What Part of Cow Is Beef Cheeks

Beef cheeks are a little-used or seen product in many parts of the globe. I'd certainly never seen or eaten them until a couple of years ago myself, when a friend of mine did them braised and and then added to a chili.

I think they're rarely seen considering the fact they come up from the face up of a cow is very off-putting for a lot of people.

This is a shame because they are but another muscle like many other parts of the cow we happily eat. And when cooked correctly, they are very rich and bulky, the virtually gelled and unctuous part of a cow I've ever eaten, and I call up would be enjoyed by many if they gave them a adventure.

If you savour incredibly moist, melt-in-your-mouth, low n slow-cooked meats such as brisket and ribs, where connective tissues and collagens melt down into gelatinous juices over hours of cooking, you volition Love beef cheeks.

But the texture isn't for everybody, and y'all might turn your nose upwards if you lot don't like somewhat mucilaginous and jelly-like gelatinous meats.

For certain, I call back y'all should at least give them a become in one case — hopefully past following my method beneath. Every person I've e'er fed these to has loved them. No lie.

Contents (Jump to Topic)

• 1 What are Beef Cheeks
• 2 How to Buy Beef Cheeks
• 3 How to Fume Beefiness Cheeks
• four Smoked Beef Cheek Recipe
• 5 Gear up Your Smoker
• 6 Prepare Beef Cheeks
• 7 Employ Rub
• 8 Smoke for 3 Hours
• 9 Switch From Smoking to Braising
• 10 Melt Until They Probe Like Butter
• 11 Pull or Shred
• 12 Serve in Tacos or Tortillas
• 13 Printable Recipe Carte
• 14 Smoked Beefiness Cheeks Recipe — Pulled for adding to Tacos or Tortillas
  • xiv.one Clarification
  • 14.2 Ingredients
  • 14.3 Instructions
  • xiv.iv Notes
  • 14.5 Nutrition
  • 14.6 Did y'all brand this recipe?

What are Beef Cheeks

Sometimes also sold equally 'ox cheeks,' they are exactly as the name suggests, the facial cheeks of a moo-cow.

There are ii from each fauna, and each weighs between 350g to 450g / 0.75 to 1 pound once trimmed. They also lose almost 30% weight during a long slow cook, so for portion sizes, I recommend 1 to 1.5 cheeks per person.

They are a very tough muscle because they do a ton of work. Cows spend a tremendous amount of time chewing, and this makes their cheeks a very tough, sinewy muscle. Therefore, they are only always skillful to swallow if cooked low due north slow for a long time, or braised while slow cooking, to break downwardly the tough tissues.

They are packed with flavor, quite lean, but have a ton of sinew and connective tissues that in one case cooked breaks downwardly, making them very gluey and gelatinous, which is wonderfully moist and flavorful to eat, making these one of the best meats to smoke in many people's stance including mine.

They are also highly grained and somewhat stringy, which makes them perfect for pulling afterward cooking, to add to tacos and tortillas, or you tin slice/cube them to add to stews or a chili.

How to Buy Beef Cheeks

Beef cheeks are a rarely seen, specialty budget cut that you will rarely encounter in many butchers, so if you wish to cook them, yous will need to plan ahead and social club them in advance to give your butcher time to get them in.

They come with a ton of sinew and silver skin, so do demand a lot of trimming. It'south quite a chore, and then I would enquire your butcher to exercise it, which they should happily do for you lot.

How to Fume Beef Cheeks

For me, beef cheeks must be braised for function of the melt. They are very lean and tend to dry out, and so lend themselves very well to braising.

I have cooked beefiness cheeks straight through without braising or wrapping, and they were very dry and not very dainty. I take also smoked them 3 hours, then wrapped (Texas crutch) until finished, and they were also a niggling too dry for my liking, but still dainty and far meliorate than not wrapping.

However, smoking for 3 hours, and so braising until done, that's where the money's at, with the finished product pulling easily, existence moist and then rich that they're almost a sin.

Smoked Beef Cheek Recipe

Below is my method for smoking beefiness cheeks. They result in a deliciously smokey petty beef nugget that you lot can pull apart with a fork and are platonic for tacos or eating in flat breads.

Set up Your Smoker

Set upward your smoker for indirect smoking, at 250f, with plenty fuel to concluding 6 hours plus. Permit it come upwards to temperature and preheat for a practiced half hour earlier adding any food to it.

Ready Beef Cheeks

Hopefully, you will accept bought pre-trimmed cheeks? If not, yous volition need to trim them.

Remove all tendons, sinew, and silverskin you lot can see, as information technology's unpleasant and very chewy to eat even afterwards existence cooked for many hours.

What y'all're looking for equally the raw product ready to cook is what you tin see in the image below.

Apply Rub

For the rub, you tin can use anything you lot would typically apply on a brisket or beef ribs, from a unproblematic salt and pepper mix to a commercial rub bought peculiarly for beefiness. Stay away from rubs meant for pork, or anything with likewise much carbohydrate in them, equally sweetness doesn't go well with beef.

For my cook, I used a 'mocha rub' from quiet water farms containing cocoa, coffee, cumin, chipotle peppers, and other spices.

Because the ox cheeks are quite small, you practice not want a ton of rub, or it volition overpower the taste of the beef. Add a light dusting, so you can still come across the meat through the rub all over.

You tin see how much I utilize in the image below.

Smoke for 3 Hours

With your smoker gear up up for indirect cooking and steady at 250f, add two chunks of smoking wood suitable for beefiness, either oak or hickory. I used oak.

Place the beef cheeks directly onto the grates and allow to fume for a full 3 hours.

Switch From Smoking to Braising

Once the 3 hours of smoking accept passed, remove the beef cheeks from the smoker and place them into a tray for braising.

Yous can use any liquid y'all like, with beef stock or dark beer existence my preferred choices and what I recommend. For my melt, I added approx 150ml of IPA (Indian Pale Ale) to the pan.

Now insert the probe of a wireless remote thermometer into the largest beef cheek to monitor temps remotely, considering you want to start probing when they hitting 203f, but do not want to keep opening the smoker or the braising tray to practise so.

Probe and accept the temperature of all your cheeks in the thickest part using an instant read thermometer if you lot have one. The tips are thin and are groovy for probing, plus the accuracy of the temp readings is the all-time yous can get.

Finally, seal the pan with aluminum foil and return it to the smoker.

Cook Until They Probe Similar Butter

Y'all now want to fume the beef cheeks until they attain 203f internal temperature, and from this point on start to probe them for tenderness.

Beef cheeks will exist ready when they are anything from 205 °F to as high equally 215 °F! I know this sounds stupidly high, merely believe me, I have had some that were still partially tough at even 210 °F, which I left and took to 215 °F, and so they became wonderfully tender and probed like butter.

So, cook them to 203f and and then outset probing, this will take approx. iii hours of braising. Then probe them every couple of degrees rising in temp until they feel done, the point at which they are completely soft and probe with no resistance. This volition usually be effectually the 210f mark, but could be a few degrees higher or lower.

Pull or Shred

One time they've reached the desired doneness, remove from the smoker, and then the braising tray, and pull right abroad. Only take ii forks and rip the cheeks apart, shred them into small-scale pieces, they will 'pull' very easily.

You can slice or cube them if yous so desire, and it goes well in stews, casseroles, and chilies, simply that'southward not the aim of my melt where I want to serve them in tacos and tortillas.

Serve in Tacos or Tortillas

Once shredded, used the smoked beef cheeks every bit an ingredient in tacos or tortillas, which for me is the very best utilise of them.

Add salsa, cream cheese, cheddar, scarlet onion, radishes, pickles, a chili sauce and some coriander to them, or whatsoever takes your fancy as a taco or tortilla filling.

Yous can see some tacos I made here:

And here are some beef cheek tortillas:

Printable Recipe Card

Print

Description

3 hours smoked so 3 hr braised beefiness cheeks with a mocha rub, cooked to 210f internal temperature until gluey and jelly-like, earlier being pulled and added to tacos and tortillas.

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• ivx beef cheeks
• 4x tbsp of dry out rub for suitable for beefiness
• 150ml night beer, IPA or APA

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• Ready your smoker for indirect cooking, 250 °F
• Set up your beef cheeks past trimming away all tendons, sinew and silverskin.
• Utilize a small amount of dry rub to each beef cheek, perhaps a tbsp to each
• Add 2x chunks of oak or hickory smoking wood to your smoker, so add together the beef cheeks straight onto the grates and fume at 250f for 3 hours.
• Remove beefiness cheeks from smoker, place into a tray with 150ml of dark beer, APA or IPA, then seal the tray with aluminum foil and return to the smoker.
• Cook until they reach 203f, then beginning to probe checking for doneness. They may be gear up anywhere betwixt 205 °F and 215 °F. They are set not at a certain temp, but when they probe like butter. This 'braising stage' should exist some other three hours.
• As soon every bit they probe like butter, remove from smoker and pull with forks, prepare to add to tacos or tortillas with your other favorite fillings.

Notes

Make sure you trim away ALL sinew and silverskin. If any remains, it'due south very tough and chewy and not at all pleasant to eat.

Avoid sugary, sweet rubs, they do non pair well with beef.

Make certain to cook until buttery tender. This might non exist until 210 °F, or even 215 °F. If you lot melt them only until 190 °F, 200 °F, or fifty-fifty 203 °F, they can be VERY tough and chewy. Patience is key, await it out and be confident in the process.

You lot can piece or cube the beef cheeks to put into stews, casseroles or chilies, only I prefer to pull them and use for taco or tortilla filling.

• Prep Time: ten minutes
• Cook Time: 6 hours
• Category: Master
• Method: BBQ
• Cuisine: Texan

Diet

• Serving Size: 300g
• Calories: 270
• Carbohydrate: 0
• Fat: 7.23g
• Saturated Fat: 2,43g
• Carbohydrates: three.96g
• Protein: 44.7g

Keywords: Smoked beef cheeks, smoked ox cheeks, beef cheek tacos, beef cheeks

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Source: https://www.foodfirefriends.com/smoked-beef-cheeks/

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