I have been wanting a big plate of burnt ends but haven’t had the time to deal with a whole brisket.

That’s okay…there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Here is what I did to make a fast batch of pretty tasty “burnt ends”. 

Boneless Beef Short Ribs from Costco

Instead of using a brisket point I picked up a three pound pack of boneless beef short ribs from Costco.

The ribs had nice marbling and were about an inch thick.

I cut the beef ribs into cubes, approximately one inch, before cooking so they would cook faster and have more surface are to soak up flavors from the rub and smoke.

I used a great competition brisket rub for this recipe, The Most Powerful Stuff, from Rod Grey of the Pellet Envy barbecue team.  You can find the link to buy this rub and see a few other amazing competition brisket rubs here.

If you want to make your own dry rub then you can start with this recipe:

• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/2 cup black pepper
• 1/2 cup smoked paprika
• 1/4 cup turbinado sugar
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1 tsp Accent (MSG)

Season the cubed beef ribs liberally and wait at least 30 minutes to let the rub work into the meat.

Smoke the Beef for an Hour

I smoked these on my Weber kettle using indirect high heat but you can do this on your Traeger, Pit Boss or pellet grill of choice running at 275-300F.

If you are using a kettle then bank about two thirds of a chimney of lit charcoal on the left side of the grill and place the meat cubes on the right side of the cooking grate.  Place the top air vent over the meat and close the lid. for indirect high heat.

I had the beef cubes sitting on a mesh tray for easy handling but in hindsight it wasn’t needed.  It was also a pain in the neck to get the tray clean afterwards so I suggest cooking directly on the grate or in a foil pan.

I used a chunk of apple for smoke flavor but hickory or pecan would be great as well.

The beef cubes were smoked with apple using indirect high heat for an hour.  The rub set up nicely and I was surprised at how much bark they took on.

The beef smelled glorious at this point!

Sauce and Foil the Cubes

After an hour on the smoker the cubes were transferred to a foil pan and tossed with the following:

• 1 bottle (20 ounces) Head Country Hot and Spicy barbecue sauce
• 1 stick melted butter
• 3 tbls honey

Get the meat coated on all sides.

Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and get the pan back on the smoker.

Let the meat simmer in the sauce for another 90 minutes.  Check on the burnt ends every 20 minutes or so to give them a little stir.  You want to keep them mixed up so they don’t scorch.  There is a big difference between “burnt ends” and “bitter and nasty charred ends”

 

Are Fast Burnt Ends as Good as Brisket Burnt Ends?

These quick burnt ends were delicious but the big question is, “Are they as good as traditional brisket burnt ends?”

I am going to give you a Yes and No answer.

If you served these fast burnt ends side by side with ones made from a brisket point then I would take the ones made from the point any day of the week. No, these burnt ends are not as good as what you would get from a brisket point.

But, on the flip side, I had no intention of spending all day messing with a brisket.  Given the fact that It only took two and a half hours to make up a big plate of burnt ends that were perfectly acceptable I think that it makes them better than ones from brisket.