Kansas City Style Burnt Ends

Brisket and me have not had it always so easy.  I have smoked brisket a couple of times; but, despite my efforts, the end result isn't always so great. I've tried different ways to preserve the tenderness of the meat, such as injections of beef broth or mops of beef stock and ingredients, but the finished product is far from what I want or expect.  

I think the problem is that I have worked exclusively with the brisket flat. That piece is long, flat and very lean. It is difficult to smoke because it dries out and can become tough.  But the flat is just one part of the brisket; there is also the point.  The point is thicker and fattier.  It is far more forgiving to a amateur pitmaster like myself.  Together, the flat and point constitute an entire "packer brisket."  However, that packer typically weighs between 8 to 12 pounds.  I don't have the time, patience or appetite to eat an entire brisket point, at least right now. 

A while back, I decided to check out a local butcher cshop called Chop Shop Butchery.  I went there expecting to buy some pork, like a Boston butt, to smoke.  However, as I stared into the glass case, I saw brisket points.  My mind began to race. Do I want to do brisket?  How long had it been since I smoked a brisket? What I can I do with brisket point? I decided to answer that last question with a quick Google search.  The answer was simple: burnt ends. The quintessential Kansas City barbecue.

The history of burnt ends begins with that packer brisket. Some pitmasters removed and set aside the brisket points. The points were, so thought the pitmasters, too fatty to serve, caramelized and burnt.  The pitmasters and restaurants, like Arthur Bryant's, set aside the points and ends on the counter, offering them as a treat to customers while they waited for their brisket sandwiches. Customers ate  those fatty, caramelized pieces of brisket.  One such customer, a food writer and Kansas City native, Calvin Trillin, wrote, "I dream about those burnt ends."  Trillin further dubbed Arthur Bryant's "the best single restaurant in the world." After that, some restaurants took notice, and, collected the end pieces to sauce them once more time and serve them on bread.  Burnt ends made it on to menus and are now as BBQ as the brisket sandwiches themselves.

Although I have not made it to Kansas City (yet) or had the opportunity to eat at KC BBQ joints like Arthur Bryant's (yet), I have had burnt ends.  Those barbecue joints that are closer to where I live, and who strive to provide different kinds of barbecue, inevitably have burnt ends on the menu.  This at least gave me some idea of what the end result should look like.  Now, I had to try to make it myself.

Overall, I think that my first effort at making burnt ends was successful. It may not have been Arthur Bryant's successful, but it was amateur pitmaster in the Mid-Atlantic successful. The burnt ends had the smoke rings, along with some of the expected caramelization and bark that defines these little one-bite wonders. If there was anything that I could improve upon,  I think that the burnt ends could have been a little more caramelized.  That might require some additional time in the smoker at the end, or,m some refinement to the sauce recipe.

(You can learn a lot more about burnt ends from Burnt Legend, the Story of Burnt Ends, available at PBS.) 

KANSAS CITY STYLE BURNT ENDS

Recipe adapted for Brisket and Sauce from Hey Grill Hey

Serves several

Ingredients (for the Burnt Ends):

1 6 to 8 pound brisket point

2 teaspoons coarse ground kosher salt

2 teaspoons coarse ground black pepper

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 cup beef stock

1 cup Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce (see below)

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

Ingredients (for the Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce):

14 ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 cup ketchup

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup molasses

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

Directions:

1.  Prepare the cook.  Preheat the smoker to 225 degrees Fahrenheit using wood charcoal.  

2.  Prepare the brisket point.  combine the salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Shake liberally on all sides of the brisket point.

3.  Smoke the brisket point.  Place the brisket point in the smoker, close the lid and smoke until the internal temperature of the meat reads 165 degrees Fahrenheit.  This step usually takes 6 to 8 hours depending upon the size and thickness of the meat.  Spritz with 1 cup of beef stock every hour during the initial smoke period. 

4.  Continue smoking the brisket point.  Once the brisket reaches 165 degrees, wrap tightly in butcher paper (or aluminum foil) and return to the smoker.  Smoke until the internal temperature reaches 195 degrees and then remove to a cutting board.  This typically takes another three hours

5.  Make the sauce.  Combine all of the ingredients in a medium sauce pan.  Whisk to combine.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for 20 minutes.  Allow to cook completely before transferring to an air tight container.  You can refrigerate it overnight to get the best flavor. 

6.  Create the brisket ends.  Once the temperature of the meat reaches 195  degrees Fahrenheit, unwrap the meat and drain any liquid into an aluminum pan.  Cut the brisket point into cubes about 1 1/2 inches thick.  Place the cubes into the aluminum pan and toss with the BBQ sauce and brown sugar.  Work quickly during this step to prevent your brisket from cooling down too much.

7.  Finish the cook.  Set the uncovered pan back on the smoker and close the lid.  Continue smoking at 225 degrees Fahrenheit for 1-2 more hours, or until the burnt ends have started to absorb the BBQ sauce and caramelize on all sides and are very tender.

ENJOY!

Mesquite Smoked Bison Brisket

It is always a good thing to challenge yourself.  One of my most recent challenges was to smoke a brisket.  I have smoked a beef brisket in the past.  While smoking a brisket is always a challenge (at least for me), I wanted to up the ante.  I decided that I would smoke a bison brisket.  

The challenge came together as my beautiful Angel and I were returning from a wedding in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  We were driving down the Interstate, looking for an exit that would take us to a bison farm in Monkton, Maryland.  I had told Clare about this Gunpowder Bison & Trading Company, which is a bison farm where you could watch the bison and buy various cuts of bison meat.  Clare really wanted to see the bison, so we decided to stop at the farm.  I also decided to purchase a bison brisket.  This gave rise to my latest barbecue challenge ... and it was quite the challenge.

Smoking a brisket is difficult enough.  The primary concern is ensuring that that the brisket remains moist throughout the smoking process.  When you use a beef brisket, you at least have a fat cap that can help in that regard.  Bison meat is much leaner than beef, which means I could not rely upon fat to help ensure that the brisket retained its moisture.

I debated about using an injection.  I thought about injecting beef stock, beer or even butter into the brisket to help maintain its moisture.  I have watched many an episode of Barbecue Pitmasters, where pitmasters take large syringe-like injectors and repeatedly poke a piece of meat to insert some liquid.  Ultimately, I decided against an injection.  Instead, I would use a combination of techniques.  First, I would try a wet smoke, using a substantial amount of liquid in the bowl, which would convert to steam and rise to keep the meat moist.  Second, I decided to wrap the meat after a couple of hours of cooking.  I realized that wrapping the meat would affect the bark that otherwise would develop.  In the end, the choice between bark and moisture, I chose the moisture.  Finally, I decided to cook the bison brisket for 2/3 of the time that I would ordinarily cook a beef brisket.  This would help prevent the brisket from drying out.

Finally, I decided to use mesquite wood for the smoking.  Mesquite is a wood that is traditionally used to smoke briskets, particularly in Texas. 

In the end, I think this challenge went well.  The brisket was moist, although a longer cooking time could have helped to make the brisket a little more tender.  The salt and pepper was just the right seasoning, and, I had just enough mesquite smoke to flavor the brisket.  This brisket was not perfect, but it was definitely a great start.  I will definitely be making this recipe again and I will update this recipe accordingly.  

MESQUITE SMOKED BISON BRISKET

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves many

Ingredients:
1 bison brisket (about 3 pounds)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Mesquite wood
8 cups of water
3 bottles of beer (such as Shiner Bock)

Directions:

1.  Prepare the brisket.  Trim and prepare the brisket.  Season the brisket liberally with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Make sure all sides of the brisket are seasoned.  Wrap the brisket in plastric wrap and refrigerate it overnight.

2.  Prepare the smoker.  Prepare a chimney and light it.  Once the coals are ready, add them to the smoker.  Add the water and beer to the liquid bowl and place that over the fire. Bring the temperature up to 200 to 225 degrees Fahrenheit.  If the temperature exceeds 225 degrees, bring the temperature down to that level. 

3.  Smoke the brisket.  Place the brisket in the smoker, fat side up.  Smoke the brisket for about 2/3 of the time that you would ordinarily smoke a beef brisket (one hour per pound instead of an hour and a half per pound).  After about two hours, wrap the brisket in foil.  Smoke the brisket for about another hour.  For a beef brisket, you want to reach a temperature of at least 180 degrees.  For a bison brisket, I pulled it out once the temperature reached about 160 degrees. 

4.  Finish the dish. Remove the brisket from the smoker and allow it to sit for at least twenty minutes.  Slice and serve immediately. 

A smoked brisket, whether beef or bison, always calls for a nice beer.  I would serve this brisket with the remainder of the six pack of Shiner Bock that I bought to smoke the meat.  

ENJOY!

Texas Barbecue Brisket

I love all forms of barbecue.   If I have the option, I always get the barbecue sampler or platter, with two or three different types of 'cue (pulled pork, brisket, links, ribs, chicken, etc.).  However, if that option is unavailable, then there is a definite order to how I order barbecue.  I almost always go with pulled pork, especially if it is done in an Eastern Carolina style.  I think that it is because that represents the one type of barbecue that I have the least access to ... eastern Carolina whole hog barbecue.  The order continues with brisket, ribs and then chicken.

My preference for pulled pork also carries over to my own smoking.  I usually smoke pork shoulders, such as when I made Big Bob Gibson's Eight Time World Championship Pork Shoulder or my own Raging Pig Pulled Pork.  While I have also made smoked salmon and smoked mullet, I have not really ventured into smoking other types of meat.  I did try to smoke a brisket once, but I would hardly describe it a success, let alone "blog-worthy." So, I decided that I would try to smoke a brisket once again.  

Brisket is synonymous with Texas barbecue.  There are four, distinct types of Texas barbecue: Eastern, Central, Southern and Western.  One of the things that differentiate these types of barbecue is the wood: Eastern Texas barbecue uses hickory wood, while central Texas barbecue uses indirect grilling over oak wood and western Texas barbecue uses more direct grilling over mesquite wood.  As I looked at my bags of wood, I realized that I had a lot of mesquite wood.  So, I decided to smoke the brisket in the Western Texas style (i.e., using mesquite wood), but with some inspiration and techniques drawn from the Central Texas style, such as indirect grilling.

I immediately realized that I was behind the proverbial eight-ball.  Generally speaking, when one smokes a brisket, they should use a "packer cut."  This is the cut of the brisket that includes the fatty point of the meat.  Most grocery stores sell the flat cut, which does not include the fatty point.  As I stared down at the brisket on the cutting board, I realized that I had a flat cut.  I knew that I would have to adjust cooking temperatures to ensure that the brisket would not dry out.  Low and slow would have to be lower and slower. 

One can do only so much with a flat cut.  While I got a great smoke ring, the meat was still a little dry. I kept the temperatures between 225 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit (and, for most of the smoke, it was at the lower end).  Still, cooking is about trial and error, that is the only why you learn.  I've already got information on where I can get a packer cut.  So, the next time, it will be different ....  

TEXAS BARBECUE BRISKET

Adapted from Obsessive Compulsive BBQ and 

inspired by Aaron Franklin's advice in Food & Wine

Serves Many

Ingredients:

1 brisket (preferably a packer cut)

1/4 cup of freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup of kosher salt

Vegetable or canola oil.

Directions:

1.  Prepare the brisket.  Trim any excess fat off of the top side (the meat side) of the brisket.  Brush a little vegetable oil or canola oil on the top side of the brisket, as well as the sides of the meat.  There is no need to brush any oil on the fat side.  Apply the salt and pepper rub to the top side of the brisket and all of the sides. 

2.  Prepare the fire.  Place a few chunks of wood in a bucket full of water. Start a chimney and prepare a fire in the bottom of the smoker.  Once the temperature reaches the range between 225 degrees and 250 degrees Fahrenheit, add a couple chunks of mesquite wood.  

3.   Smoke the brisket.  Add the brisket, fat side down, and close the smoker.  The brisket is going to cook for at least 1 hour to 1 1/4 hours per pound, until the brisket reaches approximately 185 degrees Fahrenheit.   I used a five pound brisket, so I was looking at about six hours total.  After about half of the smoke time, combine about 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 of Worcestershire sauce in a sprayer and spritz the brisket.  As an alternative, use a basting mop and just delicately baste the meat.  Whatever you do, do not cause the rub to run off of the brisket.  Make sure that the temperature stays within the 225-250 degree range throughout the cooking time.  You can also add a couple more mesquite chunks, but be cautious with the wood.   Too much wood may result in an "over-smoking" of the meat, with the brisket seeming like it had been bathed in Liquid Smoke.

4.  Rest the brisket.  After the cooking time, let the brisket rest for at least forty-five minutes, if not an hour.  Slice the brisket against the grain.

PAIRING THIS RECIPE

Obviously, the best thing that goes with barbecue -- at least for me -- is beer.  When one thinks of Texas, thoughts turn not only to brisket, but to Shiner Bock.  Other beers work just as well, such as a pale ale or a pilsner.  

ENJOY!