Pecan Lodge Catering offering Kansas City favorite Burnt Ends

Whole lotta hoo-ha about chopped meat.

Pecan Lodge at the Dallas Farmers Market

DALLAS — Pecan Lodge Catering, the critically acclaimed barbecue spot in the downtown Dallas Farmers Market, will start serving "burnt ends," a barbecue delicacy of sorts, this week, says co-owner Diane Mason Fourton.

Burnt ends have been described as "the crispy crusty bits of brisket that fall off the edges when slicing." Kansas City BBQ legend Arthur Bryant's made them a signature, and Bobby Flay developed a recipe. Serious Eats calls them "nuggets of barbecue gold."

Pecan Lodge had been simply folding the ends into sandwiches and other menu items that featured chopped meat. But pitmaster Justin Fourton decided to go ahead and make them an item unto their own. What makes them extra-extra-special is the fact that they won't appear on the official menu so it'll be one of those "in the know" things that turns foodies into fiends.

"It'll only be in small quantities so, rather than putting it on the menu, we decided to do it as an off-menu thing," Diane says. "Then we'll put a message out on Facebook and Twitter to let the people who follow us, who are into the BBQ, know they're here and they can come down and get them."

Adding to its instant allure is the fact that it may not be offered every day.

"It depends on how fast they go, and how much we have," Diane says. "Justin's not going to smoke five more briskets just to get the burnt ends; it would go to waste."

If this seems like an awful lot of attention for an off-menu item, then you are underestimating the fierceness of the barbecue cult.

"People get crazy," Diane says. "We've had people bring their sandwiches back because they didn't want too much of the fatty ends. Only the 'real' barbecue people want the fatty ends."

They'll start officially serving their burnt ends on Thursday, once they resolve the presentation, which the couple is still negotiating.

"I want to put it with grits, and Justin wants to put on some slaw," Diane says. "I've been wanting to do something with red-eye gravy, it seems like it would be good with a drizzle of that. But I don’t know how it’s going to come out. We haven't officially agreed on how we're going to plate it. We still have to work it out."

(This comment was removed by the site staff.)

2 years, 3 months ago

luniz, anonymous:

"People get crazy," Diane says. "We've had people bring their sandwiches back because they didn't want too much of the fatty ends.

We need to find these people and remove them from the gene pool.