Weber Grilled Brisket Burnt Ends

Another day to smoke. This time my favorite piece of meat, burnt ends made from a brisket. Since I'm going back to work on the road after retiring for the past year, I need to brush up a little on my 22" weber skills. Bringing it along to feed myself and crew. Will be working installing electronic systems on new airport traffic control towers and other FAA electronic systems. Retirement has reached the boring state. You can only golf and fish so much. Guess I'm too young and in too good of health to retire.

Burnt Ends,

......"Burnt ends are amazingly flavorful bite-size crispy cubes. Originally they were simply edges and ends that were overcooked, sort of fried in their own natural fat, and trimmed off and munched by the kitchen staff. If there were any leftover, they were given away for free."........

Starts with a good cut of brisket. I got this choice-grade packer from Smart & Final for $2.50/lb for $26. Look for a brisket that has hard white fat. The white fat means the cow was fattened up before being processed. Yellow fat means the cow was grass fed only and will have less marbling thus leaner, tuffer and drier. "Beef fat rules more than pork fat". The burnt ends are usually made from the point part of the brisket. The other part is the flat which is used for slicing into sandwiches. I cut this brisket about in half saving as much of the point as I could. From the first picture you can see the point on the bottom and the flat on the top. They are seperated by a thin layer of fat. I'm smoking the piece on the left with the most point. The other piece on the right I'm saving for another day and another recipe. NEVER cut any of the fat off before cooking a brisket. Only remove the fat after it has cooked.



The day before rub the brisket with Big Bad Beef Rub, wrap in plastic wrap then aluminum foil and place in the frig for a day.

Big Bad Beef Rub
2 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons table salt
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons mustard powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili or ancho powder

Next day at 0800 fire up the weber with 20 unlit coals in a basket on one side of the weber and place 20 lite coals on top. Place brisket on the other side with a small pan of water and another pan to catch the drippings. Place about 4 oz of hickory on coals. Add 5 coals and more wood every 45 minutes until the meat reaches 150-5 degrees about 3-4 hours. Rotate the meat 90 degrees each time. Weber grill starts off at 400 degrees and goes down after a few hours to 325-350. I like to cook at high temp cuz its faster. I'm no good at the all nite cooking. Start to finish is about 7 hours.




Next put the brisket in a pan with enough beef broth mixed with leftover rub to cover the bottom 1/2". Seal the pan with aluminum foil and place back on the weber or in the oven at 275 degrees. Remove when temperature reaches 190 degrees.



Cool for 30 minutes. Pour the juice from the pan and seperate out the oil. Save. Then seperate the point from the flat. Remove all fat saving a little to put in with the burnt ends pan. Cut both the point and flat into 1" squares.



In an aluminum pan add the meat squares with a little of the beef juices, some cut up blackened fat and 1/4 cup BBQ sauce.



While doing the above add 5-10 coals to get the weber fire going again. Add some more wood and put the pan with the meat over the coals. Put weber lid back on. Every 15 minutes scape and turn meat over. Do not burn but it should carmelize black ends. Continue doing this over the next 1 1/2 hours adding wood and 5 coals one more time. While cooking add more juice and BBQ sauce if it gets too dry.



Eat as nuggets or serve on a bun with slaw.






[Edited on 3-2-2012 by Lobsterman]

Thanks... the last shot makes my mouth water...

The "scraps" on the tinfoil got my attention. Have never seen a cubed brisket before.

LOL! simple meal! I struggle with ramen

Well said, Mikey. I do agree.

Hello JOe... ya might want to "study up" on investigative techniques ... but, hey ... it alway's has worked before ... HUH !!!!

How one would move from a great looking piece of cooked meat into accusations ...

Know ya said you would not be posting in OT, ... but, appears you just moved the "game" to me ...

No worries ... as most can take care of themselfs quite well IMHO ...

Thanks again lobsterman ... for some great looking food, along with instruction for some of us, who aren't as good at it as you appear to be ...

Did ya learn that in Nam ... .. good for you ...

Lobsterman, Thanks. I have never considered burnt ends as a end product. I will now.

JJJ, You have a major case of being petty. You have a problem with somebody on another thread and you have to attack him over food! It's just a Baja bulletin board, maybe a enema will help.
MMc

i like this guy already! anyone who uses Sweet Baby Ray's sauce is i first rate chef. i found that magic sauce on the west side of Chicago at a neighborhood block party and was sold.

joejustjoe-justgo....

edit: and if the guy has a spot at Kellogg's beach, when's the party!!!!

[Edited on 3-4-2012 by woody with a view]

Bumper stickers are in the printer.

Lobsterman, Thanks for the recipe. Looks good!

Joe,

Why do you think I called it Big Bad Beef Rub. That's its name. You can find variations of this basic rub all over the internet. Its the best basic beef rub I've tried and a starting point to add additional spices to the taste you are looking for. All chef's and wantabe chefs like myself do that. Guess you're not a cook. Guess I should have called "Bad Joes Beef Rub" to feed your ego.

I posted the basic BBB rub recipe understanding the reader will use it or improve upon it. When I posted this recipe I did not mention I added 2 more tbsp of ground chilpote powder to the BBB rub for additional heat and its wonder flavor. It's $8 for a small bottle and most places do not carry it. Also used less black pepper. Plus added 1/2 cup brown sugar with more rub before I placed the brisket on the grill. When I 1st cook an item like a brisket, pork shoulder, etc. I research the internet for the recipes from proven cooks then adapt them to my taste or past experiences. I might take a rub from this cook, a smoking method from another cook, an injection recipe from another, a mop from another and so on usually modifying each with additions and subtractions of an item(s).. But altogether the posted recipe is a cooking method for that particular piece of meat on that day and time. I never cook the same recipe the same way twice, never. Before I forget what I've done that day I document it with pics and a narrative. I'll post it on Bloodydeck's website to store for me if I like how the recipe turned out.. I've deleted more recipes than I post because I was not happy with the results. Sometimes I give it another try with improvements.

Who wants to brine a roast or turkey for 2 days, inject for another day, apply a rub then smoke it for 18 hours and find out it tastes awful because it has too much of ....... I'm an engineer by trade. I've smart enough to ask someone how to do something that they have more expertise in than me. I'll try their method but then say when I do this again I'm going to do this to improve apon the results.

Notice I cooked the brisket starting at 400 degrees and used the minion charcoal method on a 22" weber kettle grill. Find me a smoked brisket recipe that starts at a temperature of 400 degrees or a pork shoulder at 500 degrees. Should I say thank you to minion. For a novice cook like yourself the minion charcoal method is placing unlit coals on the bottom of your charcoal tray and placing hot lit coals on top. How many unlit and lit coals you start with depends on the time and temperature of your recipe and the cooking vessel. I use almost a bag of charcoal on a WSM but only a 1/3 of that or less on a grill. That way the coals burn from top to bottom and extend the life of that charcoal batch. Additional unlit coals and wood chunks are placed on top of the lit coals periodically depending on the temperature you are trying to achieve and when the meat is done. That method is mentioned in the Weber Smokey Mountain book. I have a WSM but I prefer a weber 22" grill instead because it cooks faster at a higher heat and puts on a nice carmelized burnt outer crust for pulled pork or brisket.

I like to document what I cook and the different spices and methods I used that day so I can reproduce them in the future. I go back to them occassionally and update them as i perfect them better or for a different taste.

So yes they are my recipes because I documented them in a way I can remember what I did that day and so almost anyone else can reproduce them. And yes parts of every recipe I have gleened the knowledge of other cooks whether professional, next door neighbor like the congri' recipe or family like my mom's pound cake or my cousin from Mobile, AL redneck gumbo or believe it or not ME!

Keep digging. I'm enjoying the intellectual discusion we are having.

And what's with the house thing. It's my house. I bought it in 1998. What more can I say. I'm not giving you its address for obvious reasons. It's in most of my recipes and the side of the house you can see my cooking tools
(1) Weber Smoky Mountain smoker,
(1) electric small frig-type smoker for fish
(1) gas safe-type smoker for 30 lb turkeys
(1) dual burner stove ( 30k & 60k BTU burners)
(1) weber Genisis gas grill
(2) 22" weber charcoal grills
I use the 22" weber 90% of the time because I believe it can out smoke and out grill all the others.

here's a pic i just took of the grill I smoked the brisket on. I have not moved or cleaned it yet. I put a lite out there so I can smoke all nite.



Here's a pic of 1/3 the fish we caught this morning. Sorry you could not make it. We caught 25 small rockfish & sculpin between 0730 and 0930 and called it a day. Did not even try for lingcod cuz had enough for dinner for the three of us. First time out this year cuz season just opened. We fished at the Whistler Bouy about 4 miles due south of San Diego Bay. Notice today's paper Sunday 3/4. I'm sure you know the Aztecs won and are MW champs again. Go Aztecs. Guess this is not halibut Bob's house. Sorry to disappoint you. You can these pics on PhotoBucket if you want.




You did not mention if you want to go fishing with me. The offer stands. Nice chatting with you detective.

Halibut Howie

[Edited on 3-5-2012 by Lobsterman]

Nice try JOe... no "traction" HERE !!!

Looks some folks really do like to cook ... and by the way ... that is some kinda of set up ...

My Dad used to "smoke" just about everything ... for sure, salmon, bonita, YT and a few others he and/or we caught... and he was big on the BBQ too ... liked using "hard wood" ... his second job was working in a cabniet shop ... lots of "scraps" which he would bring home for the "fire"... and the smoker in the back yard...

Keep them coming ... great stuff...

And hope ya do ok on the lingcod, that's a good eating fish...

[Edited on 3-5-2012 by wessongroup]