Brisket By-Product: Burnt Ends

Though Texas is known for Brisket, burnt ends are a Kansas City classic. But what are they? Ask the average Kansas Citian and you’d expect a straight answer, but most don’t know what these local delicacies are or where they come from. You’ll hear everything from the “ends” of the brisket that doesn’t get sliced to the “tips” or cut offs of pork spare ribs.
Tangent: “Rib Tips” are well known in St. Louis much like Burnt Ends in Kansas City. Rib Tips are the by-product of pork spare ribs that are cut St. Louis style.

Burnt Ends are brisket, but made from a special part. A whole brisket is made up of two parts: the point and the flat. In the picture above of a whole brisket, the flat is on the top right and point is bottom left. A thick vein of fat seperates the two muscles. The flat slices well and is used for sandwiches and sliced meat platters. The flat is what most people think of when brisket is mentioned. The point is a different muscle on the brisket which is very fatty and chewy. The point doesn’t slice well for sandwiches, so BBQ’ers were stuck trying to figure out what to do with this difficult brisket by-product.

The legend goes that they were created in the 1950’s by KC’s famed BBQ Pitmaster, Author Bryant. Author would cube the point and set it out on the counter as snacks. Before long Author Bryant’s customers were asking for the chewy morsels by request. A new menu item across KC BBQ joints was created: Burnt Ends. How it got the name is unknown to me. The demand for burnt ends is so great that retaurants will cube brisket flat and offer them as the real thing. Other restaurants offer burnt ends as specialty items not listed on the menu. Often they are reserved for the regular customers. I’ve heard of restaurants saving their brisket points for a month and then offering burnt ends once a month while they last. Customers will come in and order 5-10 lbs. at a time to take home. It is widely accepted in Kansas City that Author Bryant’s still serves some of the best burnt ends in Kansas City.

Turning the brisket point into burnt ends requires a double smoke process. The brisket is typically cooked in whole until the flat is between 180-195 degrees. The point and the flat are seperated. The flat is then sliced and served while the point goes back into the pit. The process may vary from pitmaster to pitmaster. My technique is to put the point into a pan with any juices that were captured when slicing the brisket. Since I wrap my brisket in foil during my cook, I often have a cup or two of brisket juice that goes into the pan. The point is full of fat so it can withstand several more hours in the pit. The burnt ends in the final picture were in the pit an additional four and a half hours.

After a couple hours I cube the pointe and return to the pan. During the last hour, most of the remaining liquid is removed and a Kansas City style BBQ sauce is added and returned to the pit to reduce down. The result is a pan full of chewy, smokey burnt ends. Serve KC style on a slice of bread with beans, sweet potato fries and lots of pickles.