Burnt Ends, how do you do it?

Caveat: I don't normally make burnt ends.

But, here is what I do for others. I remove the point once the flat is done. I like to cut the point into two-bite chunks. I will thin some sauce, with a little beer or apple juice, then mix the brisket chunks with the sauce, then into a foil pan. Into the smoker, and let it cook until the chunks are fork tender. Pretty straightforward.

I don't, never had one I can't see wasting the best part of a brisket. Real burnt ends are cut from the tip of the point and served as they are or so I'm tole.

I do not wate good brisket meat on that.Maybe the trimmings.like said above,toss with some thinned out sauce and cook til fall apart tender.

The best burnt ends I've had are competition BE's. All we do it cook the whole packer until the flat is done. Then we remove the point from the flat, try and take off all the big outside layer of fat, cube into about 1.5" cubes, lightly sauce, toss in a foil pan and back on the smoker.

We let them render out for at least a couple more hours, checking once in a while. Lightly sauce about every hour to carmelize and get nice and chewy.

Once they're fork tender, they're good to go.


They should be nice and meaty with a sticky, gooey chew to the outside. Mely in your mouth tender, but still beefy. We don't re-rub them at all. I"ve done that but they end up real salty (I guess depending on the rub).

There are a few schools of thought as to what good burnt ends should be like.

The two most common differences are the slightly larger and somewhat fatty burnt ends that can be easily made by chopping up the point, reseasoning, recooking and saucing. These can range anywhere from crispy on the outside and tender inside, to tender throughout depending on how you make them. In this case, what people are going for is the "point fat" which is quite flavorful.

The other kind is basically the "original" burnt ends, which are literally the bits trimmed of to square the brisket for slicing and/or the bits left of the board that fell of from slicing, usually on the ends of the slices which were most done and fell off. These are usually more trim pieces of meat, not necessarily all that fatty, and are crispy by default due to the nature of how they were created essentially...they are bark-heavy.

I tend to like the original kinds, but I also make these from the point, and some do it this way but most folks making burnt ends from the point do it per the first method I described.

What I like to do is trim all visible exterior fat from the point meat before chopping. This will allow for more "crispy". Then I chop the meat into smaller bits, I prefer really small like 1/2" to 3/4" cubes. I season these, season heavily in fact, and return to the pit for a good 2 to 3 hours to get crispy. I season again at the end with a light dusting for added flavor. I actually like mine without sauce. I like the crispy exterior, the chewy to tender interior, and all that barky flavor. If I add sauce, it is when serving. Like Wampus described above, all this added seasoning makes them a tad salty, but I like mine that way. They're like some sort of BBQ Brisket jerky treats in my opinion...and jerky is salty.:thumb:

I don't honestly hear of a lot of folks making them that way like I like, however. It is certainly easier to just do the first method I described, and it is by far the most popular.

All are different, but here's what I do. 1) Separate point & flat; 2) trim fat off point and re-rub exposed portions; 3) place point back on for 1 hour; 4) remove point and cube in 1.5-2" pieces; 5) dredge chunks through a mixture of 2/3 your favorite sauce + 1/3 beef broth; 6) place in alum pan and cook 45-60 min; 7) toss cubes with full strength BBQ sauce for approx 30 min

BE's should melt in your mouth like carmalized beefy goodness poppers. Not all points are made equally. You could've had a bad point with too much grissle.

I sprinkle a little turbanado on mine along with the sauce. Sauce should be thinned-out bold sauce. Cook down till they're done, then go a little more.

We got 1st place on our brisket last July at Que & Cruz. I'm sure it was the BE's that put it over the top.

I save the drippings from the brisket cook. Cool the drippings and remove the fat. I have cuttings left from the slicing of he brisket and pieces that cannot be served as sliced brisket. The pieces and some juice are reheated and pulled apart. I don't cut into cubes just leave as they come off the brisket. What ever size they are is what they are. They do fall apart, so I don't worry about size. The best part is the drippings from the cook. I has a really great beefy flavor.