Slow-Grilled Amazing Kansas City Style Barbecued Burnt Ends

Burnt ends are flavorful pieces of meat cut from the point half of a smoked brisket. I’m one of those people who loves to eat the crunchy end of roasted or grilled meats. If you belong to this club, as well, you would love the crunchiness of the brisket– and that smoky taste! Grill Masters spend hours making these, as we personally experienced in Kansas City. They are so good! This recipe is perfect for a backyard home grill– it takes a few hours to make, but the end result is well worth it.

 

My husband was born and raised in Kansas City. A few years ago, we took a trip to visit his family. It was my first visit to Missouri, and I have to say that Kansas City is a very beautiful city. Of course, Kansas City Barbeque was definitely on our restaurant bucket list.

When we arrived at our first (of many) barbeque places, I saw “burnt ends” on the menu. Burnt ends? What
are those?  At the time we were there, I wasn’t a food blogger, so I didn’t take pictures of the big brick ovens, with the iron doors that opened up– to reveal more brisket than I’ve ever seen in one place!

Burnt ends are flavorful pieces of meat cut from the point half of a smoked brisket. It was love at first bite, for me.  I’m one of those people who loves to eat the crunchy end of roasted or grilled meats.  If you belong to this club, as well, you would love the crunchiness of the brisket– and that smoky taste!

I do appreciate a good brisket, and we have learned how to make one at home that is as good (if not even better) than some of the brisket we’ve eaten at BBQ places (other than in Kansas City).  So, when I spotted Cook’s Country’s recipe on how to make Burnt Ends in your own home, I was determined to try making our own. Granted, we don’t have a professional size smoker, but there is a way. Here’s how Cook’s Country adapted making Burnt Ends their way:

 Real burnt ends are all about moist meat and plenty of flavorful,
charred bark, but most pit masters use the fatty point-cut brisket. To
make the leaner (and more widely available) flat-cut brisket work, we
cut it into strips and brine it for maximum moisture and flavor. Three
hours of smoke on the grill—with a water pan for more moisture—followed
by a few more hours in a low oven ensures fully tender brisket with
plenty of char. We cut the meat into cubes before tossing it with a
flavorful, homemade sauce.

I bought this beautiful beef brisket at Whole Foods, that weighed about three pounds.  Since we’re only cooking for two nowadays (unless we’re entertaining), so I decided to freeze half of this for another time. This yielded two long strips (perfect for the two of us), for this recipe.

We begin with a two-hour brine of water and sugar.  The rub was very quick to make:  brown sugar, pepper and salt.  Rub-a-dub-dub.

We own both a gas grill and a Weber grill.  For slow cooking/barbecue, we mutually agree that charcoal is the way to go (oak wood, is even better, but we don’t own that fancy of a grill).  My handsome grill master,  Craig, has prepared coals on one side of the grill, and wrapped a foil packet of wood chips that have been soaked in water for 15 minutes.  (He has also cut holes in the foil).  He has placed a foil pan, filled with water on the opposite side of the grill.

He cleans and oils the cooking grate, then arranges the  brisket on cooler side of grill as far from heat source as possible. Then, he covers (positioning lid vent over brisket for charcoal) and cooks the brisket without opening for 3 hours.

Alrighty then…  it’s been five hours, and we’re still not finished! The briskets slices are set onto a baking sheet…

..then covered tightly, with foil, and slow-roasted for another two hours until a fork slips easily in and out (and it registers at 210F).  Once again, we wait one more hour for the meat to rest.

So, let’s see… it’s been eight hours and we’re down to the home stretch. We are now going to make an easy homemade barbecue sauce. Ready?

Ketchup, cider vinegar, brown sugar, granulated garlic, Worcestershire sauce and some cayenne pepper.
But, wait!  The defatted juices from the roasted brisket is added to the mix. (I had to add some beef broth to equal 1/2 cup).

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Kansas City Style Barbecued Burnt Ends

Burnt ends are flavorful pieces of meat cut from the point half of a smoked brisket. I'm one of those people who loves to eat the crunchy end of roasted or grilled meats. If you belong to this club, as well, you would love the crunchiness of the brisket– and that smoky taste!

Prep Time2 hours hrs

Cook Time6 hours hrs

Course: main

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Kansas City Burnt Ends

Servings: 8 servings

Author: Debby – www.AFeastfortheEyes.net

Ingredients

BRISKET AND RUB:

• 2 cups plus 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 5- to 6-pound beef brisket, flat cut, untrimmed
• 1/4 cup brown sugar packed
• 2 tablespoons pepper
• 4 cups wood chips
• 1 13 x 9-inch disposable aluminum roasting pan (if using charcoal) or 2 (8 1/2 by 6-inch) disposable aluminum pans (if using gas)

BARBECUE SAUCE:

• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons granulated garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions

• Brisket and rub: Dissolve 2 cups salt and granulated sugar in 4 quarts cold water in large container. Slice brisket with grain into 1 1/2-inch-thick strips.

  Add brisket strips to brine, cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours. Remove brisket from brine and pat dry with paper towels.
• Combine brown sugar, pepper, and remaining 1 tablespoon salt in bowl.

  Season brisket all over with rub.

  Just before grilling, soak wood chips in water for 15 minutes, then drain.

  Using 2 large pieces of heavy-duty aluminum foil, wrap soaked chips in 2 foil packets and cut several vent holes in tops.
• For charcoal grill: Open bottom vent halfway and place disposable pan filled with 2 quarts water on 1 side of grill, with long side of pan facing center of grill.

  Arrange 3 quarts unlit charcoal briquettes on opposite side of grill and place 1 wood chip packet on coals. Light large chimney starter halfway filled with charcoal briquettes (3 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over unlit coals and wood chip packet.

  Place remaining wood chip packet on lit coals. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent halfway. Heat grill until hot and wood chips are smoking, about 5 minutes.
• For gas grill: Add 1/2 cup ice cubes to 1 wood chip packet. Remove cooking grate and place both wood chip packets directly on primary burner; place disposable pans each filled with 2 cups water directly on secondary burner(s).

  Set grate in place, turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot and wood chips are smoking, about 15 minutes. Leave primary burner on high and turn off other burner(s). (Adjust primary burner as needed to maintain grill temperature of 275 to 300°F.)
• Clean and oil cooking grate.

  Arrange brisket on cooler side of grill as far from heat source as possible. Cover (positioning lid vent over brisket for charcoal) and cook without opening for 3 hours.
• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees.

  Remove brisket from grill and transfer to rimmed baking sheet. Cover sheet tightly with foil. Roast until fork slips easily in and out of meat and meat registers about 210 degrees, about 2 hours. Remove from oven, leave covered, and let rest for 1 hour. Remove foil, transfer brisket to carving board, and pour accumulated juices into fat separator.
• For the barbecue sauce: Combine ketchup, sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire, granulated garlic, cayenne, and 1/2 cup defatted brisket juices in medium saucepan. Bring to simmer over medium heat and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
• Cut brisket strips crosswise into 1- to 2-inch chunks. Combine brisket chunks and barbecue sauce in large bowl and toss to combine. Serve.
• Notes: Look for a brisket with a significant fat cap. This recipe takes about 8 hours to prepare. The meat can be brined ahead of time, transferred to a zipper-lock bag, and refrigerated for up to a day. If you don’t have 1/2 cup of juices from the rested brisket, supplement with beef broth.
• Cut Brisket into Strips
• Slicing a flat-cut brisket into 1 1/2-inch strips creates more surface area to facilitate brining, browning, and smoke absorption. We cube it just before serving.
• Go with grain: Cut the brisket into strips before brining.

Tried this recipe?Mention @afeastfortheeyes or tag #afeastfortheeyesblog!

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