So many recipes out there I kind of combined so parts from each. I cubed and smoked at 275 for 2hrs until it hit about 165ish. Then I filed pan with tallow and let go another 2ish hours. Then I pulled them out of tallow, slathered in bbq sauce, brown sugar and a little butter for good measure. They seemed dry. Should I have used a prime or wagyu chuck would that have made the difference?
by BodhiZaffa
17 Comments
Too high heat, not long enough, too much fussing around. You will not get good BBQ if you are cooking based on timing. You will get great bbq if you ignore the clock and know the different stages of the cook and what to look for and about when. When it feels tender and juicy, you’re there! If you skipped the tender and juicy stage completely, you’re either too hot or the meat sucks. Or in your case, just a lot of everything going on. You basically fried them for 2hrs so that could be it too.
Obligatory, use a water pan.
What meat did you use?
I have never made these but I was to do so I would not have cubed the meat before smoking.
I slow cooked a chuck roast once and wasn’t impressed. It came out with the same consistency as a brisket, but I simply didn’t like it. To me, I felt the difference in marbling contributed to this.
So personally, I don’t think the 2 are comparable. But to be fair, I’ve done brisket burnt ends more than once and they were ok, but the bacon/pork belly burnt ends I’ve done have been much better.
I was not a fan either.
What did they temp at the end? 165* leaves a lot of the fat not rendered which can come through as dry or over cooked when it’s actually under cooked.
Chuck is finicky as hell. It goes from moist and tender to dry and stringy in what seems like seconds. Unless I plan to shred it, I only take chuck to about 190-195 to maintain moisture and still be tender
I’ve always used belly for “burnt ends”
You need butter broth or even just water in the pan and you must cover tightly so the steam does not get out easily. 2-3 hours at 275 will tenderize the meat nicely while keeping it moist. Then drain the liquid, glaze and set back in the smoker or for 15 minutes to set the glaze.
They are very much an overrated social media hype thing.
But you need to braise them. Wrap them with some beef broth and let them go until they’re almost shredding. Someone said 275 is too high, which is completely false. Anywhere from 225 to 275 is perfectly fine. Is the braising process that makes them moist and tender. You gotta wrap and let them go with some liquid until they’re tender.
It’s better to start whole then cube after. And put into a pan
I cube up some pork belly if I want burnt ends
If you cube them prior to smoking, you’re going to dry them out much quicker as there’s much more surface area than there should be exposed to heat and smoke. I tend to throw the chuck in whole til it hits 175. After that, I’ll cube it, put in the pan and then butter, sauce, and season. I’ll let it roll for another ninety minutes to two hours and by then it’s pretty close to done.
Use pork instead and bbq at 225. I usually do an hour on grill and then an hour in a covered pan with butter and honey. The last 15 I roll in bbq sauce.
Way too hot for cubed chuck
I leave the chuck whole. 225-275 is fine, just need to wrap it/cover it with some beef broth and let it braise when it hits the stall (155-165 internal) until about 185-190 internal.
At that point, I pull it, cube it, sauce/season it, then throw it back onto the smoker for another hour or two until the pieces are probe tender.
Keeping the cut whole allows for a much better render/slower cook that actually gives the meat fibers time to “let go” or “relax”.
That being said, burnt ends are something you either love or are meh on.
“Poor man’s” burnt ends implies they aren’t as good as regular (rich man’s? Middle class man’s?) burnt ends, which I would agree with. They can still be pretty decent though, but you should cook at a lower temp whole and then cut up and cook them in chunks at the end. Basically the same way you would if you were making financially comfortable man’s burnt ends.