The deckle point of a smoked brisket cubed, tossed in a thin spiced butter sauce, and returned to the smoker until each piece is deeply lacquered with a caramelised crust.

Burnt ends emerged as a byproduct of the Kansas City barbecue tradition, where pitmasters sold the trimmed, charred outer pieces from smoked briskets to customers waiting at the counter. The style moved south into Texas as pitmasters recognised that the deckle point of the brisket, with its higher fat content and irregular surface area, created more bark per bite than the leaner flat and rewarded a second pass in the smoker. Fort Worth pitmasters adapted the technique without the Kansas City sweet sauce, keeping the seasoning close to the original salt-and-pepper bark and relying on the rendered beef fat rather than added sugar to achieve the lacquer.

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