Exploring the Smoky Delight: Kansas City Burnt Ends

Kansas City, renowned for its rich barbecue tradition, has bestowed upon the culinary world a delicacy that ignites the taste buds and leaves a lasting impression: Burnt Ends. Originating from the charred edges of smoked brisket, this savory treat has become a quintessential part of the city's barbecue culture, captivating food enthusiasts worldwide.

A Brief History

The story of burnt ends dates back to the early 20th century when barbecuers in Kansas City found themselves with an abundance of brisket trimmings. Not wanting to waste any part of the meat, they would slow-cook these trimmings until they reached a caramelized, smoky perfection. Over time, burnt ends evolved from a frugal necessity to a sought-after delicacy, earning their place on the menus of Kansas City's most esteemed barbecue joints.

The Preparation

The journey to crafting the perfect burnt ends begins with selecting a quality brisket, preferably one with ample marbling to ensure tenderness and flavor. After a meticulous trimming process, the brisket is generously seasoned with a blend of spices, often including salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika, among others.

Next comes the crucial step: smoking. Traditionalists swear by the use of hardwoods such as hickory or oak, which impart a distinct smokiness to the meat. The brisket is slow-cooked at low temperatures for several hours, allowing the flavors to meld and the meat to develop a delectable crust.

Once the brisket reaches its desired level of tenderness, it is removed from the smoker and carefully sliced into cubes. These cubes, known as burnt ends, are then tossed in a tangy barbecue sauce, typically featuring a harmonious blend of sweetness and heat.

The Culinary Experience

The allure of Kansas City burnt ends lies in their irresistible combination of flavors and textures. With each bite, you're greeted by a symphony of smoky, caramelized notes, complemented by the succulent tenderness of the meat. The exterior boasts a tantalizing crispness, offering a satisfying contrast to the melt-in-your-mouth interior.

While burnt ends can certainly stand on their own as a hearty meal, they also serve as a versatile ingredient in various culinary creations. From loaded sandwiches and hearty salads to indulgent macaroni and cheese, the possibilities are limited only by one's imagination.

Where to Indulge

In Kansas City, finding exceptional burnt ends is a rite of passage for barbecue enthusiasts. Iconic establishments such as Arthur Bryant's, Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que, and Gates Bar-B-Q have garnered acclaim for their mastery of this beloved dish. Each venue brings its own unique twist to the table, ensuring a memorable dining experience for visitors and locals alike.

Bringing the Tradition Home

For those unable to make the pilgrimage to Kansas City, fear not—creating mouthwatering burnt ends in the comfort of your own backyard is entirely feasible. Armed with a quality smoker, a well-seasoned brisket, and a bit of patience, you can embark on your own barbecue adventure and savor the flavors of Kansas City wherever you may be.

Conclusion

Kansas City burnt ends represent more than just a culinary delight; they embody a rich tradition steeped in history and passion. With each succulent morsel, diners are transported to the heart of barbecue country, where the smoke billows, the flavors abound, and every bite tells a story. Whether enjoyed in a bustling restaurant or savored at home among friends, burnt ends are a testament to the enduring legacy of Kansas City's barbecue heritage. So, the next time you find yourself craving a taste of true barbecue bliss, seek out the smoky allure of burnt ends and prepare to be captivated.

Unveiling the Art of Texas-Style Brisket: A Journey Through Smoky Perfection

In the realm of barbecue, there exists a legendary dish that reigns supreme, capturing the hearts and taste buds of enthusiasts far and wide. Enter the Texas-style brisket - a culinary masterpiece revered for its tender, smoky perfection and rich, robust flavors. Hailing from the Lone Star State, this iconic dish embodies the essence of true barbecue culture, drawing upon time-honored techniques and a passion for the craft.

At the heart of Texas-style brisket lies a reverence for simplicity and tradition. It's a dish that celebrates quality ingredients and the art of slow-cooking over wood smoke. The process begins with a choice cut of beef brisket, renowned for its marbling and depth of flavor. Seasoned simply with salt and pepper, the brisket is then lovingly smoked for hours on end, allowing the meat to absorb the essence of the wood and develop a tantalizing bark on its exterior.

Central to the Texas barbecue experience is the smoker itself, often a hulking behemoth of steel and fire, where the magic unfolds. Whether it's a traditional offset smoker or a modern pellet grill, the key is to maintain a steady low temperature, infusing the brisket with a gentle kiss of smoke that imparts a distinctively Texan flavor profile.

Patience is paramount in the quest for the perfect brisket. As the hours pass and the aroma of smoldering wood fills the air, the meat undergoes a remarkable transformation. Tough sinews melt away, leaving behind succulent strands of beef imbued with a symphony of savory notes. It's a labor of love that requires dedication and skill, but the rewards are well worth the effort.

No Texas-style brisket would be complete without its signature accompaniments. From tangy barbecue sauce to zesty pickles and onions, every element is carefully chosen to complement the rich, meaty goodness of the brisket itself. And let's not forget the classic sides – from creamy coleslaw to velvety mac and cheese – each dish adds its own dimension to the barbecue feast.

But perhaps the true beauty of Texas-style brisket lies in its ability to bring people together. Whether it's a backyard cookout with friends or a bustling barbecue joint filled with laughter and camaraderie, there's something undeniably special about sharing a platter of smoky brisket with loved ones. It's a culinary experience that transcends mere sustenance, forging bonds and creating memories that last a lifetime.

In the end, Texas-style brisket is more than just a dish – it's a way of life. It embodies the spirit of Texas itself – big, bold, and unapologetically flavorful. So the next time you find yourself craving a taste of true barbecue bliss, look no further than the time-honored tradition of Texas-style brisket. And remember, it's not just a meal – it's an experience.

Allergen Info

We get a multitude of questions on allergen info so we decided to make a blog post we can link to whenever someone has a question about them.

A note on our kitchen: We have a very small kitchen so it is impossible for us to have dedicated workspaces and cooking equipment for allergen-free cooking. For the purposes of this article, if we say a food is free of an allergen, it means the menu item does not contain ingredients that have that allergen. For example, our brussels sprouts do not contain any gluten-containing ingredients, but they are fried in the same oil as breaded chicken tenders.

Gluten:

All of our smoked meats are gluten-free.

Gluten-free sides include:

• brisket chili

• coleslaw

• crispy brussels sprouts

• Brunswick stew

• potato salad

• green beans

• collard greens

• white cheddar grits

• fries

• spinach & strawberry salad

• house and Caesar salads need to be ordered without croutons.

Gluten-free appetizers include Smoked Wings, Pulled Pork Nachos, and Trashed Ribs.

Dairy:

All of our smoked meats are dairy-free.

Dairy-free sides include:

• pit beans

• brisket chili

• crispy brussels sprouts

• Brunswick stew

• green beans

• collard greens

• fries

Dairy-free appetizers include Smoked Wings and Trashed Ribs.

Soy:

We use soybean oil a lot for dressings, sauteing, and frying.

All of our smoked meats other than sausage are soy-free. The only side that is soy-free is white cheddar grits.

Nuts:

We currently have zero tree nuts or peanuts on our menu. In fall/winter, our seasonal salad gets toasted walnuts.

Eggs:

All of our smoked meats are egg-free.

Our only items that use eggs are our cornbread and buns and any mayo-containing items. Coleslaw, white BBQ, potato salad, caesar dressing, and comeback dressing,

Seafood:

Avoid Caesar dressing. Worcestershire sauce-containing items are sweet sauce, Carolina Gold, comeback sauce, and collard greens.

Being Different

Central Mississippi is what you might call a conservative area, even in the way food is prepared. As a business owner and chef, I see that as more of an opportunity than a roadblock. There are dozens of BBQ restaurants in this region. Most of them serve the same cue that’s been served in this region for decades. And that’s fine. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with food traditions, but… All successful businesses solve a problem. There is no problem in Flowood, MS finding Mississippi-style BBQ, so I knew I couldn’t move down here to do that. So I decided to be different.

Being different in a conservative area is uh… interesting. I always say “95% of people love us and the other 5% are really loud.” We have our haters for sure. People say our potato salad is weird because it’s not neon yellow and scooped from a bucket. People say our green beans are “raw and not southern enough.” People even get mad that there’s no sauce on our pulled pork sandwich. My wife was once screamed at in the middle of our dining room because “EVERYONE IN RANKIN COUNTY SERVES DILL PICKLES!!!” Well, not anymore angry pickle sir.

I like being different though. I like it so much, I can’t even label our BBQ as a particular style because we pull from everywhere. The brisket is Texan. The pulled pork is Memphis style. The ribs are St. Louis cut. I’ve always found it odd that people would pigeonhole themselves into a rigid cooking style, but I guess I’m the weird one (or so I’ve been told).

The most important thing about being different is you have to do it well. No one switches from Ford to Chevy if there’s no quality difference. They just keep buying what they’ve been buying. That’s why Kenova Smokehouse does what it does. Just to be clear, I don’t say this to brag. It’s a combination of business principles and passion. Every business should be trying to be the best at their craft. Also, I just really like cooking. A lot.

So, we are going to keep being different. We are going to keep hand-cutting fries every day at a BBQ joint when we could buy frozen. We are going to keep lightly blanching fresh green beans instead of opening a can. We are gonna keep making potato salad from scratch with our mayo/sour cream/whole grain mustard dressing. And we are gonna keep house-making sweet pickles.

To the 95% - We love you guys. Thanks so much for your support.

To the 5% - Lighten up a little. It’s just food after all. : )

Thanks for reading.

My Story… So Far.

How did I get here? It’s kind of a long story. Here’s the short version.

I was born in Ashland, a small city in Kentucky. I lived in a suburb of Ashland until I was four. I will spare you most of the drama, but in short, we were poor, my biological father sucked, me and mom hit the road. Which road exactly? Grandview Gardens in Kenova, WV where I would spend the next 16 years. My mom and the man I call dad still live there.

Kenova is an interesting city. I can still tell you all the neighbors’ names for 20 houses in either direction of my parents’ house and I’ve been inside all of those houses. My best friend lived next door. The people you went to church with were also the people you went to school with and played baseball with. It’s a wonder we weren’t sick of each other. The primary entertainment was Save-A-Lot.

I met my wife in Kenova. She moved there in 6th grade from St. Louis when her parents (more on them later), followed a job and a calling. I remember thinking she must be so cool to be from a big city. I was right. We began dating the summer after 10th grade, but in 11th, another calling came. Her family moved away to Zionsville, Indiana. I hate Zionsville to this day for taking her away.

But alas, we persevered through an almost 3-year long-distance relationship. For her sophomore year in college, she moved back to West Virginia and we both attended Marshall University (unsuccessfully). After 1 year of college, and one year of being married and just working, we decided to move to St. Louis so I could go to culinary school and she could be close to extended family.

My 20s were complicated. This is where I really learned to cook, not just BBQ, but classical French and Italian cuisine as well as upscale American classics, and I can bake a little. We had two of our 3 boys in our 20s. I developed and beat an alcohol addiction. Also during that time, the in-laws had yet another calling to a little city called Brandon, Mississippi.

In my late 20s, I became burnt out on cooking and fell in love with personal finance. I enrolled at the University of Missouri in St. Louis. After having done a couple of years at Marshall and completing my associate’s degree, I only needed 4 semesters to complete a bachelor of finance. But… I had 2 realizations during my first 3 semesters: 1. What I wanted to do in personal finance was help poor people become not poor. The thing about that is that is hard to monetize. Poor people don’t have money to give you for advice. They need groceries and gasoline. 2. Cooking, specifically cooking my own food, kept calling me back.

For my last semester, I switched from Finance to Business Administration, found a nice little restaurant for rent in Flowood, and moved our family 7 hours south. I word it like that on purpose, because we literally opened the restaurant during my last semester. I still don’t know how I passed those classes.

And now here we are 4 months later. The restaurant is running smoothly. We are about to receive our second smoker to keep up with demand. We have a 2nd location, a 2nd restaurant concept, a kitchen remodel, a food truck, and a patio in the planning stages. Life is good. Crazy, but good.

Thanks for reading.

-Kendall

Intro to the Blog

I like to talk about BBQ. Kind of a lot. If you follow me on social media, you know I stay pretty active on there fielding compliments and complaints (hopefully not many) and promoting Kenova Smokehouse specials and news. I love doing that stuff.

What social media doesn’t do a good job of is long-form, detailed stories. I can’t do things like fully describe our process of acquiring, trimming, seasoning, smoking, and slicing our brisket. It would just get lost in the mix. I can’t write 400 words about a day in my life on Facebook. Not if I want anyone to read it anyways.

So, here’s the introduction to my blog. Look for new posts every Tuesday morning. I’ll be doing cool stuff like recipes, BBQ tips and tricks, fun stuff from my life like how I balance restaurant and family life, and much more.

Thanks for reading.