Beef Cheeks Bresaola gone wrong....

[daveomak]

I've used Cheeks for Sous Vide, pressure cooked it, and it's an awesome flavor muscle...   

Soooo, I decided I wanted to make a "bresoala" from that muscle...   

I opened the package and it was really butchered..   sliced and diced by some inexperienced person just trying to remove it from the cow....    probably on piece work would be my guess....

It was fatty and lots of silver skin and sinews...  55% trim....    trying to clean up that butchered muscle was not working.....

Next best thing....   dice it up....  fry it....  make country gravy.....  and it was delish....   

Beef Cheeks mess 001.JPG

• daveomak
• Mar 5, 2017

Beef Cheeks mess 003.JPG

• daveomak
• Mar 5, 2017

Beef Cheeks mess 004.JPG

• daveomak
• Mar 5, 2017

Because of the mess the meat was in when I opened the package, I soaked it in 15-20% salt solution to kill any surface bacteria...    then I cubed it up....

Wish I had a bresaola to show you folks ....    maybe next week or 3.....  

Dave

 

[crankybuzzard]

I love beef cheeks! Hate to hear you got a butchered batch. If you know a good butcher shop that processes their own critters, you may be able to score a whole head. That way you can get the cheeks, tongue, and any other offal parts you may want!

we sometimes smoke the whole head for barbacoa.

 

[myownidaho]

I love braised beef cheeks. Great piece of meat for slow cooking.

 

[geezer]

I'm not sure I've seen beef cheeks for sale here, but then I've not been looking for it either. 

 

[atomicsmoke]

Dave,

When the meat is mangled or the cut itself cannot be easily rolled into a nice shape I stuff all those pieces in large casing and try to get all(most) air out.

It works reasonably well. Here is an example
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/245068/lamb-prosciutto-boneless

However if the quality of meat is not what you'd expect (as you suspect here) is better to wait for the next opportunity.

 

[mneeley490]

I feel for you, Dave. I bought some beef cheeks at Costco once, and they were just as mangled. Haven't bought any since. Same with Costco boneless pork butts. They just can't seem to finesse the bone out.

 

[daveomak]

Thanks ....    The meat and gravy was the best I have ever made....   The cheeks umami flavor profile was incredible...   It was worth the effort to salvage the meat from the "butcher"....   HAHAHAHA....    It's on my list to do again.......

 

[SmokinAl]

It sure looks good from here Dave!

Nice save!

Al