We know, we know… burnt ends are a Kansas City thing, and Texas-Style brisket is, well, from Texas! We just couldn’t help combining these two recipes into one: we love the massive bark on these slices of flat, and people lose their minds whenever we make these burnt ends. Try this once and we think you’ll forgive us; your guests most certainly will! 

Serves 10–12 adults. 

Preferred Smoking Fuel 

• • 50% mix of cherry and hickory logs or chunks 
• • Hickory pellets 

Ingredients 

• • 1 Wagyu full packer brisket, about 18 pounds 
• • Lane’s BBQ Brisket rub 
• • Kosmos OP X-1 sauce 
• • 2 heaping tablespoons Cornhusker Kitchen Wagyu beef tallow 
• • Water, for spritzing 

The Preppin’ 

1. Twelve hours before smoking the brisket, cutting with the grain, trim as much surface fat as possible off the top of the flat, being careful not to carve a divot into the surface of meat. Excavate out the fat seam separating the point and the flat until they are two distinct parts of the brisket, but do not completely separate them. Remove all the surface fat from the point, then trim the fat on the bottom of the flat to about a quarter-inch. 

2. Pat the surface of the brisket with paper towels, then apply a medium coat of Lane’s Brisket rub to the entire brisket, lightly patting it into the meat. 

3. Wrap the brisket tightly with plastic wrap and return it to the refrigerator. 

4. One hour before you begin smoking, preheat your smoker to 210° F if using a pellet smoker or 225° if using a charcoal or wood smoker. 

5. If using a charcoal smoker, add several chunks of wood to the fire twenty minutes before adding the meat. 

6. Fifteen minutes before you begin smoking, remove the brisket from the refrigerator and discard the plastic wrap. Apply a light coat of Lane’s Brisket rub, lightly patting it into the meat. Let the brisket sweat at room temperature for fifteen minutes. 

Smoke Show! 

1. Spray the smoker grate with cooking spray, then put the brisket on the grate, fat side down, with the point turned towards the hottest side of the smoker. 

2. After four hours of smoking, mist the brisket with water. 

3. After six or seven hours of smoking, when the bark is nicely set, loosely wrap a small piece of foil around each end of the brisket. This prevents the two ends, with their smaller meat mass, from drying out. 

4. When the internal temperature in the center of the flat reads 160–165°, remove it from the smoker, discard the small pieces of foil, and wrap the brisket in unwaxed butcher paper (AKA peach paper). This internal temperature will be reached after about twelve hours if smoking at 210° or about ten hours if smoking at 225°. 

5. Return the brisket to the smoker. Increase the smoker heat to 250° and continue smoking the brisket for about two or three hours longer, until a thermometer probe inserted in the flat meets minimal resistance; typically an internal temperature of 192–195°. You’re not looking for a hot-knife-through-butter feel; that’s over-cooked! 

The Restin’ 

1. Resting the brisket properly at the end of the cook is extremely important, so prepare for that immediately after returning the wrapped brisket to the smoker. Fill a high-quality cooler with hot tap water; if you have an exterior faucet with hot water, a garden hose is the fastest way to do this. Otherwise, it’s bucket brigade time! Next, close the cooler lid and let the water pre-heat the cooler for an hour. After an hour, dump the water and re-fill the cooler with hot water once more, again making sure to securely close the lid. Pre-heating the cooler like this will keep the brisket at its optimal resting temperature for hours on end. 

2. After the brisket reaches the temperature and tenderness feel we’re looking for, carefully remove it from the smoker and set it in a pan or on a small baking sheet. Open the butcher paper wrap and let the brisket vent for five minutes. Next, insert a remote thermometer probe in the center of the flat so you can monitor the internal temperature of the brisket. Loosely close the wrap again and continue to rest the brisket at room temperature until it cools down to an internal temperature of 175–180°. 

3. Re-open the wrap, remove the thermometer probe, and spoon two heaping tablespoons of Wagyu beef tallow over the brisket. Close the paper again, then wrap the meat tightly in plastic wrap, butcher paper and all. Finally, insert the probe back into the center of the flat. 

4. Dump the hot water out of the cooler and arrange a towel in the bottom. Next, set the pan holding the brisket into the cooler. Cover the meat with a second towel or an old sleeping bag, carefully close the cooler lid over the probe cable, and LEAVE THE LID SHUT! 

5. Let the brisket rest for a minimum of two hours or until it drops to an internal temperature of 145–150°. 

The Homestretch 

1. Meanwhile, preheat your smoker or a grill to 400°. 

2. Remove the brisket from the wrap and separate the point and the flat into two individual pieces by cutting through the remainder of the fat seam. Remove all excess fat from the bottom of the flat, tightly wrap it in foil, and return it to the cooler. 

3. Finish the burnt ends: Remove any excess seam fat from the point, then cut the point into bite-sized pieces and place them in a foil pan. Pour OP X-1 sauce heavily over the burnt ends and mix them until they are completely covered in sauce. Finally, dust the burnt ends with more of the rub. 

4. Grill the burnt ends in the pan over direct heat, stirring them frequently, until the sauce is nicely caramelized and sticky, about ten minutes. 

5. Slice the flat across the grain into 1/8–1/4” slices. 

6. Reserve the choicest slices and burnt ends for the pitmaster (quality control, you know!) and serve the rest to your guests. 

7. Store any leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to five days, or in the freezer for up to three months. 

A note on smoking different grades of briskets: It takes longer to cook meat than it does to render fat; therefore, a lesser grade of brisket, with less intra-muscular fat, takes longer to cook than a Wagyu brisket. You can expect a Prime grade brisket to take 2–3 hours longer than specified in this recipe, and a Choice brisket to take 4–6 hours longer. 

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