Wagyu Beef Cheek Carnitas

smokingal

It's been quite some time since I've had beef cheeks and even longer since I've made them. I was delighted to find some fullblood Wagyu beef cheeks and curious to see if the extra marbling would make any difference.  They are definitely pretty cuts of meat.

 

 

They were marinated in a blend of adobo seasoning, garlic and onion powder, worcestershire sauce, granulated beef broth and olive oil for two days.

 

 

 

Fermented black garlic was finely mashed into a paste and the cheeks were thoroughly coated before being placed on the Egg at 235F with oak wood chunks.

 

 

 

After 3 hours, they were probing at 163F where they hit a bit of a brief lull. The bark that had developed at that point was substantial.

 

 

 

 

Thinking everything was moving along nicely, I prepared the refried black beans by adding beef broth and letting them reduce by two-thirds on the Egg.

  

 

 

Two hours later, the beef cheeks were probing at 195.  Yet, despite being about 10-15 degrees away from when they should be fall apart tender, they still felt like oddly shaped rubber hockey pucks.

 

 

 

Some extrapolation of the braising technique would be needed to get the desired texture, so I vacuum sealed them and finished the cook using the sous vide method at 170F for 24 hours.

 

 

 

While the final hour was winding down for the cheeks, previously rendered beef bacon fat was used to make beef bacon fat flour tortillas.

 

 

 

Time was up.  Perfection.

 

 

 

I made the usual mistake of taking a small taste. It's a miracle any actually made it into the planned dish.  Sweet onions were caramelized and fresh cilantro was prepped.

 

 

 

Time to dig in.

 

 

 

 

This beef cut naturally brings its own level of unami, but the coating of fermented black garlic added some serious depth to that wonderful fifth taste. The Wagyu aspect was very noticeable. The collagen breaks down and adds a rich, sticky feel to the meat, but the additional fat that rendered into the meat kicked all of that into high gear.  Adding beef broth to the black beans and cooking them on the Egg made the beans taste like they were seasoned with beef bacon. Needless to say, I made quick work of that plate of food.

 

Because I found the meat to be so rich, I had some remaining for leftovers.

 

Made some quesadillas.

 

 

 

 

And the obligatory nachos.

 

 

 

Buena comida.

lousubcap

I am truly of two minds every time I see a post of yours. One the one hand I know it is going to be one of those gourmet documentation and presentation spreads with exceptional detail and magazine quality photos. And the above exceeds that expectation across the board. Great audible.

On the other hand, You set the bar so high that I feel like I need to just declare victory with any pedestrian cook and play in my own sand box. But you do show what can be achieved with dedicated skills.

BTW- nicely done on Cinco de Mayo!

lkapigian

Sweet !

CigarCityEgger

Good God. Those all look amazing! Thanks for sharing all the pics

StillH2OEgger

My goodness. Another level, right there. Great work!

Jeronamo

That looks amazing! Nice cook. Thanks for the write up, another thing on the list to try.

JohnInCarolina

Out of the park grand slam. You’re killing it.

smokingal

@lousubcap The reason I come to this forum (and a few others) is to see what everyone's up to, collect knowledge, and draw inspiration. Hopefully I provide that in kind. Nothing that I do is extraordinary. Plenty of people post things on here that I'm not capable of doing and never will be (i.e. building...well, anything other than a computer or server). Keep in mind that most of the time, I don't eat like this. My favorite meal is a grilled cheese sandwich and fries. I would seriously pick that over this meal I just posted.

lousubcap

@smokingal I may have lost a fair amount (by my standards) on the KY Derby but I wouldn't buy the above for a minute. However, I appreciate your willingness to give this forum an idea of what can be accomplished when the drive and skills are paired.

Edit: Your concept of grilled cheese and fries is likely several orders of magnitude above mine. 😎

bgebrent

This is a great post. Awesome audible call.

smokingal

@lousubcap I'm dead serious. I'm about to fix that exact meal for dinner. I'll even take a picture of it if you would like to place bets. Best grilled cheese sandwich I ever ate was at the race track, paid for with my meager winnings. Plain white bread, american cheese, and that imitation margarine oil....getting hungry just thinking about it, lol.

bucky925

Most Amazing Each and Every time! This may take the cake!

Foghorn

Thank you for occasionally straying away from grilled cheese and sharing with us. Great post and pics.

SandyHookEgger

Mesmerizing. Please make me a grilled cheese sandwich. Pretty sure it will be the best I've eaten. Good work.

acolle

Just. Wow. Nice work.

Mattman3969

Extremely over the top!! Every time I read your post it gives me inspiration to try harder. So thank you for that and please keep posting the incredible cooks that you do.

Sea2Ski

No words. Just thoughts of how delicious that must have been.

logchief

Amazing and @lousubcap couldn't have said it better. I'm certainly with you on the grilled cheese (processed american on split top wheat w/real butter and hot pickled yellow chiles on the side) Fantastic cook.

pgprescott

Good grief!

GoooDawgs

No words. That post could be made into a coffee table book! Just incredible!

HarrisFrampton

Looks awesome!

The Cen-Tex Smoker

wow. just wow. Again.

saluki2007

As always your photos/meals make me drool all over my keyboard. Thank you for sharing.

Leopoldstoch

Yes to every bit of this post!!! The cooks look outstanding! Well done!

SciAggie

Those look really good. I have the same issue just straight smoking things like beef cheeks and even beef short ribs - but braise them after a long smoke and they are perfection. Thanks for posting.

TideEggHead

I. Can't. Even..... I need all of this in my life! Outstanding!

johnnyp

dang. im pretty jealous over here

rowmsu

These look soooooo money. @smokingal care to share the tortilla recipe?

shtgunal3

Just WOW! That’s all

smokingal

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/2429642#Comment_2429642

I usually just wing it until the dough has the right consistency. This time I gave this recipe a try.

Ozzie_Isaac

only thing you missed was a mic drop. Outstanding!!!!