# Chuck Roast Burnt Ends?



## morkfrompork (Jun 18, 2015)

Just wondered if anyone chopped up a chuck roast to turn the whole thing into "burnt ends"?

The thought popped into me tiny brain and in a moment of clarity, thought I`d ask before chopping up a perfectly decent hunk of meat and bringing the wrath of the boss on my head.


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## noboundaries (Jun 18, 2015)

That thought pops into ALL our tiny brains, and yes, you can do them.  They are called Faux Burnt Ends and though not quite the burnt end candy of a brisket, they're pretty dang good!  I've only done them a couple times and don't know if there is a better way but here is what I did. 

*Faux Burnt Ends*

On the Smoking Meat Forum website one of the posters used sirloin cut into cubes to make faux burnt ends.  I thought a chuck roast would work just as well.  That's how this recipe came into existence.

Lesson learned from first attempt:  go lightly on the rub.  Uncovered they take a lot longer to get ready than crutched.  Great texture and taste.

*Ingredients*
3.5 lbs chuck roast
extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
brisket rub
Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ sauce or any sauce of choice.
olive oil spray

*Directions*

1. Fire up the smoker with hickory or any wood of choice.  Prep for an initial low chamber heat, 225°F to 235°F. 

2. While the smoker is pre-heating and burning off the white-grey smoke, prep the meat.

3. Cut the chuck roast into 3/4" to 1" cubes and place in a bowl.  Discard any large pieces of fat.

4. Add enough EVOO so when stirring the meat it becomes completely coated.

5. Add your rub lightly and stir to coat the meat.  Add additional rub as necessary but not a lot.

6. Put an 8x10 cooling rack in a 9x13 roasting pan.  Coat the pan and rack with olive oil spray.

7. Dump the meat cubes in the roasting pan and spread out to maximize exposure to the smoke.  Don't worry if they are packed tightly, they shrink.

8. Load the smoker when the hints of blue smoke appear.  

9. Let the meat smoke for at least 3.5 hours.  

10. Take the meat off the smoker, plate the meat, dump out the drippings and scrap the roaster.  Put the meat back in the roaster without the cooling rack and liberally coat with BBQ sauce.  Stir to coat well.

11. Load back on the smoker and let the chamber temperature climb to 275°F.  Finish with a three hour smoke at the higher temp.

12. Remove and serve.













017.JPG



__ noboundaries
__ Apr 6, 2014


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## morkfrompork (Jun 18, 2015)

Many-Mucho Thanks for just about every bit of information needed.

I`m saving this for my attempt.

Thanks for the reply.


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## tumbleweed1 (Aug 4, 2015)

Noboundaries said:


> That thought pops into ALL our tiny brains, and yes, you can do them.  They are called Faux Burnt Ends and though not quite the burnt end candy of a brisket, they're pretty dang good!  I've only done them a couple times and don't know if there is a better way but here is what I did.
> 
> *Faux Burnt Ends*
> 
> ...


I've been wanting to try this myself. Well, chuckies were on sale last night so I got two. I'm giving it a whirl the day after tomorrow. I will post a q-view.

TW


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## jcollins (Aug 4, 2015)

Mmmmmmm that looks very good and easy...


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## tumbleweed1 (Aug 4, 2015)

Question for you, Noboundaries-

I'm considering smoking the chucks whole at about 240 degrees to an IT of around 200 THEN cubing them & putting them in sauce for another hour or two while bumping up the temps to about 275 (hoping to crisp or firm up the "bark"), the idea being that maybe smoking the roasts whole they would cook slower & maybe get more tender.

What do you think?

Were yours plenty tender?

Thanks.

TW


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## badmoont2 (Aug 4, 2015)

Here's a post I did a while ago on using chuck roast for burnt ends.Turned out really well. I tend to do the final step at about 225 so as not to dry them out too much. I want to cook down any juice and caramelize the BBQ sauce. If you have a choice go for the roast with the best marbling. If you have a choice a thicker roast is preferable. Made these at work one time and they were a big hit.


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## morkfrompork (Aug 4, 2015)

Glad to see the interest in this.

The logic part of my head say`s if you do the roast whole, all the bark and smoke is limited to top/bottom and edges-que no?

Cut up would give max bark-n-smoke, or am I missing it?

My first go round with these was a bit of a loser and totally not que view worthy.

Taste was spot on, but I pulled them early and they were on the tough side.

Nerves and lack of confidence were my downfall.

I was so scared of failure, so I failed.

Gonna go at again, maybe next week when it stops raining, pouring everyday.

Any people who do some chuck faux burnt ends, please post and let`s hear you success as well as any fails.

Making me hungry.


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## noboundaries (Aug 4, 2015)

Tumbleweed1 said:


> Question for you, Noboundaries-
> 
> I'm considering smoking the chucks whole at about 240 degrees to an IT of around 200 THEN cubing them & putting them in sauce for another hour or two while bumping up the temps to about 275 (hoping to crisp or firm up the "bark"), the idea being that maybe smoking the roasts whole they would cook slower & maybe get more tender.
> 
> ...


Worth a try.  Yes, mine were tender and juicy.  I put too much rub on them the first time I made them.  And the sauce I used was a little too thick.  That's the picture from above.  Second time I made them I used less rub and thinned the sauce more, with cheap brandy.  They were great!


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## noboundaries (Aug 4, 2015)

MorkFromPork said:


> Glad to see the interest in this.
> 
> The logic part of my head say`s if you do the roast whole, all the bark and smoke is limited to top/bottom and edges-que no?
> 
> ...


The statement in bold above is exactly what I did.  I'm not saying my technique is perfect, but they were pretty good!  Our kids were in town the second time I made them and the entire 3.5 lbs chuck roast was basically an appetizer.


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## tumbleweed1 (Aug 5, 2015)

I think my decision has been made FOR me.

I just opened my 2 chuck roasts to put my rub on for tomorrow. They appeared to be the same size as each other in the packages- wrong. One package has TWO, each being half as thin as the one that came packaged alone. Now the plan will be to go ahead & cube them up beforehand. I'd rather do it where all the pieces are roughly the same size rather than multiple thicknesses of whole meats.













Faux Burnt Ends 2- rubbed.jpg



__ tumbleweed1
__ Aug 5, 2015






Mork, I get the whole more surface/more bark/smoke exposure thing being cubed from the get go, I was just worried that small pieces like this would maybe cook too fast, which would possibly cause them to not be real tender. You said you pulled them early. How long & at what temp did you use? 

NB, now that you've verified that tenderness was not an issue, I've got no problems sticking to the tecnique you've supplied. The plan is to try this tomorrow on my day off.

TW


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## morkfrompork (Aug 5, 2015)

"Mork, I get the whole more surface/more bark/smoke exposure thing being cubed from the get go, I was just worried that small pieces like this would maybe cook too fast, which would possibly cause them to not be real tender. You said you pulled them early. How long & at what temp did you use?"

The temp was in the 250 +- 5 degrees, but time--I wish I could remember.

I usually keep a log of my smokes for reference and my Never, Ever do that again list.

This time I didn`t and really regret it now.

Now when I say tough, I`m not talking boot soles, but sure not the tenderness of even a decent plate of burnt ends.

Kind of like Qbeef gum...........

Bummer on that package.......seems kind of a fraud to me. Packing them like that, when you expect a nice thick hunk of cow..

Good luck on your effort.

I`ll be watching for how it all worked out for you.


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## tumbleweed1 (Aug 5, 2015)

MorkFromPork said:


> "Mork, I get the whole more surface/more bark/smoke exposure thing being cubed from the get go, I was just worried that small pieces like this would maybe cook too fast, which would possibly cause them to not be real tender. You said you pulled them early. How long & at what temp did you use?"
> 
> The temp was in the 250 +- 5 degrees, but time--I wish I could remember.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info & also for the well wishes.

I'll start a thread tomorrow when I get it going.

TW


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## duffman (Aug 5, 2015)

Ok this is something I have to try. I for see it  happening soon as well!


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## DDLabens (Jun 23, 2018)

This thread is that for which I have been searching for my latest cooking project!  So, after reading through it, I tried it. No pics, but still ...

Rub: 1 tblsp each Kosher Salt, Black Pepper, Granulated Garlic, Brown Sugar, & Smoked Paprika.

I used the  whole thing, but probably should have used half. It was "a little" over seasoned.

I forgot to use the EVOO, so tossed it in after the rub & mixed it all up, covered it with plastic & set it in the fridge for a couple of hours.

I cut the chuck roast into bite size pieces, some a little larger than others, just so I could see how the cooking fared. I put some wood on the electric element of my smoker, connected the homemade thermostat, set it to turn on at 225 degrees & turn off at 230, giving it a 5 degree cycle. I put a small tin of water on the bottom shelf & spread the meat chunks out on the top shelf.

After an hour, I added more wood, & again after another hour. After 3 hours, the meat was at about 190 degrees.

I mixed up a half cup of medium picante, a half cup of homemade pico de gallo, a half cup of jalapeno ketchup, a half cup of some leftover BBQ sauce from the ribs we got at a local BBQ house, and a good glug of maple syrup. I pulled the meat off the smoker into a bowl, stirred in half the BBQ sauce I made, spooned the whole thing into a Corning dish (sprayed with nonstick spray) & put the thing back on the smoker, cranked up the temp to cycle from 270 to 275 degrees & let it cook another hour, maybe 90 minutes, then took it off.

Admittedly, the BBQ sauce left a little to be desired as I did not use my regular recipe. But, the meat, OH WOW!!! the meat was crispy-tender!!!

I'm definitely going to do this again, with less rub and with my favorite BBQ sauce recipe, and I anticipate Burnt Ends Perfection.

I appreciate all who contributed to this thread because y'all were the inspiration for my experiment today. Despite the overseasoning and wrong BBQ sauce, I consider today's experiment a ROUSING SUCCESS!!!

Thank you VERY much!
David
San Antonio, TX

Cooking is a journey.
Learning to cook is an adventure.
Finally, NEVER cook for guests your 1st attempt with any recipe!!!


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