Discover Chef Tom's amazing recipe for the perfect smoked brisket and burnt ends! Delight in juicy, tender meat full of mouth-watering flavor. Follow along as Tom takes you through the steps to create this classic BBQ favorite.
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- Butterflying the thick end of the point evens out its thickness before it ever hits the smoker, so the whole muscle cooks at a more consistent rate
- Splitting the point and flat and treating them differently — one gets injected, one gets the liquid rubbed on as a binder — respects how differently the two muscles need to be handled
- Saving a portion of the injection liquid for later means it does double duty, first as an injection, then as braising liquid once the meat is wrapped
- Cubing and re-saucing the point separately from the sliced flat turns one brisket into two different finished dishes from a single cook
Smoked Brisket & Burnt Ends
Tom Jackson
Rated 4.4 stars by 12 users
Category
Entree
Cuisine
American
Servings
20
Prep Time
45 minutes
Cook Time
8 hours 2 minutes
Calories
1056
Chef Tom fires up the Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill for everyone’s favorite big barbecue meat. Follow along as we walk you through everything you need to know to prepare some killer Smoked Brisket & Burnt Ends!
Ingredients
- 1 whole packer Creekstone Farms Prime brisket
-
Plowboys BBQ Bovine Bold BBQ Rub
-
Cattleman’s Grill Trail Dust All Purpose Seasoning
-
Smoke on Wheels Kansas City Bootleg Barbecue Sauce
- 1 cup beef stock
-
1 tbsp Plowboys BBQ Bovine Bold BBQ Rub
-
1 tbsp Smoke on Wheels KC Bootleg BBQ Sauce
-
1 tbsp Flavolcano Smoky Red Pepper Hot Sauce
For the injection:
Directions
- Preheat your Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill to 250ºF.
- Trim the fat from the top of the point. Separate the point and flat. Remove all excess fat from the outside of the point. Butterfly the thick part of the point to make all the meat about the same thickness. Leave 1/4” fat cap on the flat.
Combine the beef stock, Plowboys BBQ Bovine Bold BBQ Rub, Smoke on Wheels KC Bootleg BBQ Sauce, and Flavolcano Smoky Red Pepper Hot Sauce for the injection in an injection/marinade shaker. Shake well to combine. Pour 1/2 cup of the injection liquid into a separate container and reserve for later.
- Load the injection into your pistol grip injector. Inject the brisket flat with the liquid, working in a grid pattern, inserting the needle about every 2”. Wipe off excess liquid and season all surfaces with Plowboys BBQ Bovine Bold and Cattleman’s Grill Trail Dust All Purpose Seasoning.
- You do not need to inject the point meat, but you will want to use some of the injection liquid as a binder. Pour a little of the liquid on point and rub all over the surface. Season all surfaces with Plowboys BBQ Bovine Bold and Cattleman’s Grill Trail Dust All Purpose Seasoning.
- Place the point and flat on the second shelf of the smoker, fat cap down for the flat. Cook until a bark is formed on the surface and the brisket is dark mahogany red/brown in color, about 6 hours (150ºF-170ºF internal temperature).
- Remove the point and flat muscles from the grill. Place each one on two sheets of foil. Pour one quarter cup of the reserved injection liquid over each piece of meat. Double wrap each muscle in the foil. Return to the grill.
- Continue cooking until the internal temperature passes 205ºF and the meat offers little resistance when probed with an instant read thermometer (about 2 hours more). Remove each piece of meat.
- Rest the brisket flat in the foil for at least 30 minutes. To rest the flat for longer than 1 hour, wrap the foil wrapped brisket in a large towel and place in a cooler.
- Rest the point meat for 30 minutes. Slice into 1” cubes. Pour enough Smoke on Wheels Kansas City Bootleg Barbecue Sauce over the cubed meat to lightly coat each cube. Toss to coat, also incorporating any juices collected in the foil wrap. Place the cubed, sauced burnt ends on a sheet of foil (or foil pan) and return to the grill. Cook until the sauce is tacky on the surface, about 30 minutes.
Slice the smoked brisket flat across the grain into pencil thick slices.
- Serve the Smoked Brisket & Burnt Ends warm with Smoke on Wheels Kansas City Bootleg Barbecue Sauce on the side.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why butterfly the thick part of the point before smoking?
Opening it up evens out the thickness across the whole muscle, so it cooks at a more consistent rate instead of the thicker section lagging behind the thinner areas.
Why inject the flat but only use the liquid as a binder on the point?
The flat is leaner and more prone to drying out, so injecting it directly gets moisture distributed through the meat. The point already carries more internal fat, so rubbing the liquid on as a binder is enough to help the seasoning stick without needing to inject it.
Why save a portion of the injection liquid instead of using it all upfront?
Reserving some means the same liquid works twice — first as the injection, then later as braising liquid poured over the meat once it's wrapped in foil, rather than needing a second batch mixed from scratch.
Why turn the point into cubed burnt ends instead of slicing it like the flat?
Cubing the point, tossing it in sauce, and returning it to the grill to tack up turns it into its own separate dish from the same cook, giving two distinct textures and presentations out of one brisket.
What internal temperature should the brisket actually reach?
This recipe cooks it until it passes 205°F and offers little resistance when probed, well above the USDA minimum of 145°F for whole-muscle beef. That higher target is what breaks down the connective tissue for slicing and cubing, not a food safety requirement — it clears the safety bar many hours before the cook is actually done.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
1 out of 5 — this is an 8-hour cook built entirely around a pellet grill's low, steady wood smoke. An oven can render the brisket tender, but you'll lose the bark and smoke flavor this recipe is built around.
Recipe Highlights
Butterflied point: Evens out thickness for more consistent cooking.
Differentiated point-and-flat treatment: Injects the lean flat, binds the fattier point.
Dual-purpose injection liquid: Works as both injection and later braising liquid.
Point-to-burnt-ends conversion: Turns one brisket into two distinct finished dishes.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 4 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 1056
- Carbs
- 9 grams
- Protein
- 62 grams
- Fat
- 83 grams
- Sodium
- 579 milligrams
