Beef Cheeks

[Rusty Kettle]

Yep. I picked up Beef Cheek meat. Looks like SirPorkalot beat me to it lol.
I found them at walmart and thought to myself well its cheap beef and according to google similar to brisket in that it needs a long time to cook. So I picked up 2 packs.
Got the 270 Smokers Sumo fired up with Embers briquettes and Western Wood hickory and apple wood for smoke.
The beef trimmed up but alot of fat and silver skin. The fat is the thick useless junk. Thick like brisket fat before trimming it down. So almost 1/3 of the weight is trimmings and useless.
So since most people described it like brisket I used Smokin' Hoggz Rub recipe from Secrets to Smoking with the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker and other Smokers by Bill Gillespie. Looks like the book is cheap now too. Google it and pick it up. I love the book. The recipe for rubs and sauce alone makes the book worth it.
I also injected it with beef bone broth. I thought it probably could use some help to stay juicy. Pics to follow eventually.

 

[Rusty Kettle]

 

[Rusty Kettle]

Just wrapped the pan and added bone beef broth as well. Going to check around 6 and hopefully finish between 6 and 7pm.
Got bored and made cornmeal tortilla shells just because I had the stuff on hand. I figure some tacos would be a good way to use the beef cheeks. Hopefully they are decent. I think buying more beef cheeks next time would be wise as the trimmings that are wasted is alot.
My wife might not kill me for cooking. The dishwasher I bought and repaired is pretty useful and easy. Just a countertop model but it gets the job done.
I hope the tacos taste alright.

 

[Stingerhook]

So I still don't have time to make it for dinner? Enjoy.

 

[Rusty Kettle]

So I still don't have time to make it for dinner? Enjoy.

It was nasty. The flavor was right but my god some cuts of meat should just be dog food. It was a weird texture. Almost felt slimy going down.
To be honest I would not feed it to my dog.
Oh well sticking to brisket. Still got some pics to add but I do not recommend this.

 

[Rusty Kettle]

 

[Rusty Kettle]

 

[Rusty Kettle]

Completely gross and I love tacos and beef. Just a weird texture. Stick to brisket or ground beef tacos.

 

[thirdeye]

Yep, cheeks take a long time to cook. And some folks don't trim at the beginning and opt to trim fat at the end, but I like to pre-trim. I see part of your cook is in a pan, and I'm in favor of a wrapped step too for tenderizing.... so I re-season before wrapping with some beefy liquid and I add a sliced onion and sometimes a jalapeno which works good in the barbacoa anyways. Mine is fall apart tender before resting.

 

[Johnnyrotten]

You're right. It is critical to finish the beef cheeks in a foil wrapped pan with liquid (I used beer & beef broth), onions, garlic cloves, etc. I think you will be happy with the results

 

[Big George's BBQ]

Never had beef cheeks but pork cheeks are awesome

 

[Rusty Kettle]

I don't think I would like them any way. It was a texture thing. It wasn't what I expected. I cooked about 6 hours at 325. It was slimy. It was fall apart tender and probe tender. I foiled it in the pan with some beef broth.
It just was not like brisket at all. Not even close. Some folks might like it but I just hated it. I won't try it again unless someone else cooks it then maybe.
Oh well Domino's pizza saved the day. LOL.

 

[thirdeye]

I don't think I would like them any way. It was a texture thing. It wasn't what I expected. I cooked about 6 hours at 325. It was slimy. It was fall apart tender and probe tender. I foiled it in the pan with some beef broth.
It just was not like brisket at all. Not even close. Some folks might like it but I just hated it. I won't try it again unless someone else cooks it then maybe.
Oh well Domino's pizza saved the day. LOL.

You probably want to skip ox tail too :mrgreen:

 

[Mike in Roseville]

Interesting.


Keep in mind you should pre-trim a good bit of fat off before cooking, braise it in a pan to finish, and chop it fine.



Had cheek meat many times. Slimy is not how I would describe it.

 

[Big Andy]

Really rich with all the fat and collagen. Some don't care for that, my wife being one. I liked it myself, made good tacos.

 

[Rusty Kettle]

Really rich with all the fat and collagen. Some don't care for that, my wife being one. I liked it myself, made good tacos.

I think that is probably it. To me it feels slimy. I wanted to like it but its not my thing.