CHUCK ROAST BURNT ENDS

Often called Poor Man’s Burnt Ends, these Chuck Roast Burnt Ends are actually my favourite way to make burnt ends. There’s nothing poor about them to be honest. Is there any beef that’s poor man’s any more? Chuck is very similarly priced to brisket. But as you can get chuck portions quite small (around 0.5 kg/1 lb through to chuck roast 2.5kg/5 lb sizes), they don’t take anywhere near as long as a full brisket to smoke. Maybe they should be called Time Poor Man’s Burnt Ends?

Burnt Ends originated in Kansas City BBQ as a freely given away treat while guests waited for their “real” brisket. Made traditionally from the point muscle of a full brisket, the point is separated from the flat and cubed and cooked once again with BBQ sauce until gelatinous and squishy.

Honestly, I’ve had competition quality brisket burnt ends and this Chuck Roast Burnt Ends version stands up really well. With a couple of tricks up your sleeve, your family or guests could mistake your dining table for a Kansas City BBQ joint.

affordable and available

Just like my first post (pork chops) chuck “steaks” or chuck roasts are super affordable and readily available at your local grocery store or supermarket as well as any good butcher. You might need to give your butcher a heads up though as they might have all their chuck earmarked for the grinder!

The chuck area of a cow is the shoulder and neck region, above the brisket. There’s lots of “hidden gem steaks” in the chuck if butchered right. Flat iron, Denver, Teres Major are just some. Any version of Chuck steak or chuck roast is just chuck. I mainly use smaller chuck steaks for my burnt ends. They cook quicker and I have no problems keeping them moist and tender with this method.