Anyone done a cows head/barbacoa/cabeza de vaca?

[GreenspointTexas 9883]

If so, how did you do it? Not looking to do super traditional (ie - digging a pit and covering it, etc) but wondering if anyone has made a whole cows head either in a smoker or oven?

 

Thinking about trying one this weekend, sourcing from Fiesta. If anyone is local houston and has any better place(s) I should buy from instead, id love any recs. Will eventually post pics if I can get one done this weekend

[Kennythetiger 9514]

Brisket is your man on this one.  Guarantee you that dude's eaten these before.

[po elvis 2098]

my mexican gf just takes a pack of cheek meat and puts it in the crock pot. salt and pepper. i think water.

[Hornius Emeritus 12517]

I just go down Nogalitos, looking for some barbacoa and big red ....
 

 

[Zepol87 9263]

We are lazy now and just put the whole head in a roasting pan like a turkey. A good salsa will cover your seasoning flaws

[hornbri 1476]

Yes - but only in the traditional way in a pit so don't know what to tell you. 

[TornACL 7767]

A few weeks ago I went to the Mexican grocery and bought up all their cheek meat. It wasn't a trimmed cheek but it was a bunch of hard fat and bullshit along with some chunks of glorious cheek meat.

Not exactly what I was looking for but I rolled with it.

Trimmed off all the hard fat and left any of the good stuff. Seasoned liberally with salt and pepper like you would a brisket

Since it was in chunks and I knew they would cook down and shrink, I placed in a roasting pan and into the WSM so I didn't lose anything through the grates.  After 3 or so hours I added braising liquid of beef stock and a Negra Modelo. Smoked another 3-4 hours until all the chunks got to probe tender.

Took it off the smoker, then shredded it up, separating any big pieces of fat that didn't render. Onto fresh corn tortillas with chopped white onion, and chopped cilantro. Avocado slices on the side.

Was fuckin delicious. I probably threw down 5 or 6 tacos before I just rolled over onto the couch and went to sleep.

Edited July 25, 2018 by TornACL

[Mack Tripper 700]

I've gotten some nice cheek meet from Revival. Easier to throw that on a smoker than fucking around with the whole head. 

[irishtexan 11613]

2 hours ago, Zepol87 said:

We are lazy now and just put the whole head in a roasting pan like a turkey. A good salsa will cover your seasoning flaws

metal turkey roasting pan? any liquid smoke?

[DalTxHornFan 3125]

I've done several of them the traditional way.  If I was going to do it in an oven, I'd try to do it much the same way,  just with a different heat source.

I always liberally salt and pepper inside and out. Stuff the head (including under the tongue) with crushed garlic pods and onion and celery chunks then wrap the whole thing tight in heavy foil so you get all the internal steaming and cooking.  Place on some sort of a big sheet pan to catch any drips that might find their way out the foil. 

Good luck (but it's still way more manly to do it the traditional way!)

[luke duke 6420]

I’m too lazy to move the post over here from my phone.

http://www.shaggytexas.com/board/showthread.php/57241-Butterfinger-BarbacoaÂ

[SimonBolivar 10963]

If anyone is ever hungry in Denton be sure to get the cachete tacos from Sabrocita. My favorite tacos in the state.

[gsoda3 3317]

You can get untrimmed beef cheek meat from pretty much any heb. $2.79/lb more or less. Vac pack. I never use anything else for my beef stews.

[Zepol87 9263]

If anyone is ever hungry in Denton be sure to get the cachete tacos from Sabrocita. My favorite tacos in the state.

Everything from Sabrocita is badass. That's our after hours taco spot.

[DalTxHornFan 3125]

9 minutes ago, SimonBolivar said:

If anyone is ever hungry in Denton be sure to get the cachete tacos from Sabrocita. My favorite tacos in the state.

That place is about as real as it gets.

[Gil Bang 26125]

Brisket is your man on this one.  Guarantee you that dude's eaten these before.

That would be my answer too

[Errestaurants 2570]

5 hours ago, Zepol87 said:

We are lazy now and just put the whole head in a roasting pan like a turkey. A good salsa will cover your seasoning flaws

yea pretty much this. put in a roasting pan season with salt then wrap in foil with dark beer, beef stock, serrano, garlic, onion, fresh chopped tomato, toasted coriander seed and cinnamon stick. roast at 275 for 5/6 hours or so and baste a couple times.  some people turn the oven up at the end and take the foil off.  when finished let rest for around 30 minutes and start pulling meat. don't forget the eyes. at this point you can crisp up the meat in a cast iron pan on high heat if you want.

you can do all the above on a smoker. may take another hour of so of cook time depending on fire. mostly i see used is mesquite but oak or hickory would be good. 

[Beau Vine 55069]

7 hours ago, TornACL said:

A few weeks ago I went to the Mexican grocery and bought up all their cheek meat. It wasn't a trimmed cheek but it was a bunch of hard fat and bullshit along with some chunks of glorious cheek meat.

Not exactly what I was looking for but I rolled with it.

Trimmed off all the hard fat and left any of the good stuff. 

I used to do cachete pretty regularly.  But then I got tired of dealing with all of this really hard fat.  Plus, the daughter went off to college and wife won't eat it.

[luke duke 6420]

I used to do cachete pretty regularly.  But then I got tired of dealing with all of this really hard fat.  Plus, the daughter went off to college and wife won't eat it.

Pics of ur dauter plz

[GreenspointTexas 9883]

All good info, thanks for sharing

[Brisketexan 105787]

It's really all about steaming -- remember, traditional cooking had it wrapped in leaves, so it really wasn't exposed to smoke that much.  You can do a pretty good facsimile in your oven, using foil for wrapping.  And, yeah, lots of HEBs sell just the cheek meat -- foil pack with salt, pepper, and maybe some other random seasonings, and roast it for a few hours.  Higher temp than a smoker (need to render fat), but not too high.

 

The Homesick Texan gal did it in a smoker, but she wrapped it in banana leaves as is traditional (and covered it in foil pans) so I suspect it wasn't very smokey.

https://www.homesicktexan.com/2009/07/cow-head-barbacoa.html

[AustinMT 952]

I, for one, have never cooked a 16th Century Spanish explorer

[Brisketexan 105787]

5 minutes ago, AustinMT said:

I, for one, have never cooked a 16th Century Spanish explorer

You're no Carancahua.

[CooterBrown 18153]

It's really all about steaming -- remember, traditional cooking had it wrapped in leaves, so it really wasn't exposed to smoke that much.  You can do a pretty good facsimile in your oven, using foil for wrapping.  And, yeah, lots of HEBs sell just the cheek meat -- foil pack with salt, pepper, and maybe some other random seasonings, and roast it for a few hours.  Higher temp than a smoker (need to render fat), but not too high.
 
The Homesick Texan gal did it in a smoker, but she wrapped it in banana leaves as is traditional (and covered it in foil pans) so I suspect it wasn't very smokey.
https://www.homesicktexan.com/2009/07/cow-head-barbacoa.html

Maybe smoke unwrapped for 20-30 minutes then wrap to finish cooking.

[Lat22 4053]

[Judge Roybeanbag 11830]

I just do trimmed cheek meat. Salt and pepper liberally, double wrap in foil, then put the foil pack in the crock pot overnight with no liquid.  

[GreenspointTexas 9883]

No going back now


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[DalTxHornFan 3125]

 

[GreenspointTexas 9883]

The aftermath. Pic makes it look terrible, but the meat was absolutely incredible. Only problem was that the yield was only about 3 pounds of meat instead of the 6 pounds i had originally guessed. Not terrible, but not great for a 20 pound head and 18 hrs of cooking. Will try straight cheeks on the smoker next time


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[futureman 22566]

that’s the only pic?  

[luke duke 6420]

2 hours ago, GreenspointTexas said:

The aftermath. Pic makes it look terrible, but the meat was absolutely incredible. Only problem was that the yield was only about 3 pounds of meat instead of the 6 pounds i had originally guessed. Not terrible, but not great for a 20 pound head and 18 hrs of cooking. Will try straight cheeks on the smoker next time
 

Looks remarkably similar to the end of my post.

http://www.shaggytexas.com/board/showthread.php/57241-Butterfinger-BarbacoaÂ

[kopp0e 1135]

On 7/25/2018 at 1:22 PM, po elvis said:

my mexican gf just takes a pack of cheek meat and puts it in the crock pot. salt and pepper. i think water.

Yup, had a chick I know fix it that way as well... I also made a turkey leg soup, but I'll put that on another thread...

[Zepol87 9263]

The aftermath. Pic makes it look terrible, but the meat was absolutely incredible. Only problem was that the yield was only about 3 pounds of meat instead of the 6 pounds i had originally guessed. Not terrible, but not great for a 20 pound head and 18 hrs of cooking. Will try straight cheeks on the smoker next time


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Looks normal to me. Good job.

[Jack Straw 2954]

I mean, I would. 

Hand me a stack of tortillas and some pico, and I’d be all over that. 

Solid work.  

['stache 21929]

I just do trimmed cheek meat. Salt and pepper liberally, double wrap in foil, then put the foil pack in the crock pot overnight with no liquid.  

I’ve done this. Added onions, garlic, peppers to the pack. It was delicious.

Not sure how you make the whole head look good. Taste is what matters and I bet that shits delicious.

[kevwun 15971]

Had a barbacoa taco this morning at Valentina’s. They are so damn good. It is only a Sunday thing I believe.

[ChampKind 1314]

Just seeing this thread and find it relevant to my interests. I started messing around with beef cheek a week or so back. Trimmed out all the silverskin, seasoned it with adobo, put it on the smoker until it probed pretty tender, then put it in a foil pan, covered about halfway with beef stock and some minced garlic, foiled it, and put it back in the smoker until it was so tender it easily shredded. Ay walla, beef cheek street tacos. Doing these again tomorrow for taco tuesday.

 

[CooterBrown 18153]

Champ, what was the total cooking time?

[F250 28991]

On 7/25/2018 at 2:40 PM, TornACL said:

Onto fresh corn tortillas with chopped white onion, and chopped cilantro. Avocado slices on the side.

Was fuckin delicious. I probably threw down 5 or 6 tacos before I just rolled over onto the couch and went to sleep. 

[ChampKind 1314]

Champ, what was the total cooking time?

1.5 in the smoke, 2 in the braise. Like buttah

[huge 3803]

Oh Jeez I wanna lick em

[CooterBrown 18153]

Got this off the Mexican BGE YouTube channel.

Barbacoa en Adobo

5 lbs beef cheeks
banana leaves

Adobo:

Soften peppers and blend everything together.

4 guajillo peppers
2 pasilla peppers
2 ancho peppers
1/2 white onion
1 tsp salt
5 garlic cloves
1 tsp peppercorns
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp clove
4 bay leaves
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1 1/2 Tbs salt
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup beef broth

A bit of color on the grill, then smoked for an hour at 300. I rubbed them with Bolner’s fajita seasoning.



Wrapped in banana leaves and adobo.



Back in the smoker for a few hours.



More to come.

[CooterBrown 18153]

I’d cut the amount of Adobe in half next time but overall it’s pretty great.

[Dutch 4499]

Um, yeah. I’d smash that. Well done, good sir. 

[Mac8111 2119]

Encore !

[Marfa Low Crown 2555]

Was about to start my own thread but found this one for the necro bump. 

I've been back in Texas almost 5 years, mostly hanging around San Antonio, and I am still trying to find the barbacoa of my youth.  Somewhere in San Antonio around 1980 or 81'
there was a run down gas station converted into a barbacoa stand. Only open on Sunday, a line around the corner, and piles of gelatinous hand-pulled meat on butcher paper that as far as I was
concerned had come straight from heaven. I've hit some of the 'top' barbacoa places in San Antonio and it seems everyone is just using cheek meat now.  In fact, I notice little to no difference between any of the places I've been to. At Martinez Bros. on Fredericksburg road they told me that whole head is just too expensive and that's why no one uses it. -Anybody- know a place in or around SA that still does? 

Edited July 15, 2019 by Marfa Low Crown

[Brisketexan 105787]

31 minutes ago, Marfa Low Crown said:

Was about to start my own thread but found this one for the necro bump. 

I've been back in Texas almost 5 years, mostly hanging around San Antonio, and I am still trying to find the barbacoa of my youth.  Somewhere in San Antonio around 1980 or 81'
there was a run down gas station converted into a barbacoa stand. Only open on Sunday, a line around the corner, and piles of gelatinous hand-pulled meat on butcher paper that as far as I was
concerned had come straight from heaven. I've hit some of the 'top' barbacoa places in San Antonio and it seems everyone is just using cheek meat now.  In fact, I notice little to no difference between any of the places I've been to. At Martinez Bros. on Fredericksburg road they told me that whole head is just too expensive and that's why no one uses it. -Anybody- know a place in or around SA that still does? 

You.  Buy a head at Fiesta (you can special order them, usually).  Do it in your own oven.  If you can't, seal it up and do it in a large smoker/bbq pit, or dig your own pit and do it with foil and hot coals.

It's worth it.

[RMac5 1551]

Not a barbacoa fan at all, one of my twins loves it though. To me, the cheek meat and traditional barbacoa don’t taste anything alike. 

[futureman 22566]

4 hours ago, Marfa Low Crown said:

At Martinez Bros. on Fredericksburg road they told me that whole head is just too expensive and that's why no one uses it. -

too expensive?  but why?  takes up too much room while cooking or what

[Deej 77313]

12 minutes ago, RMac5 said:

Not a barbacoa fan at all, one of my twins loves it though. To me, the cheek meat and traditional barbacoa don’t taste anything alike. 

Yeah, traditional barbacoa is much better.