Beef cheek barbacoa redemption

20stone

Since BCII (thanks @nolaegghead), I have sorted out my beef rib game. 

However, absent a pit, or the availability of a cows head, I also attempted to make 10 lbs of barbacoa at BCII, and, while I was happy with the flavor (thanks @caliking) the meat was waaaaaay tougher than I was shooting for.  So it is time to get my barbacoa game right as well. 

Since some jackass talked me into getting a sous vide (thanks @""The Cen-Tex Smoker"), I thought that I would give it another shot in the hot tub. Surprisingly, there are a lot of SV beef cheek recipes online, but most intend to produce a nice cut of meat, rather than the mushy, greasy Sunday MexiHeaven I have in mind. The closest I came was this:
http://allthelovelythingsinlife.com/recipe/beef-barbacoa-tacos/

MsStone, who is the palette of this operation, mixed cumin, guajillo, chipotle, chili powder (all roasted in a skillet) and salt. 



The he funny thing about beef cheeks is that if you trim off everything that looks bad, you don't have anything left. I opted to cut off the skin from inside the mouth, but left the rest. We'll see how it goes.



Now they are in the Jacuzzi for 24 hours at 180 degrees (per the video). 

Tomorrow, we'll sear them up and serve over hatch chile cheese grits, with a sunny side up egg on top, and buttermilk biscuits. 

More re pics when they come out of the bag. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

I am so tuned in to this.

And you are welcome

theyolksonyou

Dammit!  I didn't know I'd have to wait till tomorrow!

caliking

I don't know if I did the cheeks justice at brisket camp, in terms of seasoning. needed more pop, like cumin and heat. 

Is that the standard rack that comes with the SVS units now? I may need to upgrade.

Waiting for the finale (and expecting a lunch invite). 

Mickey

I know you must have a Fiesta somewhat near you (they started in Houston). 
That cows head should not be a problem.  The ones I have been in has them 
lined up. 
That would be a cool cook at a fest: whole cows head. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

dude- we are waiting.

Little Steven

 

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

dude- we are waiting.

A friend of mine did them at the Toronto Fest last year. Not Barbacoa but a more European style. They were cleaned out in no time. You still travelling to Mississauga?

bgebrent

This looking like it'll be amazing.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Little Steven said:

 

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

dude- we are waiting.

A friend of mine did them at the Toronto Fest last year. Not Barbacoa but a more European style. They were cleaned out in no time. You still travelling to Mississauga?

I don't have any trips up there planned but I'm sure I'll be up there some time this year. 

Little Steven

I'll let you know when the fest is

Eggcelsior

Nothing describes CT better than "some jackass". I value him as a friend.

Sorry I missed out on these at BC. I'll be sure not to fly out at what-the-hell-was-I-thinking:30 on Sunday next year.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Eggcelsior said:

Nothing describes CT better than "some jackass". I value him as a friend.

Sorry I missed out on these at BC. I'll be sure not to fly out at what-the-hell-was-I-thinking:30 on Sunday next year.

I have been called way worse. Today. By my wife.

Little Steven

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Eggcelsior said:

Nothing describes CT better than "some jackass". I value him as a friend.

Sorry I missed out on these at BC. I'll be sure not to fly out at what-the-hell-was-I-thinking:30 on Sunday next year.

I have been called way worse. Today. By my wife.

By what I've heard you called jackass would be a compliment

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Little Steven said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Eggcelsior said:

Nothing describes CT better than "some jackass". I value him as a friend.

Sorry I missed out on these at BC. I'll be sure not to fly out at what-the-hell-was-I-thinking:30 on Sunday next year.

I have been called way worse. Today. By my wife.

By what I've heard you called jackass would be a compliment

 I would certainly take it as such. When you start at the bottom...

20stone

24 hours in, it was time to see how we did.  Out of the Jacuzzi and into an ice bath to make picking easier


After they cooled off, I picked through them, and it was not unlike picking a pork butt.  There wee some long strips of gooey fatty stuff with meat attached that wouldn't be my favorite bite. 



5 lbs of cheek yielded 2.2 lbs of barbacoa.



MsStone upped the seasoning a bit, and we served over Hatch chili cheese grits along with buttermilk biscuits.  The plating pic is a bit off, as everyone had dug in before I looked up

This is was a massive win. We'll be ready for BCIII if @nolaegghead will have us

20stone

Mickey said:

I know you must have a Fiesta somewhat near you (they started in Houston). 
That cows head should not be a problem.  The ones I have been in has them 
lined up. 
That would be a cool cook at a fest: 

I had a hard enough time getting cheeks on a plane. A full noggin might freak out the TSA

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Nice!  

caliking

I'll take that plate and another, please. Sounds like you hit a home run.

20stone

caliking said:

I'll take that plate and another, please. Sounds like you hit a home run.

You bet.  It will be in the rotation now, and we can do it up when we have fewer mouths to split it between.

Normally people try something at home and then roll it out to the big crowd.  I just did it backwards (again)

bgebrent

Yup, looks and sounds delicious!  Great post brother stone!

The Cen-Tex Smoker

"I had a hard enough time getting cheeks on a plane. A full noggin might freak out the TSA"

If you were to take this sentence out of context, it could seem a bit unseemly. Just sayin.

nolaegghead

Fantastic John!

I just got back from a 5 day San Antonio trip where I ate entirely too much Mexican food.  Brother got married, yada yada....

Anyone in SA who likes to cook should check out the HEB El Mercado store

https://www.heb.com/heb-store/US/tx/san-antonio/san-antonio-10-189

They have stuff like uncured hams, every chili grown on the planet, mexican candy.....and much, much more!  it's a playground for adventure.

travisstrick

nolaegghead said:

Fantastic John!

I just got back from a 5 day San Antonio trip where I ate entirely too much Mexican food.  Brother got married, yada yada....

Anyone in SA who likes to cook should check out the HEB El Mercado store

https://www.heb.com/heb-store/US/tx/san-antonio/san-antonio-10-189

They have stuff like uncured hams, every chili grown on the planet, mexican candy.....and much, much more!  it's a playground for adventure.

Sounds like all 10 Heb stores within a 20 min drive from my house. 

20stone

Barbacoa Round 3 is underway. 5 kg are fresh in the Jacuzzi. 

Hellion #2 is on his way home from Viet Nam, and we plan on stuffing him solid with barbacoa and cheese grits. 

I'm shooting for 24 hours at 175 F, a whisker cooler than last time.  Pictures in the eating phase later this week. 

caliking

5kg? Either your butcher ran out or you took the clown car and didn't have any room after buying a gallon of milk. 

Looks good! Hope his flight isn't delayed because of the rain etc. 

20stone

caliking said:

5kg? Either your butcher ran out or you took the clown car and didn't have any room after buying a gallon of milk. 

It turns out I buy meat based on how much will fit in what I'm cooking it in.  As you can see in the first pic, I might have managed a whisker more, but not much more than that. 

20stone

175 F for 18 hours did the trick.  We just tucked into one for lunch, and it turned out great.  

Here it is just turned out of the bag.  It is a bit firmer than when we went 180 F for 24:


Simmering in the pot to boil off that nocal H2O:


Served up with cheese grits (cooked with pork gelatin left over from the Athens pork collar masubi).  @Ms_Stone shows a bit more discipline than I do:


The good news is that we have a ton of this to feed the son coming home tomorrow. 

I promise to post an Egg cook next.

caliking

That's a good lookin' bowl.

Do you season in the bag and let it swim, or after the SV time is done?

20stone

caliking said:

Do you season in the bag and let it swim, or after the SV time is done?

The cheeks got a heavy, no-salt dry rub before going in the bag, along with some whole pequin peppers. I didn't add any oil, since in my recent experience liquids just make sealing the bags a bigger PITA, and at 175 F, any small amount of air would get squished away from the meat by the rendering juices.

Salt was added after the cook.

There are some things folks think do badly in the bag on long cooks, salt among them in some circles.  I don't know that to be true, but it is easy enough to add when I pull it.

NDG

wow cheeks are delicious & your attention to detail seems legit - very nice!  

20stone

I am gearing up to do another 8 lbs of cheeks, and see that the original link I referenced is dead.  I found the same video on YouTube, and am pasting it here so I can find it again:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SQmezYSWI0U

We will go 18 hours at 175 again, as we liked the consistency we got last time.

Two questions:

1. I mentioned holding off on the salt until done.  Have any of you had bad experiences with salt in a long SV cook, or did that come from a spurious source? (discussions describing undesireable curing/pickling with foods held at low temps with salt)
2. I am thinking of making a batch of tamales with some barbacoa and the bumper crop of lard I'm about to have.  I like the looks of this recipe for the corn/masa part - http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/05/tamales-green-chili-pork-recipe.html. Please redirect me if you have a better one.