The Christmas brisket is gone (well, mostly—still some chili left), but for a pitmaster in Northern Michigan, the work doesn’t end when the slicing is done. Today, I’m looking at the “Second Harvest”: the heavy trimmings from that 15-pound packer.

When I trimmed that brisket to fit my 22-inch Weber Kettle, I took off quite a bit of length. To some, that looks like waste. To me, it looks like the best meals of January.

1. Liquid Gold: The Double Boiler Tallow

I took all that white “hard fat” from the trim and diced it down into small cubes. Instead of rendering it out on the grill where it might pick up stray ash or soot, I set up a double boiler on the stove.

This is the “low and slow” method for fat. By using a double boiler, I kept the temperature controlled and gentle, preventing the fat from scorching. The result? Pure, snow-white beef tallow that looks like premium butter.

• The Use: I’ll use this to sear steaks, roast winter potatoes, or even as a “wrap liquid” for the next brisket. It’s flavor you simply cannot buy at the grocery store in town.

2. The Burger Grind

Those meaty bits I trimmed off the ends of the flat and the point? They aren’t “scraps.” Because they came from a high-quality brisket, they have the perfect fat-to-lean ratio for burgers. I’ve got about three pounds of brisket trimmings ready for the grinder.

• The Tip: If you want a burger that rivals any high-end steakhouse, skip the pre-packaged ground chuck. Grinding your own brisket trimmings gives you a texture and beefy punch that is out of this world.

3. The Chili Stash

We’ve already talked about the Leftover Brisket Chili, but today I’m portioning out the rest of those “barky” end pieces into vacuum-seal bags. There is nothing better than coming inside after an hour of snow-blowing the driveway and being able to drop a bag of pre-smoked brisket into a pot of beans and tomatoes.

Lessons from the Kettle

Cooking on a 22-inch Kettle teaches you to be efficient. You trim for the grill, but you eat for the season. If you haven’t watched my latest video on how I performed that heavy trim to make the meat fit the grate, go check it out here Trimming a Brisket

Don’t just cook for today—prep for the winter.

— Tom