Poor Man’s Burnt Ends with Chuck Roast

Sharing is caring!

These chuck roast burnt ends are made with a less expensive beef roast than the traditional brisket version, giving them the name “Poor Man’s Burnt Ends”. Smoke a chuck roast on the pellet grill or smoker, cube it up, and toss with barbecue sauce for a fantastic barbecue appetizer that will have you coming back for seconds (and thirds!).

If you follow along with us on YouTube, then you know that we’ve been making lots of different burnt ends recipes lately – everything from pork butt burnt ends to pork belly burnt ends and, yes, traditional brisket burnt ends.

And you also know that we love to experiment with different cooking methods to see what we prefer and what will give you the best possible result for all of your barbecue favorites.

That’s what I set out to find when we decided to give poor man’s burnt ends a try: the best way to get those tender, flavor-packed beef nuggies at home, using two different methods. This recipe is based on our favorite way to make chuck roast burnt ends – but we also included an alternate method for you at the end of this post.

So come along, and let’s make some burnt ends (the poor man’s way) on the smoker!

What are burnt ends?

Burnt ends, sometimes referred to as “meat candy”, are small nuggets of smoked meats that are traditionally made from the point half of a smoked brisket.

Once the brisket point is smoked and rested, you cut it into cubes and add them to a pan with barbecue sauce, brown sugar, honey, and your choice of other ingredients. Then they get smoked on the grill a second time for the fat to continue to render and the exterior to get nicely charred, all while the sauce is tacking up and creating a beautiful glaze.

Poor man’s burnt ends are made the same way, except with a beef chuck roast.

Why use chuck roast for burnt ends?

Using chuck roast for burnt ends is a great way to get the burnt end taste without the big brisket price tag.

But I can find brisket for a cheaper price per pound than chuck roast? – You may be thinking. But the difference is, you have to buy a 12-14 pound whole packer brisket versus a 3-4 pound chuck roast, so though the price per pound might be less, the weight is much greater, resulting in a higher price.

Also, a chuck roast takes much less time to smoke than a whole brisket. So this recipe saves you time and money!

Ingredients for Poor Man’s Burnt Ends

• beef chuck roast – You should look for a chuck roast with a good amount of fat marbling throughout.
• Worcestershire sauce – We used this as a binder on the chuck roast, and also to flavor the braising liquid.
• BBQ seasoning of your choice – We used our own ‘Que That Rub and Seasoning, a great blend of sweet and hickory notes.
• BBQ sauce – Use your favorite. We used Blue’s Hog Championship Blend barbecue sauce, which is one of our favorites. It’s a nice balance of sweetness with a hint of vinegar, and we like the thinner consistency.
• apple cider vinegar – Depending on how sweet and thick your barbecue sauce is. If your preferred barbecue sauce is super sugary with a very thick consistency, you’ll need a bit more apple cider vinegar to balance out the flavors.
• beef stock – To braise the smoked chuck roast before cubing it up.

How to make Poor Man’s Burnt Ends with Chuck Roast

These chuck roast burnt ends are made exactly like their brisket counterpart. Just heat your pellet grill or smoker to 275°F with your choice of pellets or wood, and follow this step-by-step guide:

Step 1: Season your chuck roast. Rub a thin layer of Worcestershire sauce over the entire roast to use as a binder. Then season all sides of your beef roast liberally with your favorite barbecue seasoning. Or you can substitute our homemade Texas-style rub, which is perfect for smoking chuck roast, brisket, or other large cuts of beef.

Step 2: Smoke the chuck roast to 165°F. Place your seasoned chuck roast directly on the grill grates, and smoke until it reaches an internal temperature of about 165°F. For me, this took about 3 hours, but cooking times will vary.

Step 3: Add the smoked chuck roast to a foil pan. Add about a cup of beef stock, a tablespoon of Worcestershire, a splash of vinegar if you like, and about half cup of BBQ sauce to the bottom of a half-size foil pan and whisk it together. Then place the smoked chuck roast in that flavorful juice, turning it over a few times to coat the beef.

Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil.

Step 4: Braise the chuck roast. Once your foil pan is wrapped in aluminum foil, place it back on the grill or smoker. Braise the roast until it reaches an internal temperature of about 195°F. For me, that took about 1 hour and 30 minutes, but the cooking times will vary. The chunks should be so tender that they start to fall apart when you squeeze them between your fingers.

Once you get to that magical internal temp, take your wrapped roast off the grill and transfer the beef to a cutting board to rest for about 15-20 minutes. And be sure to keep that leftover braising liquid in the pan – that’s liquid gold in terms of flavor, and we’ll use it in the next step!

Step 5: Cut the beef roast into cubes. After your meat is done resting, cut it into cubes about 1″ square.

Step 6: Add the cubes of chuck roast to a foil pan with barbecue sauce. Add the cubes of smoked chuck roast to the foil pan, and toss with about 1/3 cup more of barbecue sauce. Sprinkle with about 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of barbecue seasoning.

To add extra moisture and beef flavor, I also poured about 1/4 cup of the reserved sauce mixture in the bottom of the foil pan. This helps to prevent the beef nuggets from sticking to the bottom of the pan as the sugary sauces tack up.

7. Cook the Poor Man’s Burnt Ends on the smoker until done.

After you’ve got your chuck roast burnt ends cubed and mixed with seasoning and sauce, place the foil pan on your grill uncovered and cook an additional hour and a half, or until the burnt ends are very tender and the sauce has tacked up to a nice glaze consistency.

Then, remove the burnt ends from the grill and let them rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

Alternate Method for Chuck Roast Burnt Ends

If you check out the YouTube video below, you’ll see that we made this burnt ends recipe using two different methods. If you really like the crunchy, barky exterior of smoked meats, then you might want to try this alternate method.

The ingredients and measurements are the exact same – the only difference is that we cut up the chuck roast before seasoning or smoking. This gives you more surface area that’s exposed to the smoke of the pellet grill or smoker.

Here’s a look at the second option:

• Pat the chuck roast dry with paper towels, and add a small bit of Worcestershire sauce as a binder. Then cut the raw chuck roast into cubes about 1.5″ square.
• Season the cubes of beef with barbecue seasoning or an all-purpose Texas style rub.
• Place the seasoned beef cubes on a wire cooling rack in an even layer. Place the rack on the grill or smoker, and smoke at 275°F until the internal temp is about 165°F. Then add the smoked beef nuggets to a foil pan with the braising liquid, cover with aluminum foil, and continue to cook until the burnt ends reach about 195°F. Drain the braising liquid, toss with a bit more barbecue seasoning and sauce, and place back on the smoker until done.

The main difference in the two methods is when to actually cube the chuck roast. Both methods give you fantastic results, just a bit of different texture. My wife and I preferred the traditional method with smoking the beef roast whole first, but our daughter liked the second method (cutting the raw chuck roast into cubes before smoking) better.

What temperature should I cook the chuck roast at for burnt ends?

The temperature range for smoking meat is anywhere between 225°F – 275°F. I smoked mine at 275°F. Obviously, if you smoke at a lower temperature, you will need to adjust your cook times.

Can I make poor man’s burnt ends in the oven?

Yes, absolutely! I like to say that a grill or smoker is just an oven with flavor.

So, you can absolutely use this same method for cooking chuck roast burnt ends in your oven. Follow the same temperature and timing guidelines—just know you’ll miss the true “smoke” flavor, so consider adding a small amount of liquid smoke to your braising broth.

How should I serve Poor Man’s Burnt Ends?

These Poor Man’s Burnt Ends can be served a variety of ways, but they’re so dang good that you might be tempted to just eat them all straight out of the pan. Here are some ideas if they actually make it to a plate:

• Serve burnt ends with your favorite barbecue sides like smoked baked beans, coleslaw, or brisket mac and cheese.
• Serve on a bun with sliced onion and pickle for a smoked burnt ends sandwich.
• Pile your smoked chuck roast burnt ends on top of tortilla chips, queso cheese, shredded cheddar, sour cream, and green onion for barbecue nachos.

Storage and Reheating

You can store leftover chuck roast burnt ends in a zip top bag or airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. I recommend saving some of the braising liquid in a separate container in the fridge as well.

To reheat, gently warm the burnt ends in a covered pan at low heat with a splash of the reserved juice to prevent drying.

And to be honest, we actually would just sneak a few of the cold burnt ends and eat them directly from the fridge as a little “snack” throughout the day. They truly are addictive!

Sharing is caring!