Beef Cheeks! Fall Apart! Melt In Your Mouth!

[londonfog]

Hey guys, 

Had a lot of trouble with temperature control on this one, but ended up coming out BEAUTIFUL! Really happy since we've upgraded to our cheap off-set smoker last week (we were using a regular BBQ grill before - after using this offset, I dunno how we managed to pull it off with that junk!) 

Was going for that absolute fall apart texture. I wanted it to melt in your mouth.

Picked up some amazing beef cheeks from the local butcher and applied a simple salt, pepper rub with a hint of brown sugar. It was smoked unwrapped for a few hours then finished wrapped in a beer bath.

Wish the video was better quality, sorry about that. LOOK AT ALL THAT SQUISHY GOODNESS! 

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• londonfog
• May 8, 2017

 

Put it in some buttered toasted buns with a bit of mustard and red onion, and paired with beetroot sauerkraut on the side! 

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• londonfog
• May 8, 2017

 

[tallbm]

Wow that looks amazing!

I can't wait to something this weekend.  I hope my smoking experiment comes out half as good as those cheaks did.

 

[pc farmer]

WOW.   That looks awesome.

Wish I could find cheeks here.

 

[chilerelleno]

Mmmmmm... Barbacoa de Cabeza, haven't had those in long time.

Looks real good from where I'm sitting.
Point!

 

[lancep]

Looks great! Never had a cheek before, glad to hear you're digging the new smoker.

 

[londonfog]

Thanks for the compliments guys!

Beef cheek is a different texture - its very soft and gelatinous when tender. Very rich. I really recommend people try it at least once. Great cut of meat. 

 

[SmokinAl]

Those look fantastic!

The final shot of the sammie just had to go on the carousel!

Great job!

Point!

Al

 

[crankybuzzard]

Perfect execution of the smoke, and great pics!  Beef cheeks are awesome!

Point for sure!

 

[smokin monkey]

Those Beef Cheeks look great!

 

[dls1]

Beautiful job, LondonFog.

Starting with some beautifully trimmed and cleaned cheeks all the way through to a sandwich that looks to be over the top. Pointworthy for certain.

To me, properly prepared cheeks are some of the best meat from a cow. Once cooked, there are so many ways you can use the shredded meat, such as your sandwich. One of my favorites is to use the meat as stuffing for raviolis. Another is to mix the shredded meat with caramelized onions, form a patty, and then quickly sear both sides. The patty goes onto a piece of toast with a poached or soft fried egg on top. An open face breakfast sandwich like no other.

Great work.

 

[indaswamp]

I have never BarBQued beef cheeks. Looks delicious! points!

 

[myownidaho]

That is very point worthy! I love beef cheeks.

 

[dward51]

That looks amazing!!  I've never smoked beef cheeks, but it's on my list to see if I can find locally now!

 

[budster]

Check your Walmart, that's where I find them

 

[SmokyMose]

Looks like I'm going to have to break down and go to a WalMart..
Those look great!

 

[tropics]

Don't know were you are,but never seen them up here

Richie

 

[dls1]

 
Don't know were you are,but never seen them up here

Richie

If you have a decent sized Hispanic population nearby, check with the grocers, especially those with a full meat department, that focus on serving the community. Beef cheeks (cachetes, cachetes de vaca) will often be offered fresh in the meat display case. Sometimes, they'll be prepackaged and displayed in the frozen food coolers. One very popular commercial brand is supplied by a Cargill specialty subsidiary known as Rumba Meats, which prepares and packages beef cuts favored by Hispanics. On the Rumba website there's a store locator where you can find the retailers near to you that offer their products. Note that some retailers will carry the full line of Rumba products, and others will only carry a limited portion of it.

 

[chilerelleno]

Walmart carry many different cuts packaged bu Rumba Meats.
The most often seen in my area are, Beef Tongue, Beef Cheeks, Beef Tripe, Beef Oxtails.

Richie,
In your area, Walmart, Wakefern and BJ's all carry Rumba Meats products

 

[SmokyMose]

There are at least 6 mercatos a mile east of me and one supermercato. I get jalepenos at one of the smaller ones because they always have big ones. I may check out the super. The meats in the smaller ones never look very fresh.
It's always a quick in and out, though, because I'm not comfortable with the odd looks I get...

 

[londonfog]

Wow thank you guys for all the compliments! It really means a lot. 

Over here in London UK, Beef Cheeks are quite common at our local butcher shops. Usually, our butchers get whole carcasses in every day, and so you can find almost every cut that you need. Beef Cheeks are quite popular in French Cuisine and we have an abundance of French restaurants here. 

Really happy that you guys think it looks great!