[bluesman]

Serious eats posted this example of bunt ends of brisket.



Man vs. Food - Kansas City BBQ - Destroyer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuvsyoKl3Wo

Enjoy!  

[gordonstrong]

Needs sauce.  But yeah.  Some honest food there.

[johnf]

I guess a true burnt end is just what is left on the board after you slice a brisket. Back in the day (like before my time) you could request these on your plate at a restaurant. Calvin Trillin wrote an article I think in the 70s about how good burnt ends were and, voila, everyone started asking for them. Problem is, you get a portion of burnt ends off of an entire brisket that serves 20 people. So restaurants in KC do set out to make burnt ends and they are on the menu everywhere. A modern KC burnt end can be any part of the brisket but is often the point (this makes good sense as the point makes really fatty slices anyway). Most of them have the KC style (sweet tomato based and thick) sauce on them in great quantity. I know Smokin' Gun's serves them without sauce, can't think of another where they come that way. When I make brisket, I typically do burnt ends from the point for the reason above, I don't like point slices. They also seem to reheat better than slices.

[nicneufeld]

Meh, just give me good honest brisket that is properly done, and it should have enough crust on the edges anyway.  Burnt ends are fine but I tend to go for normal brisket, or sausage.  And KC style sauce is not as sweet as popular wisdom says, impressions being often drawn from commercial sauces that claim to be "KC style".  That molasses-thick stuff you get at your grocery store isn't the real/good stuff!  Gates Original and Extra Hot for example are thinner and have some great zip to them...

Oh, and Oklahoma Joe's?  Way, way, way overrated.  Their food to me is average/mediocre (overly sweet and funky tasting sauce, average meat, way too much salt on fries) but what sealed my dislike for them is how they are perceived to be the best KC BBQ by outsiders (Anthony Bourdain et al), when they are more a competition BBQ team turned storefront that happens to be in Kansas City than indicative of traditional Kansas City BBQ.  Arthur Bryants and Gates are the progenitors, and I'm also fond of Fiorellas Jack Stack and LC's (his brisket is perfection!).  And a few other little tiny shops...some of them are one room shacks with cookers outside, but they do good food.

[bluesman]

I guess a true burnt end is just what is left on the board after you slice a brisket.

Well it is in my house anyway. 

There's nothing that goes to waste from a good smoked brisket.

[bluesman]

Arthur Bryants and Gates are the progenitors, and I'm also fond of Fiorellas Jack Stack and LC's (his brisket is perfection!).  And a few other little tiny shops...some of them are one room shacks with cookers outside, but they do good food.

Have you been to AB's or Gates?

I've been told they are the best around. 

[redbeerman]

Serious eats posted this example of bunt ends of brisket.



Man vs. Food - Kansas City BBQ - Destroyer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuvsyoKl3Wo

Enjoy!  

What's that white stuff on the left side of the plate?  Bread, you say?   Doesn't look like anything I'd eat.  Where I live bread has a crispy crust and gives you a bit of a fight when you bite into it.

[bluesman]

What's that white stuff on the left side of the plate?  Bread, you say?   Doesn't look like anything I'd eat.  Where I live bread has a crispy crust and gives you a bit of a fight when you bite into it.

Yea...reminds me of the stuff my mother use to pack in my lunch when I was a youngster. 

[euge]

I guess a true burnt end is just what is left on the board after you slice a brisket.

Well it is in my house anyway. 

There's nothing that goes to waste from a good smoked brisket.

Not s crumb or scrap gets wasted. My favorite part is the point, and if I'm not using it for sandwiches it becomes chili. When I smoke a brisket a lot of the fat gets rendered out.

That white thing is just there to wipe yer fingers on and feed to the dog...

[nicneufeld]

Have you been to AB's or Gates?

I've been told they are the best around. 

Yeah, I'm not as sold on Arthur Bryants myself.  Sauce just doesn't win me over.  I've heard it went downhill a bit but I've only been in KC since the late 80s.  Gates however I quite like!

I get a decent amount of BBQ just from being at work, whenever we receive out of town/country guests the company always tends to get BBQ for them since its a KC thing.

Oh, and white bread?  THAT is authentic...the cheaper the better!  Makes a nice bed for a pile of smoked italian sausage with pickles and sauce.  I like serious, real bread as much as the next guy but cheap processed white bread is just right for BBQ.  It's there to sop up meat juices and sauce and basically fuse to your plate.   

[nicneufeld]

There's nothing that goes to waste from a good smoked brisket.

Except for that, what, 20% of weight loss that occurs during smoking?

I wonder if you used a drip pan and saved the melted out fat, strained it and purified it slightly.  Would it make a good cooking fat?  Like rendered bacon lard, except...well....awesomer?

[euge]

There's nothing that goes to waste from a good smoked brisket.

Except for that, what, 20% of weight loss that occurs during smoking?

I wonder if you used a drip pan and saved the melted out fat, strained it and purified it slightly.  Would it make a good cooking fat?  Like rendered bacon lard, except...well....awesomer?

I use a drip pan. What's left is pretty nasty.

The amount of fat collected off a single rack of ribs is alarming. A brisket even more so. For a BBQ grill session some fat on the coals is a good thing. In a 12 hour smoke this becomes a problem, causing weird smells and uneven coal-burning in the BGE.

[deepsouth]

what's cookin' on the grill this weekend?  here is what i've got planned....

friday..... fried mississippi pond raised catfish and french fries  (not grilled, but what the hey!)

saturday..... fresh salmon and crab stuffed potatoes

sunday..... st. louis spares, smoked bologna, and i'm grinding up lamb and the cutoffs of the spare ribs and making ground lamb/pork

it's going to be a smokin' weekend.

[tygo]

friday..... fried mississippi pond raised catfish and french fries  (not grilled, but what the hey!)

How do you do your catfish?  I tried it once recently and I ended up with something that tasted like fried, overly greasy breading.  I think I put the fish in the pan too early but is there anything you do to bump up the flavor?

[bluesman]

what's cookin' on the grill this weekend?  here is what i've got planned....

friday..... fried mississippi pond raised catfish and french fries  (not grilled, but what the hey!)

saturday..... fresh salmon and crab stuffed potatoes

sunday..... st. louis spares, smoked bologna, and i'm grinding up lamb and the cutoffs of the spare ribs and making ground lamb/pork

it's going to be a smokin' weekend.

Sounds good to me.

I was pondering this very question. I dunno...maybe a spatchcocked chicken with a pesto sauce. 

The forecast calls for rain tomorrow but Sunday's looking like a good Qday.