Burnt Ends with Gates Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce

I've never been to Kansas City, but I hope to make a visit soon. I can only dream and drool about it for now. But recently, my neighbor traveled to Kansas City for work and visited a few BBQ spots. He brought home a bottle of Gates Bar-B-Q sauce for me to try. I was thinking, sure I'll try some... but he wanted me to have the entire bottle. He's been a loyal fan of my blog, and he's tried a lot of my BBQ too. So it was nice of him to return the favor.

So what's Kansas City BBQ all about? I wrote about it a while back, but the main difference is that Kansas City sauce tends to be tomato-based, thick, sweet, and heavy on the molasses. Kansas City is also mostly known for their burnt ends. I had a huge hankering for some burnt ends, so I recently made some of my own just to try out with my bottle of Gates Bar-B-Q sauce.

I can probably eat burnt ends all day, every day. Once I cut them up into cubes, I either like to throw them back into the smoker for a few more hours to get more of the crusty bark on the edges and for the fat to render off some more so that it's nice and crispy. Then I like to toss them in a pan with some BBQ sauce--in this case, Gates Bar-B-Q sauce, and let the burnt ends caramelize with the tomato and sugar from the sauce. It sounds like a lot of work, but it sure is worth it.

Once the final product is on the plate, it doesn't stay there for long. The sweetness from the tomato and the "tang" from the vinegar perfectly compliments the salt and smoke from the beef. The absolute best part is the bark. The perfect burnt end has to have a contrast in texture--the crispy bark on the outside to go along with a moist, juicy, and fatty meat on the inside. It's the best thing you'll put in your mouth.