American Royal BBQ Pilgrimage: Day 2 - Plowboys BBQ

Day two of the American Royal BBQ pilgrimage started in downtown St. Louis with sunny skies and temperatures made for shorts.  The RV was hitched up and we piled inside for the short jaunt across Missouri to Kansas City.  Along the way we stopped at our next dining establishment, Plowboys BBQ.

Plowboys has won many awards as both a restaurant and as a competition team.  As you can see below, their trophy case is well stocked.  

The menu contains your basic BBQ staples: ribs, chicken, pulled pork, and brisket.  But, they also add some items that I cannot get at a BBQ joint back in Pennsylvania: turkey and hot links come to mind. They are also known for their BBQ Nacho platter.  The platter was so big, I saw one feeding a family consisting of two adults and two children with some leftover.  It looked really delicious as well.  I might have ordered this monstrosity of chips, cheese, jalapeños, and BBQ meat of choice had I saw an example when I walked in the door.  But, based upon having been voted the best burnt ends in KC for 2014, I decided to try the Burnt End Platter with sides of Cheesy Corn and Cole Slaw.  I also picked up an order of their smoked beef sausage for public consumption at our table.  

The slaw was ok.  A little bland, but the cabbage was crispy and not mushy or swimming in dressing.  I am just used to slaw that has a nice and tangy dressing.  The Cheesy Corn is another thing.  Where have you been all my life?  Have you ever made stovetop mac and cheese?  The kind where your boil your macaroni, then dump in back in the saucepan with milk, butter, cheese, and slowly heat and stir until the mixture is melted and combined thoroughly?  This is how I think Cheesy Corn is made.  As a matter of fact, a Cheesy Corn entry won the vegetable category later in the week at the Royal.  I can see why.  

The burnt ends were good, but not life changing.  I had some that were perfectly cooked, some that were a little on the dry side, and some that were a bit rubbery.  That may have been a function of sitting in a warmer behind the counter.  The sausage was on point.  Not too fatty, seasoned well with just the right amount of smoke and the all important snappy skin.  

There were four sauces to choose from on the table.  I focused on the Sweet 180 and the KC Sauce.  The sweet sauce was a little too sweet for my taste, but I was drawn to their KC Sauce.  A hint of smoke with a good balance of tangyness and sweet.  It paired very well with both the burnt ends and the sausage.  

This visit to Plowboys was a good start to our BBQ tour.  The service was friendly and efficient.  The food was good, but not outstanding.  If I lived in the area, I would come here once a month for lunch. But, I don't think I would drive out way of my way for the burnt ends.  Maybe for the sausage though.  Overall rating, 3.5 out of 5 stars.  

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Brisket Burnt Ends: A Canvas for a Hearty Omelette

We are always looking for new and creative ways to deal with leftover BBQ.  This weekend, after our last practice cook for the upcoming competition season, we had a decent amount of burnt ends left over.  So, I was wondering, what can I do with these?  While they are tasty eats the next day, I was looking for something different.  After scouring the refrigerator for ideas, the contents of the frig spoke to me.  Omelettes...

For those of you who don't know what a burnt end is, let me tell you.  A burnt end is the fatty end of the brisket (the point).  Once the brisket is cooked, the point is removed from the flat and cubed into 1/4" pieces.  The cubes are seasoned with more rub, then either BBQ sauce or the au jus from your brisket cook is added to the cubes in a pan.  Once mixed up, the pan is placed back into your smoker for another 15-30 minutes so that the rub and sauce/au jus can set and make a nice, crispy bark.   They are the best part of the brisket in my opinion.

To start, I cubed some burnt ends, along with some red onion and sweet red pepper.  As an afterthought, I added one fingerling potato, finely diced.

I place the above into a sauté pan with just enough olive oil to prevent sticking and to promote caramelization of the pepper and onion.  I sautéed on low for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until I had the level of caramelization I desired.

I removed from the heat and added one tablespoon of Blue Hog Tennessee Red BBQ sauce for a bit of tangy flavor.  Then, I set aside.

Next, I whisked two eggs and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Add your beaten egg to a heated pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Once the egg starts to firm up, add your burnt end filling and top with the cheese of your choice.  Flip your omelette over in half, then flip the half over to finish cooking the other side.

I served with sriracha sauce on half of my omelette for a little spice.

Breakfast for dinner is the best.  This was outstanding.  The burnt ends mingled nicely with the caramelized onion and pepper.  The Blues Hog added the right amount of acid as a counterbalance to the fat in the beef.  Finally, the potato added just the right amount of crunch.  I would highly recommend that if you have some leftover burnt ends in your future to give this a try.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Pork Belly Burnt Ends

I've been wanting to try this one for awhile: making burnt ends with fresh, uncured, pork belly.  I was hoping to get a nice, thin layer of crispy skin with melt in your mouth pork flavor.  How did we do?  Well, here are the results.

First, I took at pork belly that was about 3.8 pounds.  I trimmed the back to even out the meat.  Then I slathered in yellow mustard and dusted both sides with Oakridge Secret Weapon Pork and Chicken rub.

I then let the rubbed belly sit on the counter while I fired up the smoker and brought to 250 F for smoking.  For smoke flavor, I added apple, hickory, and pecan wood into the ash pan.  Once the temperature stabilized in the cooker, I placed the belly on the top rack and cooked until it reached 175 F internal temperature.  Then I placed in an aluminum pan and foiled tight. Here is what the belly looked like at 175 F, just before it went in the foil pan.  It took about 3 hours to reach this temperature.

In the pan getting happy.

I then cooked until 195 F internal temperature, removed from the smoker, and let rest for 30 minutes.  After resting, I pulled from the pan and cut into one inch cubes.  Then, I dusted with more rub and added about 3/4 cup of Blues Hog Regular BBQ sauce with Blues Hog Tennessee Red.  Then, back into the pan and back on the smoker at 350 F for 30 more minutes.

Here is what they looked like after 30 minutes at 350 F.

How were they?  Well, the taste was excellent.  The fat was slightly crisp, but not perfect.  Unfortunately, the meat was a bit on the tough side.  But, still good.  Just not that melt in your mouth texture and flavor that I was looking for.  After some research after the fact, I have found that you should take pork belly to 150 F for a nice tender piece of meat.  Next time, I will try the lower temperature when trying to make these burnt ends.  If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to submit comments below.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Making Burnt Ends with Chuck Roast

Yes, it can be done. A friend wanted a bunch of burnt ends for appetizers. You just can't find point sold separate from the flat around here. So, I used some Chuck Roasts.  At least I thought it was multiple Chuckies...

I thought the 20 lb cryopack had 2 or 3 chuck roasts. Nope. One big solid 20 lb mass of beef. So, here is what we did.

I made a batch of brisket injection and injected throughout the Chuckie.
Dusted both sides with Oakridge Black Ops Brisket Rub.
Placed in pan and cooked overnight at 250 F with pecan.
Believe it or not, it was done at 8:30 am after going on at 10 pm the night before. It was 195 F through about 95% of the meat.
Brought inside and let rest for 30 minutes.
Cubed, trimmed out the larger pieces of fat, rubbed, and sauced. 30 more minutes at 300 F with one piece of pecan.

I got three half pans out of that 20 lb Chuckie. The flavor is outstanding. It would make a ton of outstanding pulled beef.  I might just have to try that the next time.

Just in case you can find brisket point separate of the flat?  Just follow the same steps above to make your Burnt Ends.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Brisket on Ole Blue

Well, I have been wanting to try a meld of some brisket techniques to see if we can improve our brisket for the judges.  After yesterdays cook, I think we have something...

First, I injected with a mix of Colony Sauce (a local prime rib marinade) and canola oil.  Then, I rubbed with some of our All Purpose Blend, placed in a pan, and let sit in the frig overnight.  Here is the brisket after overnight happy time:

I then fired Ole Blue up to 325 and scraped the racks down.  Then, the brisket went on the middle rack, fat side up, hickory and peach in the ash pan...

1 hour, 325, then,  flipped to fat side down and lowered the pit temp to 250.  As you can see, I had some nice bark formation...

At 250 F, I then cooked to 165 F internal.  Then, into a pan with 1 cup Yeungling lager, 1 cup beef broth, and 1 tbsp of AP rub.  Covered with foil, back into Ole Blue at 250 F...

Once it was 195 F internal, I started probing with my thermometer for tenderness.  This brisket was like butter at 200 F.  When done, I opened the foil and released the steam to promote bark formation, resealed, then I put into a cooler with towels to rest.  This brisket had about 3 hours of rest time...

Look at all that nice Au Jus...

Separated the point from the flat and cubed for Burnt Ends...

Trimmed up the sides and sliced the flat thin...

Nice bark, tender, but not too tender.  Great flavor, especially with some Au Jus...

Back to the Burnt Ends...  Tossed the cubes with more rub and a thin coat of sauce.  Placed in a pan and back on Ole Blue for 30 minutes...

Sweet, spicy, caramelized goodness.  I love Burnt Ends.  I think they are the best part of the brisket.

So, to review:

1.  Inject and rub.
2.  Sit overnight.
3.  1 hour, 325 F, fat side up.
4.  Flip fat side down, lower temp to 250, cook till 165 F.
5.  Put in pan with beer/beef broth/rub.  Cook to 195 F and start checking for doneness.
6.  Rest for at least 2 hours in cooler.
7.  Slice and stand back.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill