Burnt Ends
For a long time now I’ve been reading posts on burnt ends but they all used the brisket point as a meat source. Since both Miss Linda and I hate fat and make a point of always trimming it off any meat on our plates, I had absolutely no desire to cook up something like a brisket point and cube it up into bite size chunks of fatty meat.
Lately, however, there have been more and more posts about using different cuts of meats for burnt ends.
As it turned out, I had a piece of uncooked meat (already rubbed and sitting in the fridge) left over after my stuffed loin smoke. Coincidence? I think not.
I fired up the MES and filled the AMNPS with pecan. As soon as the MES was sitting at 235* and the pecan smoking nicely, the meat went into the smoker.
After about 1 ¾ hours the IT was sitting at 140 to 145* (depending on thickness) so, after cranking the MES to maximum temp and refilling the AMNPS with hickory pellets, I pulled it and headed into the kitchen. I cut the meat into chunks (couldn’t really call them cubes) and tossed them with more rub, making sure all sides were coated. I chose Honey/Garlic BBQ sauce, as that is Miss Linda’s favorite, giving each piece a good coating. At this point in the proceedings, I felt obligated to perform a quality test. The meat was unbelievably tender, except for the thinner pieces. Then it was back out to the smoker.
Since tenderness was no longer an issue and I didn’t really expect much canalization, I decided to just leave the meat in the smoker long enough to really set up the BBQ sauce. As it turned out, supper wasn’t ready for another 2 hours, so that’s how long the chunks stayed in the MES. I brought them in when it was time to plate the meat, along with the rice and corn.
The burnt ends were FANTASTIC!!!!! Miss Linda said they were delicious and basically demanded that the next time I made burnt ends—which better be soon—a much larger piece of meat would be in order. With so many cuts available containing little, or easily trimmed fat, my options are unlimited.
Burnt ends are now our 3[sup]rd[/sup] favorite meat to come out of the smoker—pulled pork and pork loin/tenderloin being Numbers 1 and 2. I still can’t get over how good burnt ends are!! If you haven't tried them yet, all I can say is DO IT. You won't regret it, and will wonder, like me, why it took you so long to get around to it.
My only regret is that, since I wasn’t expecting anything this good, I only took a few pictures.
Thanks for looking
Gary
For a long time now I’ve been reading posts on burnt ends but they all used the brisket point as a meat source. Since both Miss Linda and I hate fat and make a point of always trimming it off any meat on our plates, I had absolutely no desire to cook up something like a brisket point and cube it up into bite size chunks of fatty meat.
Lately, however, there have been more and more posts about using different cuts of meats for burnt ends.
As it turned out, I had a piece of uncooked meat (already rubbed and sitting in the fridge) left over after my stuffed loin smoke. Coincidence? I think not.
I fired up the MES and filled the AMNPS with pecan. As soon as the MES was sitting at 235* and the pecan smoking nicely, the meat went into the smoker.
After about 1 ¾ hours the IT was sitting at 140 to 145* (depending on thickness) so, after cranking the MES to maximum temp and refilling the AMNPS with hickory pellets, I pulled it and headed into the kitchen. I cut the meat into chunks (couldn’t really call them cubes) and tossed them with more rub, making sure all sides were coated. I chose Honey/Garlic BBQ sauce, as that is Miss Linda’s favorite, giving each piece a good coating. At this point in the proceedings, I felt obligated to perform a quality test. The meat was unbelievably tender, except for the thinner pieces. Then it was back out to the smoker.
Since tenderness was no longer an issue and I didn’t really expect much canalization, I decided to just leave the meat in the smoker long enough to really set up the BBQ sauce. As it turned out, supper wasn’t ready for another 2 hours, so that’s how long the chunks stayed in the MES. I brought them in when it was time to plate the meat, along with the rice and corn.
The burnt ends were FANTASTIC!!!!! Miss Linda said they were delicious and basically demanded that the next time I made burnt ends—which better be soon—a much larger piece of meat would be in order. With so many cuts available containing little, or easily trimmed fat, my options are unlimited.
Burnt ends are now our 3[sup]rd[/sup] favorite meat to come out of the smoker—pulled pork and pork loin/tenderloin being Numbers 1 and 2. I still can’t get over how good burnt ends are!! If you haven't tried them yet, all I can say is DO IT. You won't regret it, and will wonder, like me, why it took you so long to get around to it.
My only regret is that, since I wasn’t expecting anything this good, I only took a few pictures.
Thanks for looking
Gary
