Posted 5 months ago by Matt from Burning Embers BBQ

baby brisket

While looking for a full sized brisket at my local butchers, I came across this baby brisket. At only 1.2kg (around 2.5 pound) cut from flat/point, I wondered how it would go in the smoker. Could I start smoking in the morning (at a decent time, no 4AM wake up here) and have it well and truly ready by dinner time? Could it be as smoky, as barky, as tender and as juicy as a full sized brisket if I managed everything well and used some ”enhanced” brisket techniques? I just had to find out. Full disclosure – it was a very well marbled wagyu cross brisket, and it would be tricky doing a brisket of this size in the smoker and having juicy results!

perfect for brisket burgers for a small family

If this works out at 1.2kg (around 2.5 lb) there’s enough in this baby brisket to easily fill four brisket burgers as well as have spare. Once it cooked down there was around 700 grams (around 1.5 lb) of cooked brisket, and because it was small there was a deliciously generous bark/meat ratio!

I’m loving using my Akorn Jr kamado style smoker, so I tossed this baby brisket on there. With the lump charcoal I placed some pecan chunks and some hickory chips.

Brisket (especially one so small) isn’t a forgiving or easy cut to work with, but don’t let that intimidate you. Nor should you let the many steps noted below intimidate you either. While there’s a lot of steps none of them are particularly difficult, and with the right tools and care I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the results.

smoked beef short ribs

I’ll just get this right out of the way. Smoked Beef Short Ribs are probably my favourite BBQ, ever. I’ll never forget the first time I made them though. I was so keen to eat them that I pulled them out too early, and they were mostly tough and sinewy. They aren’t that difficult to get right, but the MOST important thing is to not undercook them!!

There’s a few different kind of beef ribs that you can get depending on how they’re butchered.

Back Ribs (AKA “Shiners”) – these are IMO the least desirable beef ribs. There’s just not that much meat on them usually. These are often braised and slow cooked.
Chuck Ribs – these have much more meat than back ribs, but have a smaller bone. I don’t find them quite as juicy when cooked well, so my assumption is they have slightly less intramuscular fat.
Asado Ribs – rather than the ribs being cut perpendicular to the bone, Asado Ribs are cut thinly across the bone. This cut is common in South America. Each Asado Rib portion will have several thin slices of bone through them.
Wang Galbi Ribs – native to Korean BBQ, each bone in piece is filleted or flanked and then folded around the bone and then grilled quickly.
Plate Ribs – now we’re talking!! Big dinosaur boned, juicy smoky and barky Plate Ribs (drool), my favourite style to smoke and what you’ll see on this post..

Beef Shorties = life

To get that almost black and crunchy bark, it’s simply salt and pepper that’s needed but I put a touch of garlic and onion powder on too. I’ll be smoking these on my Akorn Kamado charcoal smoker, and I’ll pair the lumpwood charcoal with pecan and sugar gum chunks for flavour. They are both mild flavoured but with enough chunks in there (the ratio was probably 3 charcoal/1 flavour wood) I should get plenty of smoke on these.

The smell of these smoking is just divine; be prepared for the entire neighbourhood to want to know what’s going on!

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.