I saw that Costco was selling their branded Kirkland Signature Burnt Ends and I was excited to give them a try! The packaging says that the burnt ends were fully cooked, seasoned and smoked and has a beautiful picture of barbecue perfection.
I absolutely love everything about burnt ends EXCEPT the 12-14 hours it takes to make them at home. I figured that if Costco was offering these under their Kirkland Signature brand that I might have just found my favorite item ever!
But…..the Costco burnt ends are awful. I couldn’t eat them.
On the bright side, my dogs loved them!
Heating and Serving
I followed the heating instructions on the box which means I cut a slit in the bag and zapped them in the microwave for a few minutes. As the bag was heating I got my first clue the something was wrong by the odd smell that was filling the kitchen.
I poured the contents of the bag into a dish and could immediately tell that these were not real burnt ends.
Burnt ends are made from the succulent point of the brisket and these meat cubes obviously came from the lean flat. Many pieces of the “burnt ends” had a ridiculous fat cap where they never even bothered to trim the brisket. Indeed, many of the “burnt ends” were simply large globs of fat.
There was the faintest hint of a smoke ring but since I couldn’t smell any smoke I suspect the “smoke ring” was compliments of the nitrites that were added with the celery powder.
Taste
The meat was barely tender enough to chew and that was the best part of the barbecue.
The flavor of the meat was bitter and slightly sour. Maybe the sourness came from the Dry Vinegar that is listed in the ingredients?
There was zero bark on the brisket and absolutely nothing succulent or barbecue like about these meat cubes.
I ate two pieces just to be sure that the first piece I tried wasn’t a freak accident. I took a bite of a third piece, removed it from my mouth and threw it to my Golden Retriever. He was grateful and surprised for the “treat”.
Over the course of the next few days my dogs enjoyed the rest of the Kirkland Burnt Ends and now I am convinced that these mutts will eat anything.
Cost
The Kirkland Burnt Ends from Costco cost $13.49 per pound and the box contains around two pounds of product. All told my box cost about $23.
I have no problem paying $13.49 per pound for barbecue. That actually would have been a heck of a bargain if these had been actual Burnt Ends that were edible. Instead these turned into the most expensive dog treats I have ever bought.
I couldn’t agree more regarding your review…These Burnt ends suck and putting the rest in the garbage now..
I totally agree. My only problem is that I don’t have a dog to feed them to..
A total waste of $21.00.
Thanks so much for your review. I thought I was going crazy when I tried these. My husband actually liked them, but to me they tasted like tough meat soaked in vinegar. I had two bites and threw mine away. Thanks again for the sanity check!
Wish I had read your review before buying. We tried it last night – and put most of it in the fridge. I’m trying to tenderize it tonight by simmering it in a wine and broth mixture over very low heat to see if that helps. The flavor was not bad (to us) but it was so tough it was almost unchewable.
Wish I had known before purchase The mission Hill Bistro Burnt Ends were amazing! These are so unimpressive! For smoked, season beef they had no flavor! I was able to bring some flavor by mixing a couple TBS hickory smoke marinade, raspberry jelly, ground chipotle pepper into a bag of BBQ sauce left over from Mission Hills Bistro Burnt Ends. Drained the watery au jus from the heated and added the BBQ sauce! Made all the difference! That an cutting the chunky pieces smaller and tossing ones that that didn’t make it!