Poor man’s burnt ends

Published 22 August 2026 · Last updated 2 October 2026 · By Ben Austen

Ingredients

• 2kg diced beef chuck, in cubes as big as your butcher will do
• SPG (salt, pepper and garlic), to taste
• Oak chunks
• 500ml hoppy IPA
• Spring onions, enough to make a trivet
• Black treacle, to taste
• Brown sugar, to taste
• About 50g butter
• Cider vinegar, a good slug

Equipment

• A barbecue that holds about 130–140°C (266–284°F) indirect with the lid down. I use my Big Green Egg Large with the ConvEGGtor (ceramic deflector) in.
• A lidded cast-iron pot. Mine's a Le Creuset.
• A saucepan, for reducing the liquor.
• A tray, for tacking up the glaze.
• An instant-read probe thermometer.

Method

1. Set the barbecue up indirect at about 130°C (266°F)
2. Season the cubes with SPG and put them on the grid
3. Take them out when the bark looks right
4. Braise them in the IPA with the lid on
5. Keep going until they break down
6. Take the beef out and reduce the liquor by about half
7. Balance the glaze by taste
8. Glaze the beef and put it back on in a tray, uncovered, to tack up

Key takeaways

• Take them out of the smoke when the bark looks right. Mine came out at 73.1°C (164°F), because any longer and I think they’d have gone jerky.
• 94–95°C isn’t done for small cubes. Mine read that after the first part of the braise and were still a bit tough.
• The braising liquor comes out salty. Balance it by taste with treacle, sugar, butter and vinegar.
• Diall lumpwood from B&Q was poor. Tiny lumps, and slow to get going.

How to make burnt ends

I cooked these on my Big Green Egg Large, set up indirect with the ConvEGGtor (ceramic deflector) in and some oak chunks on the lump. For these chuck burnt ends I used 2kg of diced chuck steak from HG Walter, £11 per 500g on their website.

The charcoal was new to me, Diall lumpwood from B&Q, and it wasn’t good. The lumps were tiny, and about 15 minutes after lighting it had barely caught. There’s more on charcoal in my best UK BBQ charcoal guide.

I seasoned the cubes with my usual SPG (salt, pepper and garlic) and put them straight on the grid at about 130°C (266°F), building up towards 140°C. They had 1 hour 10 minutes with nothing on them. I took them off on the look of the bark, not on a number. They were at 73.1°C (164°F) by then.

Then they went into my Le Creuset with a 500ml bottle of Harper’s hoppy IPA from Aldi, straight from the bottle, with the lid on. I didn’t have any brown onions in, so I used spring onions as a trivet to keep the beef above the liquid. They held up fine for the whole braise, and I binned them after.

After 1 hour 10 minutes the beef was at 94–95°C (201–203°F) but still a bit tough, not that melt-in-the-mouth texture you get on a beef rib. So it went back in with the lid on for about another hour and a quarter, and after that everything had broken down nicely.

The glaze

Nothing was poured off. The 500ml of IPA cooked down to about 150ml in the pot with the meat in it. I took the beef out and reduced that liquor by about half again in a saucepan, until it was almost like a demi-glace.

It wasn’t bitter, but it wasn’t sweet either. It was fairly salty, and the only salt in it came from the rub. So I added black treacle first, then brown sugar because it still needed sweetness, then about 50g of butter and a good slug of cider vinegar. I didn’t measure the treacle, the sugar or the vinegar, so taste as you go.

I mixed the glaze through the beef and put it back on the Egg in a tray, uncovered, for 28 minutes to tack up. In all it was on the fire for about four and a half hours.

What to serve with beef burnt ends

These were part of a platter, with bacon jam and candied bacon off the same fire, plus salad, baked potato and mayonnaise. 2kg would do at least ten people as part of a barbecue, and it did us for the week with leftovers, in sandwiches and meals.

What I learned

A hoppy IPA was fine in the braise. Reduced right down, it came out salty rather than bitter, and the glaze was lovely. And small cubes still work, they just need longer in the braise than you’d think from the probe.

Variations

Any barbecue that holds about 130–140°C (266–284°F) indirect with the lid down will do this burnt ends recipe. I’ve only done it on the Egg.

Related

• Pork belly burnt ends with a mango chutney glaze — the pork version.
• Bacon jam on a kamado — off the same fire.
• Big Green Egg Large review — the unit this was cooked on.

FAQ

What are poor man’s burnt ends?

Burnt ends made with beef chuck instead of brisket. It’s an American name, and it’s because chuck is the cheaper cut.

What cut of meat is best for burnt ends?

I used beef chuck, because brisket is very expensive and quite hard to get in the UK. I haven’t cooked or eaten brisket burnt ends, so I can’t compare the two. I’ve also done them with pork belly and they were great.

What is the best way to make burnt ends?

The way I did these: smoke the cubes with nothing on them until the bark looks right, braise them in a lidded pot until they break down, then glaze them and put them back on to tack up.

How long do burnt ends take?

Mine were on the fire for about four and a half hours: 1 hour 10 minutes in the smoke, about two and a half hours in the braise and 28 minutes to tack up.

What temperature are burnt ends done?

I went on texture. Mine were at 94–95°C (201–203°F) and still a bit tough, and needed about another hour and a quarter before they broke down.

Can you braise burnt ends in beer?

Yes. I used a hoppy IPA from Aldi and reduced it right down, and it came out salty, not bitter.

Disclosure and provenance

I bought the chuck from HG Walter, through my sister’s trade account but with my own money, and cooked it on my own Big Green Egg Large. The IPA was from Aldi and the charcoal from B&Q. Smoke and Lump has no commercial relationship with any of them and earns nothing from this recipe.

Sourced from the 18 August 2026 cook log — 2kg of diced beef chuck smoked over oak, braised in IPA and glazed on the Big Green Egg Large.