Smoked beef tongue

[rio_grande]

Glad to see this post. Otter and I will both have our yearly beef and while I cook the tounge every year I have been contemplating smoking it. We always pressure cooked them in a sort of brine water. Pealed and sliced for a sandwich.

Remember the first time mom made it for me,,, or the first time I remember it. wow,,, never forget it.

 

[meateater]

Pops post busted me up, LMAO. I grew up eating tongue, menudo, liver, and other ethnic foods. I've never tried it smoked so that's another for the list.

 

[Bearcarver]

Pops post busted me up, LMAO. I grew up eating tongue, menudo, liver, and other ethnic foods. I've never tried it smoked so that's another for the list.

Menudo !!!!!! 

You are only the second person I ever heard say that word.

The other one is Redd Foxx on Sanford & Sons. He's always eating Menudo.

Note to self: Look up Menudo to finally find out what the heck it is!

Bear

 

[meateater]

Pops post busted me up, LMAO. I grew up eating tongue, menudo, liver, and other ethnic foods. I've never tried it smoked so that's another for the list.

Menudo !!!!!! 

You are only the second person I ever heard say that word.

The other one is Redd Foxx on Sanford & Sons. He's always eating Menudo.

Note to self: Look up Menudo to finally find out what the heck it is!

Bear

He had a place down the street from me on Eastern Ave. , now it haunted. They say there's a ghost with a attitude living there, imagine that maybe I should bring him a bowl. E S T E R !!! Lol. I actually smoked some menudo, great stuff.

 

 

[smokie bill]

Okay, all of you who responded to my query about smoking a beef tongue, I finally did it.  Here’s the procedure I used:  In our 6-qt. pressure cooker, I added 2 cups water, 1 Tbs. salt, 2 bay leaves, 6 peppercorns, 6 cloves, 1 onion quartered, a 2.5# beef tongue which was cut in two pieces for easier handling.  Pressured for 45 minutes with the pressure regulator rocking slowly.  When time was up, I took the cooker off of the burner & let the pressure come down on its own accord without removing the regulator.  Removed the tongue pieces & immediately started to peel off the skin.  Surprisingly, very little cutting had to be done.  Once started, the skin peeled off nicely.  Because it was going to be a few hours until I smoked the tongue, I immersed the pieces in the liquid from the pressure cooker to keep them moist.

   Got the smoker up to a starting temp of 250 deg with good pecan wood smoke going.  I did apply a very light sprinkle of a rub on the tongue prior to smoking.  Put the tongue on the grate & laid a slice of bacon on top of each piece & closed the lid.  Start temp on the tongue was 76 deg.  Every 30 minutes I turned the pieces & replaced the bacon on top.  I maintained a smoker temp between 225 & 250.  After 2.5 hours, the internal meat temp was 150 deg. so I removed the meat.  I sliced the tongue & we ate it for dinner that evening.  It was so tender, moist, good smoke ring & flavor & very delicious.  Even my doubtful wife admitted several times how good it was.  The next day we made tongue sandwiches for lunch.  OMG!...what a delightful treat that was.  Will definitely be doing tongue again & again.  I think the key to this whole thing is to pressure the tongue prior to the cook/smoke.  May try a heart some time in the future & I’ll probably do it the same way. 

 

[smokie bill]

I forgot to attach a couple of pictures with my last post concerning the beef tongue, so here they are:

 

[tony111]

Looks great Bill ! I'm glad the hear the wife liked it also. Mine wont eat it but that just leaves more for me. [grin]

 

[jirodriguez]

Ooohhhh, Aaaaahhh, Preaty! Man that looks awesome! Thank you soooo much for giving us a follow up..... all I can say is lengua tacos! Mmmmmmmm!

 

[pops6927]

Here's a re-post of what I said on that thread:

Tongue is very good any way it's fixed. So is the backbone of a heifer and it's ass too, plus I love shoving ground meat into intenstinal linings and seasoned with ground up plants, and cleaning the guts out of old sows and chopping their shoulders off and smoking, cooking or grinding them and cook the ass off one at Easter too, after getting it pickled-drunk and smoked with old tree chunks. I love yanking the tits off a clucker and chopping them up into chunks, throwing them into cackleberry soup then rubbing them with crushed up wheat gluten and charring them up in a swaddle of plant grease into 'nuggets', too!
Guess it's how you look at things...

Heh heh heh... guess I did wax prolific a bit in excess but it would never fail to amaze me how customers would forget exactly where cuts of meat actually came from; that s prime steak is gnawing on the backbone of a steer or that a rump roast at one time had poop running out of it.  Customers would ask why we couldn't make our bacon leaner, for example.  I'd tell them that was the way the hog grew it, they have as fat of stomachs as people do (while staring at their belly pointedly..)......  They would not relate the fact that bacon came from a hog's belly, it was like they thought we manufactured it that way.  

 

[Bearcarver]

Here's a re-post of what I said on that thread:

Tongue is very good any way it's fixed. So is the backbone of a heifer and it's ass too, plus I love shoving ground meat into intenstinal linings and seasoned with ground up plants, and cleaning the guts out of old sows and chopping their shoulders off and smoking, cooking or grinding them and cook the ass off one at Easter too, after getting it pickled-drunk and smoked with old tree chunks. I love yanking the tits off a clucker and chopping them up into chunks, throwing them into cackleberry soup then rubbing them with crushed up wheat gluten and charring them up in a swaddle of plant grease into 'nuggets', too!
Guess it's how you look at things...

Heh heh heh... guess I did wax prolific a bit in excess but it would never fail to amaze me how customers would forget exactly where cuts of meat actually came from; that s prime steak is gnawing on the backbone of a steer or that a rump roast at one time had poop running out of it.  Customers would ask why we couldn't make our bacon leaner, for example.  I'd tell them that was the way the hog grew it, they have as fat of stomachs as people do (while staring at their belly pointedly..)......  They would not relate the fact that bacon came from a hog's belly, it was like they thought we manufactured it that way.  

Yup---That's the one---I love it!

Smokie Bill,

That looks AWESOME !

My mother used to make tongue when I was a kid---I loved it.

It was nice and tender---I guess because a cow doesn't talk a lot! Maybe the cud is a tenderizer???

Your's looks about 10 times better, smoke ring & all !

The bark looks fabulous too.

This is a great thread!

Thanks,

Bear

 

[smokey mo]

OK.  That's it. It has officially been placed on the list of things to smoke.  I will even try it.  My wife and kids love the tacos form the local hurl wagon.  My problem is not the fact it is meat.  I just remember watching the cows stick the tongue so far into the nose the tail would straighten out.  It is a stupid prejudice that will be overcome as soon as I try it.  Like sushi and escargot (spelling). 

Well done.  I was talking about tongue with my boss and he wants me to smoke some up for him to have. Too funny.

 

[moikel]

This has helped me a lot. I havent started smoking yet but when I  cook the shop bought ones I poach them in water GENTLY with carrot,onion,bay leaves & a splash of white wine vinegar for about an hour. I cook some small puy lentils in some of poaching liquid +garlic + onion + chicken stock.Serve it sliced(SKINNED ) on top of lentils with salsa verde on side(chopped parsley,capers,anchovies,lemon juice & zest)If you are colour conscious you can substitute white cannelli beans for lentils to give contrast. If you kill the whole animal eat/use the whole animal!

 

[meateater]

This has helped me a lot. I havent started smoking yet but when I  cook the shop bought ones I poach them in water GENTLY with carrot,onion,bay leaves & a splash of white wine vinegar for about an hour. I cook some small puy lentils in some of poaching liquid +garlic + onion + chicken stock.Serve it sliced(SKINNED ) on top of lentils with salsa verde on side(chopped parsley,capers,anchovies,lemon juice & zest)If you are colour conscious you can substitute white cannelli beans for lentils to give contrast. If you kill the whole animal eat/use the whole animal!

I hear ya if I can use the oink or moo I will. Looking forward to the pics. 

 

[marco007]

Hey Bill,

I'm from Texas, and yes I have smoked beef tongue.  Just use salt/pepper, maybe whole cloves of garlic, cilantro, and onions, but keep it simple.  We have smoked the whole Beef head, which back home in TX, is known as Barbacoa. Season it, and wrap it, set it and forget over night, wake up, spread it open on the table, let steam out.  Grab some cilantro, salsa, and some corn/flour tortillas.  If you are really adventurous, fry and egg, sunny side, or where the yoke is still runny, make the taco, and place the egg over the meat, bite down, and pure heaven. 

 

 The head has the cheek, tongue, brains, and whatever else you can muster out.   And is usually cooked in underground, but a smoker works just as well.    We don't brine it, we use that simple rub, and herbs, and those veggies mentioned.  But know I'm interested in brining it now, see how it comes.

You can smoke it open for like 2-3 hours, then add everything listed above, or to your taste, and then depending how big the tongue is, another 4-5hrs wrapped.  Cut down top of tongue, scrape out meat.  To me, it is the most flavorful meat on the cow, it is the meat that tastes you back!LOL.  If cooked right, it is the most tenderest meat you will eat!

Marco

Tex-A-Lina Cookers

Charlotte, NC

 

[venture]

The only problem with beef tongue is the skin and bad cooks.

With lamb tongue, even the skin is not that much problem.

I love my lengua!

Good luck and good smoking.

 

[bgosnell151]

So one of my friends just went to a butcher and purchased a whole "cow".  He said they were probably going to just throw out the tongue... I told him I would be willing to take it off his hands.  I have never cooked/smoked a tongue, so thought the adventure would be fun.  I was planning on brining this, boiling for 1 1/2 hours to remove the skin with an onion, minimal salt and a couple pepercorns, then smoke with salt and pepper on it.  What temp should I smoke this to?  I would like to pickle some of it and slice some others.

 

[bgosnell151]

hmmmm... guess I resurrected an old thread.  Have read about 5 threads on this, took some pointers from each and probably picked the wrong one to ask on.

 

[moikel]

 
hmmmm... guess I resurrected an old thread.  Have read about 5 threads on this, took some pointers from each and probably picked the wrong one to ask on.

 Check out nose to tail section,Clarissa & I have both done a few.There are a couple of different options.

 

[cruiserborealis]

I brine beef tongue, depending on its size, for 3 to 5 days, then hang it in a cool environment for several hours or over night to dry. The next morning I hot smoke the tongue at temperatures between 240 and 280 Fahrenheit on my gas grill over chunks of seasoned maple and/or beech wood for 6 -8 hours. After hanging it to cool I boil it for 3 hours and peel off all skin while still hot. Serve cold or warm, thinnly sliced with grated fresh horse radish. A traditional Easter treat from Southern Austria.

 

[Bearcarver]

I brine beef tongue, depending on its size, for 3 to 5 days, then hang it in a cool environment for several hours or over night to dry. The next morning I hot smoke the tongue at temperatures between 240 and 280 Fahrenheit on my gas grill over chunks of seasoned maple and/or beech wood for 6 -8 hours. After hanging it to cool I boil it for 3 hours and peel off all skin while still hot. Serve cold or warm, thinnly sliced with grated fresh horse radish. A traditional Easter treat from Southern Austria.

You are talking about using cure in that brine, right?

Bear