Join Matt from Meat Church as he teams up with Bourbon Hall of Fame member Freddie Johnson, and 3rd generation Buffalo Trace Distillery, employee, as they prepare delicious brisket burnt ends. Matt uses Buffalo Trace bourbon barrel staves to smoke the brisket and finishes the burn ends in a delicious homemade bourbon BBQ sauce. In this video you will also see Matt & Freddie sample Meat Church single barrel bourbon that they selected together. Freddie also makes his famous "Sweet Freddie" root beer float. BBQ & bourbon go hand in hand so you are not going to want to miss this once in a lifetime collaboration.
Ingredients
1 brisket or 2 brisket points
Meat Church Holy Cow BBQ Rub
Meat Church Holy Gospel
1 batch of Meat Church Bourbon BBQ Sauce
Make the BBQ Sauce
Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan.
Bring to a boil and reduce the heat. Simmer 30 minutes.
Allow to cool. Bottle in a mason jar.
The full Bourbon BBQ Sauce recipe video can be found here
Prepare your Smoker
Prepare your smoker at a temperature of 250°. I recommend a heavier smoking wood for this cook such as oak or hickory but we used bourbon barrel staves.
Prepare your Brisket
Trim the Brisket (skip this if using points)
Trim the excess fat and silver skin from the brisket. Also, remove any “hard” pieces of fat as they will not render off during the cooking process. Trim the fat off the bottom of the brisket leaving only ¼ in (6 mm) fat.
A brisket is comprised of two muscles; the point (the fat end) and the flat (the lean end). In order to be able to cook brisket burnt ends you need to butcher the brisket a bit more than you would for a traditional packer. Therefore, after your traditional brisket butchering, you need to start to separate the flat form the point. In short, you want to remove the fat layer between the point and the flat. Using a sharp boning knife expose the point meat so it can absorb smoke. You don’t have to completely separate the muscles.
Season the brisket, or points, with a liberal coating of our Holy Cow. Allow the seasoning to adhere for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
Smoke the Brisket/Points
Place the brisket/points in your smoker meat side up. Spritz with cider vinegar occasionally if the brisket looks dry.
Using your instant read thermometer, when the meat reaches an internal temperature of 175°F, wrap the brisket/points in butcher paper.
Continue to smoke the brisket until it reaches 195 internal temperature. The brisket is not completely done at this point, but we need to separate the point to make burnt ends. Unwrap the brisket.
Separate the point from the flat. (If using whole brisket) Set the point aside.
Finish the Burnt Ends
Take the point and cut it into 1” cubes. Place the cubes in the aluminum pan. Season and toss the cubes with Meat Church Holy Gospel.
Toss the cubes in the bourbon bbq sauce we made earlier or use your favorite bbq sauce.
Return the pan to the smoker and cook for another 45 minutes or until all liquid has reduced and the bbq sauce has caramelized.
Allow to cool for a few minutes and enjoy pair with your favorite bourbon.
