine for a week should make it juicy. Obviously it won't taste like a smked brisket, but still a good test.

Jeremy what size food warmer did you get?

How is that warming box? Is it good, ok or meh? Is it holding up or is it having problems by now? Any updates on that holding oven would be greatly appreciated.

As someone who makes (non-BBQ) RU-vid content, I bet Jeremy doesn't like this video and thinks it's bad content. He probably debated if he should even post it. As the person watching the video, it's great and super entertaining.

As always love your videos!!! TMG pits are absolutely amazing. Can be customized in everyway imaginable. How do I know, I bought 2...The Volunteer and the Rolloff!!! Love them both.