Smoked Beef Cheeks

[Jabiru]

These were the most flavorful & richest meat I have ever tasted. If you like meat then I suggest try these, Gold Medal of meat.

When I put my Temps probes in the raw cheeks I thought I would need to sharpen my probes, so tough like sticking probe into Leather. Haha.

Note: When near the end, Probe tender is not good enough, you need pull Tender around 210-212F internal for me. They probe tender at 200F but not ready. Keep going, turn up the heat if required.

When you pull them out, they are like jello and wobble, then you know they are ready to pull :)

I reckon they only need minimal seasoning as they are Beef flavour packed.

Cook:
Out of Vac Packs and rinsed under cold water then dried with Paper towel.
2 x Cheeks - Only One side - Light SPOG and touch of Paprika.
2 x Cheeks - Only One Side - Joe Mason Beef Rub
In Fridge uncovered for an hour.
On the smoker at 12:30 PM @ 180F - 200F for 4 Hours or until reach 150-155F.
Braise time: Put in Tray then Added IPA Beer, with one teaspoon of Vegemite. I didn't not tip over meat.
Wrapped with foil.
Back in smoker set at @250.
2 hours later internal was 202F, check& probe tender, they were like butter but not pull tender.
Turn smoker up to 325F.
They hit 211F and were like jelly, perfect.
Out of smoker, tip juice into jug. If i need juice when pulling just I get the fat off top and tip a bit in. Don't add to much juice as these are juicy and it will turn to mush.

Then me and my wife used the meat for Tacos using tx smoker Salsa Recipe. The Salsa is the best we have ever tasted, my missus raved about it. I had to substitute some of the peppers for Home Grown, but wow, so good. My wife said the meal left a beautiful taste in her mouth.

In the Tacos we had, Cream Cheese, avacado, lettuce, tomato, cucumber and of course the Salsa. Which went so well with the Rich meat, it gave a nice clean taste..

One thing I should have done is Cowboy Beans with it, anyway, next time.

The purchase:

Before Rub

Out of Smoker - Internal @ 150F so into the Pan ready for Beer and Cover.

Beer tipped in tray.

Vegemite added.

Salsa being prepared:

Out they come. Internal around 211F . Bottom right was where I stuck fork in and wow ready to pull.

Pull time with Bear Claws, bit of overkill but hey I like them.

End result: Beef Cheek Tacos. I missed a shot of when I put the salsa with the Tacos.

Thanks for looking.

 

[crazymoon]

J, Awesome smoke and some tender and tasty looking cheeks!

 

[sawhorseray]

Wow, looking at the marbling in those cheeks you know it has to be flavorful, great piece of work! RAY

 

[SmokinAl]

I have never tried cheeks before, but after seeing yours, I guess I better grab one & see what it's all about!
Nice work!
Al

 

[Kevin DeShazo]

Looks good sir. What does the vegemite bring to the party, had it once years ago and didnt care for it, but then again it was on a piece of bread

 

[xray]

Great looking tacos! That’s some nice cheek meat there!

 

[chilerelleno]

Hooray for Cheeks, we love them too!
Those look great, nice cook.
Love the use of the Vegemite too, I can imagine the flavor imparted might go well with the beefiness of the cheeks.
Really LIKE!

 

[jcam222]

Great looking cool!! I’ve wanted to get my hands on beef cheeks for awhile. You nailed it.

 

[BKING!]

I always heard cheek meat was one of the best parts of any animal. I have yet to cook the cheek meat of any animal. I don’t know where to find it

 

[HalfSmoked]

Awesome looking cook and a great step by step post, Never had beef cheeks either although I know hog jowls are a great piece of meat.

Warren

 

[Sowsage]

WOW! My mouth is watering right now! Awesome job on the smoke and a great thread on it! LIKE!

 

[Brokenhandle]

That all looks very tasty! Don't think I've ever had cheeks before either but would sure dig into those

Ryan

 

[Smokin' in AZ]

Great job Jabiru!

Looks fantastic

LIKE!

John

 

[Bearcarver]

Oh Yeah!!
That looks Outstanding, Jabiru!!
Never had it, but it sure looks Outstanding!!
Like.

Bear

 

[Dirty Nails]

It looks fantastic! However, I've never heard of this cut of meat...is this the same as barbacoa in south Texas? Either way, it looks great - LIKE.

 

[Texas Cookin']

I wonder if this is what we call barbacoa in the south? chilerelleno might know the answer to this.

 

[chilerelleno]

I wonder if this is what we call barbacoa in the south? chilerelleno might know the answer to this.

Yes.
Mejillas (cheeks) are one of the classic barbacoa meats.

 

[Texas Cookin']

Yes.
Mejillas (cheeks) are one of the classic barbacoa meats.

Good deal. The finished product looked like it. I knew you would know haha.

 

[tx smoker]

Then me and my wife used the meat for Tacos using tx smoker tx smoker Salsa Recipe. The Salsa is the best we have ever tasted, my missus raved about it.

Wow!! I am thrilled that you tried the salsa and seem to enjoy it. As with any recipe it's subjective to personal taste and availability of ingredients. Sounds like you did a great job improvising. Yours looks in the pic to be the exact color as what I managed to put together. It was an evolution for me and took a few attempts and upgrades to finally get it where I felt it was worth of sharing. The only thing that may make it better came from our good friend Ryan Brokenhandle and that would be to roast the tomatoes and onions on the Santa Maria grill.

Outside of that, your meal looks outstanding!! Like so many others I've never cooked cheek but may have to see if I can find some, possibly through the wholesale side of Certified Piedmontese. I'm gonna have to drop my sales manager an email, or check the price list and see if it's there. They have a lot of things coded and it's hard for the uninitiated to decipher sometimes

On a Mission from God,
Robert

 

[Jabiru]

Thank you Gentlemen.

I am so glad you liked my cook up. I am stoked I made the carousel too which is a bonus to the meal.

Hooray for Cheeks, we love them too!
Those look great, nice cook.
Love the use of the Vegemite too, I can imagine the flavor imparted might go well with the beefiness of the cheeks.
Really LIKE!

Thanks chilerelleno , I do use it with Beef quite often as it adds a nice flavour to the stock, another favourite is Promite that has a more beef taste to it.

I have never tried cheeks before, but after seeing yours, I guess I better grab one & see what it's all about!
Nice work!
Al

Thanks Al, I would love to see your cook up of these. I will be doing more of these for sure.

With the leftovers we had Baked Potato and Cheek meat and used the last of the Salsa, was very tasty. Yes, there is a potato under all that :)