Twice Cooked Braised BBQ Beef Cheeks

  • Twice Cooked Braised BBQ Beef Cheeks.

    Beef cheeks behave quite similar to Beef ribs, a hard working muscle, chewing almost nonstop from birth!
    With a slow cook and a bit of BBQ magic, they are a stunning meal!

    Rub
    1 tsp garlic powder
    1 tsp onion powder
    1 tsp smoked paprika
    1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
    1/2 tsp dried thyme
    1/2 tsp ground coriander
    2 teaspoons salt

    Smoking
    Generously coat the beef cheeks with the rub and refrigerate uncovered overnight. Let the cheeks come to room temperature then smoke low and slow on the BBQ for 2-4 hours. This gets a good layer of Flavour to penetrate the meat and brings the internal temperature up just over 60°C and starts the breakdown of the Collagen.

    Time to get the Cheeks into Phase two! Look at those beefy balls of goodness!


    Phase two: into a pan with Stout, Beef Stock and Star Anise, foil and back into the Smoke King.


    Braising
    2 stubbies Thooheys Old (or good stout or porter)
    4 star anise
    2 cups chicken stock
    Add one stubby of the Tooheys Old to the 2 cups of chicken stock in a large bowl, place the cheeks in a baking pan. and pour the mixture over the beef cheeks and drop in the star anise. Seal the dish tightly with aluminium foil and place it back in the BBQ at a baking temperature, 150°C (302°F). The cheeks will braise in the liquid for the next 2 1/2 hours. Use the second stubby is you are running low on liquid or if you are thirsty.


    Finishing
    1/2 cup dry vermouth (or Rum)
    2 tbs unsalted butter
    2 tbs Brown Sugar

    Open a corner of the foil and pour out a half a cup of the braising liquid, add to the dry vermouth in a pan and reduce to roughly half while the cheeks rest.
    Warm up the reduced sauce and using a whisk dissolve the sugar, then add the butter a little at a time, stirring constantly until the butter emulsifies.

    Carefully remove the foil from the cheeks and slice against the grain into generous slices, or shred into a pile, dress with the sauce and enjoy.


    Cheers
    Chris

  • cooked these last night for the inlaws.. they were awesome.. enjoyed by all

    cheeks had about 4 hours on smoke, then 4 hours braising in the stout/stock.. I bought 3 stubbies of stout just in case, but ended up drinking 2 and the cheeks only got one, which was still great.

    i made the finishing sauce with vermouth and didn't like it so just reduced the stock and put some butter in with it and it was good

    really impressed with the cheeks, i've had some before and they were super rich, these were a lot more mellow, but still a lot of flavour.. they'll definitely get another run in the future

    old green weber kettle - pro q excel 20 elite

  • Hi

    Got some cheeks yesterday. Can't cook this weekend but will definitely be having a go at this one as soon as I can.

    TA

    Grant from Grass Valley

    Weber Magnum, Old Weber Kettle, Weber Kettle with gas fitting, Weber Q320, Weber Go Anywhere, Akorn, Giotto ECM[size=12]

  • Wow Chris,

    Thanks for posting this finally got around to giving this a go & What a result!! AWESOME beyond all human comprehension!

    Cooked on Traeger @ 225f for 4 hours then bumped to 300f for 5 hours, end result melt in you mouth beef with a pretty impressive smoke ring :D I used this seasonal little creatures hotchkiss six stout

    Now the interesting thing about this cook for me was that I had 7 people over & all of them have tried my cape grim ribs & 5 of them preferred these cheeks to the ribs, Iam one who is sitting on the fence on this one I like them both but boy these cheeks really are amazing anyone who hasn't tried them do yourself a favour & grab some of these cape grim cheeks they are worth every cent.
    I would be interested to know if anyone else who has tried the cape grim ribs thinks that the cheeks are better.

    Mike

    Traeger lil tex - 22.5" WSM pellet pro conversion - 18.5" WSM - Weber OTG -Weber Go anywhere - Weber Q220 - BBQ Guru - Pitmaster IQ 110 - Smokenator - Vortex - Masterbuilt 560

  • Thread rehash...... Too brilliant to not bump!

    I am going to be doing these tomorrow's for my mum....and planning on how much to cook. What sort of weight reduction would you expect on these after cooking?

    25-30% is normal, serve size is 200g for Management, 250-300g for me!

    yes i have found 30% a good rule of thumb, I allow 350-400 grams for blokes and 200-250 for the lady's

    Gasser Webber Q, Kamado Joe clasic, Dragon & Acorn, Webber Kettle, Fire Pit, Beer Keg smoker/cooker.

  • Well, I got up at sparrows to start the smoker, and put them on when at 230f.
    3 hours of smoke was plenty and the colour looks beautiful.
    They are now enjoying their second phase in the oven braising.... Should be ready for lunch.
    These are CG cheeks, with minimal trimming required.

  • What a great serving there mate. Sprouts, mash and some brown onion gravy gravy. Perfect with a nice red. :yum)

    Jumbuck 7 burner with hood. Baby Weber kettle. 52" Kettle. Weber Go Anywhere. 5' SS Spit rotisserie. Offset smoker. Akorn Kamado. :) ASMOKE AS500N. Hibachi.:bbq:

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