luke duke
is Blowin Smoke!
Does anyone have any tips for making beef barbacoa? I've got a source for the head and banana leaves, so I'm looking for seasoning and cook time/temp.
Here's a link to some good looking barbacoa a Brethren posted in Dec.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74299&highlight=barbacoa
I'm sure others will have something to add. Let us know how yours turns out.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74299&highlight=barbacoa
I'm sure others will have something to add. Let us know how yours turns out.
BobBrisket
Moderator
How are you gonna cook it? In the ground or in a smoker? I've never used the leaves, just foil and burlap and more foil then wrapped in wire mesh so you can pull it out of the ground easier. Seasoning is simple, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and lots of bay leaves.
If you use the hole in the ground method, it can pretty much go all night and into the next morning 10-12 hours or so. Will you be consuming the tongue, brains, etc? If not, you may just go with the cheek meat and save yourself lots of time.
Hope this helps out a bit.
luke duke
is Blowin Smoke!
I am going to cook it on a pit. If I can get my hands on a goat or sheep head then I might cook that too. I don't plan to eat the brains and I'll probably give the tongue to my mother (that just doesn't sound right). I know that just going with the cheek meat would be easier, but I like to do things the hard way.
BobBrisket
Moderator
Kinda hard to gauge in a pit, but I'd put the head as close to the firebox as possible and I'd go with 325, even more like 350 in the temp range. As far as time goes, probably in the same time frame. Maybe start checking at aobut 6 hrs and then every hour or two from there.
My dad does goat heads pretty often and he starts em off early in the AM. They are wrapped in layers and layers of foil and he does em indirect on the coal grill. He then does yard work all day and by early evening they are done. The key is to cook em then cook em some more so the meat is falling apart. Rotate is every couple hours or so. That way you get even cooking.
It can be done, just takes a good bit of time. Tacos de Cabeza are good eating.
How bout the eyeballs.........you gonna eat those?:wink:
My dad does goat heads pretty often and he starts em off early in the AM. They are wrapped in layers and layers of foil and he does em indirect on the coal grill. He then does yard work all day and by early evening they are done. The key is to cook em then cook em some more so the meat is falling apart. Rotate is every couple hours or so. That way you get even cooking.
It can be done, just takes a good bit of time. Tacos de Cabeza are good eating.
How bout the eyeballs.........you gonna eat those?:wink:
not to sound dumb, Bob, do people actually eat the eyeballs? I've never heard of it.
leanza
Babbling Farker
If you are able. Post some pics of that! I would love to see a play by play.
SirPorkaLot
somebody shut me the fark up.
:shock:
BobBrisket
Moderator
Sure do. Just like some eat fish eyeballs. If you have ever eaten the marrow in beef bones, they taste just like that. :shock:
Remember, I'm the one that came up with the Innards Throwdown.:grin:
nycbbq
Well-known member
This might help:
http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2009/07/cow-head-barbacoa.html
http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2009/07/cow-head-barbacoa.html
BobBrisket
Moderator
I like the way he mentioned El Paso. Most taco stands have that on the menu every night!! Good point about the liquid(beer). You will need some liquid. One easy way to do it is to inject the beer through the layers of foil so it's in there with the meat.
They didn't give cooking temps, but assuming she used the pit, they were probably slow and low. You could cook it a bit faster using higher temps. Course, consider the amount of fuel you will be using too.
Cool article.
luke duke
is Blowin Smoke!
I saw that the other day. It's one of the better references that I have seen, but it didn't mention temp and it says to cook for 24 hours which seemed too long.
luke duke
is Blowin Smoke!
My original plan was to cook it similar to a pork butt. Unwrapped for several hours, then wrap for the last few hours. I would probably have it in a foil pan when it is unwrapped.
BobBrisket
Moderator
The only drawback I can see with cooking it unwrapped is that the cheek meat has lots of fat and collagen in it that needs to break down during a long cook. When you eat barbacoa, that "sticky" feel it has is all that collagen that has broken down. Not to say you can't do it like a butt, I'm just thinking you will probably end up with lots of dry meat. If you think about it, the meat on a cow head isn't very thick so it can easily dry out. If you want to go this route, I'd recommend reversing the process. Foil and steam first and then uncovered at the end for some smoke flavor and helping firm up the meat a bit. That's part of the problem with the whole head, you also need to cook (heat through) all that bone mass as well so that you can cook the meat on the inside of the mouth cavity all the way through. Basically you will need to get the entire head up to a set temp and internally as well.
Let us know how it works out. I'd like to see how it turns out.
The texture....is unique:mrgreen:
BobBrisket
Moderator
Funny thing is we fight over em!
On a corn tort with just salt. Little bit of "snap" too..........:twisted:4TheLoveofBrisket
Full Fledged Farker
I agree. I'd love to see the play by play if you do it, and also how the results turned out. I've thought of trying some cabeza on the pit, but I really don't even know the proper way of doing it in the ground, so I've been hesitant to risk trying it on the pit.
luke duke
is Blowin Smoke!
A big ugly cow's head is thawing in my kitchen.
BobBrisket
Moderator
cool!!
luke duke
is Blowin Smoke!
An older pic of my new (to me) pit that I bought from thillin:
Step 1 - Get a cow head
Step 2 - Remove tongue to cook at a later date
Step 3 - Feed cow (this is an inside joke from another forum that I frequent)
Step 4 - Rub cow with garlic, salt, pepper and cayenne
Step 5 - Wrap cow in banana leaves
Step 6 - Cook cow
Step 7 - Unwrap cow
Step 8 - Enjoy
Verdict
This was a huge pain in the ass. I'm glad I did it once, but I doubt I'll do it again. The head is huge and hard to fit in the pit. The banana leaves were a huge pain in the ass to work with since they tear very easily, hence the embarrassing tie job. And most importantly, it only yields a couple of pounds of meat. If I made barbacoa again I would just buy the cheek meat and cook it in a slow cooker.
More details:
I had the BBQ Stoker set at 240, but the pit probe was on the cold end of the pit next to a brisket that I was cooking. The head was acting like a big cork in the pit and really making it difficult to get the temp up by the brisket. So I only cooked it on the pit for about 4 hours. The 3rd to last pic was just before I wrapped the whole thing tightly in foil and put it in the oven at about 300 for 6 hours. I know that I cooked it much longer than I needed to, but I really didn't want to remove the banana leaves until I was absolutely certain it was ready. I would definitely recommend skipping the banana leaves and just stick to foil.
The barbacoa turned out pretty good, not great. No one was complaining, but I knew it could have been better. I served it with cilantro and onions on corn tortillas heated over an open flame.
Step 1 - Get a cow head
Step 2 - Remove tongue to cook at a later date
Step 3 - Feed cow (this is an inside joke from another forum that I frequent)
Step 4 - Rub cow with garlic, salt, pepper and cayenne
Step 5 - Wrap cow in banana leaves
Step 6 - Cook cow
Step 7 - Unwrap cow
Step 8 - Enjoy
Verdict
This was a huge pain in the ass. I'm glad I did it once, but I doubt I'll do it again. The head is huge and hard to fit in the pit. The banana leaves were a huge pain in the ass to work with since they tear very easily, hence the embarrassing tie job. And most importantly, it only yields a couple of pounds of meat. If I made barbacoa again I would just buy the cheek meat and cook it in a slow cooker.
More details:
I had the BBQ Stoker set at 240, but the pit probe was on the cold end of the pit next to a brisket that I was cooking. The head was acting like a big cork in the pit and really making it difficult to get the temp up by the brisket. So I only cooked it on the pit for about 4 hours. The 3rd to last pic was just before I wrapped the whole thing tightly in foil and put it in the oven at about 300 for 6 hours. I know that I cooked it much longer than I needed to, but I really didn't want to remove the banana leaves until I was absolutely certain it was ready. I would definitely recommend skipping the banana leaves and just stick to foil.
The barbacoa turned out pretty good, not great. No one was complaining, but I knew it could have been better. I served it with cilantro and onions on corn tortillas heated over an open flame.
