Poor Man’s Burnt Ends
On June 28, 2022 (Updated October 17, 2024)
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My poor man’s burnt ends recipe is a great way to get all of the classic BBQ flavors you love in burnt ends without having to smoke a whole brisket. By using a chuck roast instead of brisket, these chuck roast burnt ends save you some pocket change as well as some time spent at the smoker (without compromising on flavor!).
What Are Poor Man’s Burnt Ends?
Poor man’s burnt ends are beef burnt ends made with a chuck roast instead of a brisket.
BBQ Brisket Burnt Ends traditionally come from the fat-marbled point of a whole packer brisket. Slow smoked until they are nearly fall-apart tender and then basted in finger-licking BBQ sauce, they are the best bite in the BBQ world. These burnt ends are similar to brisket-style but might be a bit less intimidating than traditional brisket burnt ends.
Poor man’s burnt ends tend to be a cheaper option than brisket burnt ends, but you can often find meat that is relatively comparable in price. Think of them as bite-sized pieces of beef that are perfectly smoked and exploding with BBQ flavor.
Chuck Roast Burnt Ends
I understand that not everyone has the time to smoke up an entire whole packer brisket to make burnt ends. When you are craving burnt ends but don’t want to break the bank or make a smaller portion, using a chuck roast gives you a great flavor on a budget. I’ve also found that chuck roasts have a natural beefy flavor very similar to brisket, so the cut works amazing for making this burnt ends recipe!
For this recipe, I’m using a 3-pound chuck roast instead of a full-packer brisket to make a version called “Poor Man’s Burnt Ends.”
Poor Man’s Burnt Ends vs. Brisket Burnt Ends
For classic burnt ends, a whole brisket is smoked and the top muscle (the point) is removed while the leaner muscle (the flat) is sliced and served. The point is loaded with fatty marbling and amazing flavor. To enhance the flavor of the meat, it is often cubed and tossed with BBQ sauce before being grilled to meat candy perfection.
Honest truth, the price in my grocery store for brisket vs. chuck roast was almost identical (about $3/lb), so I don’t know where the phrase “poor man’s” even came from. Despite this, I would definitely make these again any time I’ve craving burnt ends but don’t want to smoke a whole brisket.
A whole brisket typically costs $40-50 and this chuck roast was under $10. My chuck roast burnt ends came in at about 3 pounds and was perfect for feeding my family.
Both burnt ends turn out delicious and both have a unique, delicious flavor, so I recommend trying out each type to determine which one is your favorite.
How to Make Poor Man’s Burnt Ends
The process for Poor Man’s Burnt Ends is very similar to smoking a whole brisket, but with the final intent of turning the whole cut of beef into BBQ burnt ends. This means more flavorful bark all the way around and oftentimes more even cooking. (It’s also fairly easy as well!)
Here’s the step-by-step on making these delicious treats:
- Preheat. Turn on your smoker and allow it to preheat to 275 degrees F with your favorite wood. I like to use hickory or oak pellets for my burnt ends as it beautifully complements the chuck roast.
- Season. Slather the roast in mustard then season. I recommend using my Hey Grill Hey Beef Rub (available from the Hey Grill Hey Store), but you can also use simple salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Season the roast liberally.
- Smoke that meat! Place the chuck roast on your smoker and smoke it until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. For me, it took 5 hours to reach this temperature, so adjust smoking time as needed.
- Wrap the roast. Wrap the chuck roast in butcher paper or foil and smoke until the internal temperature reaches 195 degrees F (this takes about an hour).
- Rest, cut, and season. Allow the roast to rest for 15-20 minutes. Cut into small cubes and season with 1/4 cup brown sugar and Everything BBQ Sauce (or your favorite Kansas-City Style BBQ Sauce) and place them in a foil baking pan.
- Finish smoking. Place the pan back on the grill grates of the smoker, and cook for up to 2 more hours.
- Add finishing touches. Sprinkle with 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar and the remaining BBQ sauce. Return to the grill for just a few more minutes until everything is heated through and well mixed. Serve hot.
Tips for Cooking Poor Man’s Burnt Ends
Before you dive into this recipe, take note of a few tips to keep in mind that will help you get a great result.
- Cook to temperature, not to time. Often we want a recipe to give us an exact cook time, but the best way to cook is always to temperature. Every cut of meat is different, and each will finish at a different time. If you cook to temperature instead of time, you will never miss! For these burnt ends, I used ThermoWorks remote thermometer, The Smoke, and it was fantastic! There was a probe for the meat and another for keeping track of the grill temperature. Plus, I could view these temperatures remotely which is so convenient!
- Don’t forget to wrap. This recipe works fine wrapped in either butcher paper or foil; however, I prefer to use butcher paper.
- Meat grade matters! Normally with brisket, burnt ends are made from the fattiest piece of the muscle, so when you are choosing a chuck roast, try to select one with as much intramuscular fat as you can. This doesn’t mean you buy a roast with big, white chunks of fat in it. Rather, look for meat with small, white flecks of fat within the muscle.
More Burnt Ends Recipes
Ready to take on more burnt ends recipes? Check out these other tasty nuggets below!
- Burnt Ends Sandwich with Pickled Red Onions
- BBQ Brisket Burnt Ends
- Hot Dog Burnt Ends
- Maple Bourbon Pork Belly Burnt Ends
Poor Man’s Burnt Ends Recipe
Follow the video below and I’ll show you step-by-step how I make these easy Poor Man’s Burnt Ends at home. I’m all about helping you make the best backyard BBQ of your life, so check out more of my smoking and grilling recipe videos on YouTube, Instagram, or our Facebook Page. Follow along and let’s make awesome food together!
This post was originally published in May 2019. We recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.
Poor Man's Burnt Ends
Video
Equipment
- 1 Smoker I highly recommend this pellet grill!
Ingredients
- 3 pounds chuck roast
- 2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
- 3 Tablespoons Hey Grill Hey Beef Rub or 1 Tablespoon each coarse salt, ground black pepper, and garlic powder
- ½ cup Hey Grill Hey Everything BBQ sauce or your favorite ketchup-based BBQ sauce
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat. Preheat your smoker for indirect grilling at 275 degrees F. Use hickory or oak wood for the most complementary smoke flavor.
- Season. Slather the chuck roast with yellow mustard then season liberally on all sides with Hey Grill Hey Beef Rub or equal parts salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Smoke. When your smoker is up to temperature, place the seasoned roast on the smoker and close the lid. Smoke the roast until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F (this took 5 hours on my smoker). You should have a fairly nice dark bark on the exterior of your roast at this point.
- Wrap. Remove the roast from the grill and wrap it in either butcher paper or foil. Return the roast to the grill and continue smoking until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 195 degrees F (this took just over 1 hour).
- Rest and cut. Remove the wrapped roast from the grill and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes. Cut into 3/4 inch cubes and transfer to a foil baking pan.
- Add sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup brown sugar and drizzle with most of the Everything BBQ sauce, reserving a couple of tablespoons for later. Toss gently to coat all of the pieces in a little of the sauce.
- Finish smoking. Place the pan on the grill, close the lid and cook for an additional 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the sauce is bubbly and the cubed bits of beef are falling apart tender.
- Enjoy. Sprinkle with the additional 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar and the remaining BBQ sauce. stir gently and return to the grill for just a few more minutes until everything is well incorporated. Serve hot as a main course or on white bread/buns with pickles and white onions.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Really wanting to make this for a party we’re having this weekend. Looks like a 10 lb. whole beef brisket is cheaper than two 4 lb. chuck roasts, could I use brisket and follow the same recipe?
Yes!
We have made this about 5 times so far. It’s amazing! It always gets rave reviews. We follow the recipe exactly. The only difference is that ours cooks in about 3 hours. We sauce it with Blues Hog BBQ sauce. Delicious!!
I was expecting to make dinner, but ended up making lunch. Times vary, so the best advice is to cook to temperature and not time. I have a pit boss pellet smoker and my roast got to 165 in about an hour at 300. It had a good char so the second part I knocked the heat down to 200 and gave it 3 hrs until tender. Tasted incredible! It really does cook down a lot. Family of 4 or bigger might need two roasts.
Such a great recipe. Like one of the other people this cook is way faster than described for me. I use a Weber Smokey mountain. If it’s cooking so fast and consistent do you really need to wrap the meat?
You don’t have to. If you don’t, it’ll help the bark develop further but you’ll lose a bit more moisture.
I’ve always wondered what’s the big deal about burnt ends. Your PMBE recipe is so darn good!! I have a bge that I always use for pizza but never quite got into smoking. I came upon your site and recipes this summer and am now a smoking fool! Thanks so much for your recipes and instructions!!
Hi, thank you for this recipe, tried it yesterday for the first time. I used a weber 26″ kettle to smoke it. I’m still getting used to the kettle so the temperature fluctuated between 220 and 300, mostly settling in at 250. I used a full chimney starter of charcoal (plus cherry wood chunks for smoke). The charcoal lasted the whole cook, but needed some stirring now and then.
I also do not have a remote thermometer, so I checked temperature every 45 minutes. After 5 hours, the temperature had stalled at 150 for a while. I was running out of time so I pulled the roast, wrapped in foil, cranked the heat up a bit and let it go to 190, then let it rest for 15 minutes, chopped it up and put it back in a pan on the grill for about 20 minutes.
I used your delicious apple jalapeno sauce recipe and made sandwiches on toasted buns with pimento cheese spread on top.
Although time and inexperience caused deviation from the recipe, it still came out quite well and the whole family liked it!
Next time I will start earlier and have a remote thermometer (and make two at a time).
Cheers
Great recipe for PMBE’s. I don’t care to cut up a beautiful point to make burnt ends, and much prefer the naturally created ones although fewer to be had. This recipe worked well in my Pit Barrel Cooker with some prime chuck roast. Thanks for your creativity. Yummy!
Oh goodness…I messed up
Instead of listening to you, won’t make that mistake again! I was worried it would be done way too early. Well, I had to pull at 153 and wrap. Only got to 160 after an hour. Had to sauce it, was out of time. End result: amazing! I will be following to the letter next time. Excited to try your other recipes! Thanks for sharing!!
I have cooked this twice now and the first portion of the cook is not anywhere near 5 hours – both times it was closer to 3. And for the last portion of the cook the recipe says to cook for up to 2 more hours and in the video you say to cook another 20-45 minutes, which is another significant difference. I have kept this last portion of the cook right at 30 minutes.
That said, both times it turned out awesome, and this has become one of my family’s favorites.
I made this for the 1st time a few weeks ago, I’m being begged to make again. I used my Traeger, for my grill I went at 225 and it took just over 3 hours to get to 165, 2.5 lb roast- glad I did not go to 275. I bumped temp to 250 after cubed- was so good! Used up some bottled sauce that time, today I’m doing 2 roasts, 3.27 pounds each. I made your Apple Jalapeño BBQ sauce last night for today- wow, it’s super yummy! The primary thing I said I’d change from last time is making more meat so I’m keeping true to my promise!
Thanks for coming back and leacing such a great review! Happy your family enjoyed the food!