Beef tongue - let's discuss

[BBQ Bandit]

Yup - you guessed it... a whole beef tongue wound up finding its way home into my fridge and ended up researching prior threads regarding cooking/prep/smoking techniques... and found these little morsels.

Decided to compile this list to help anyone who's afraid of a little tongue. :shock::shock::shock:

Any additional legitimate suggestions would be greatly appreciated (watch it farkers :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:).

Smokesalad's thread (8-29-12) "The tongue"
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=142743

Snook806's thread (3-12-11) "Smoked Beef tounge & Cheek (Barbacoa) w/ pr0n"
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=127985

Likeadeere's thread (1-27-10) "Smoked Cow Tongue - Any Experience?"
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=77072

DennD's thread (8-6-10) "Brisket, Butt & Lengua (Pron)"
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89930

MasQue's thread (1-03-10) "Anyone ever smoke a tongue?"
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=75418

Thirdeye's blog
http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/1996/12/beef-smoked-tongue.html

Team Satchell's thread (8-24-09) Poor man's food
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67566

Tkuehn5410's thread (6-28-09) "Anybody ever smoke beef tongue?"
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64297

Neil's thread (10-12-06) "Beef Tongue Anyone?"
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21052&highlight=lengua

[WineMaster]

OK YUK. Im done

[Garrett]

I have never cooked one myself, but I remember as a kid my Papaw cooked them every time we killed a cow. I know he smoked them and that's all I know. They were good and I look forward to seeing your post. I would like to get hands on one and try it.

[buccaneer]

Skinned and Charcoal grilled with Thai dipping sauce and I am so into it!

[Pugi]

Best meat for tacos there is. Wife boils them in pot, removes outer layer then shreds meat. Throw in tortillas with diced onion, hot, hot chili sauce and a squeeze of lemon juice. Looks like I need to do another tutorial.

[Untraceable]

2nd only to beef cheeks in tacos

[Titch]

Cured and pressed into a meat loaf:-D
Great sandwich food.
Never tried grilling them tho,Tender?
cheers.
Titch

[Pugi]

Cured and pressed into a meat loaf:-D
Great sandwich food.
Never tried grilling them tho,Tender?
cheers.
Titch

Titch, is kinda like cooking pulled pork. You have to cook it until probe tender.

[Boudreaux]

Just getting into smoking here, so I would not know about "SMOKED BEEF TONGUE" (yet). BUT, I can tell you that Smothered Beef Tongue over the kitchen stove is about the best to be had... bar none...

That's a dish that Cajuns learn at an early age......

SO I guess I will need to try SMOKED BEEF TONGUE one day soon......

[BobBrisket]

I love tongue! :-D Great flavor. Two things that turn people off......the way it looks and even once you have cooked the hell out of it........the texture. My mom learned to make it from my Grandma. Their version was boiled, then sliced. After slicing, they get tossed in a hot pan with some oil, lard, or bacon grease and allowed to brown a bit. The sauce is a tomato, celery, onion, garlic, and green peas sauce.......OMG!!! Farking incredible!

[Fo Sizzle My Nizzle]

A friend of mine talked me into getting a Lengua burrito (beef tongue) and it was pretty darn good. Tasted like a really well cooked pot roast.

[ssv3]

Best meat for tacos there is. Wife boils them in pot, removes outer layer then shreds meat. Throw in tortillas with diced onion, hot, hot chili sauce and a squeeze of lemon juice. Looks like I need to do another tutorial.

2nd only to beef cheeks in tacos

Yes and yes. Around here anytime I'm coming home from an outing at 3am :rockon: on a weekend with munchies and I spot a taco truck or a taqueria with tongue or cheek meat on the menu, baby I'm in!!! I'm craving it right now as a matter of fact :hungry: BRB lol

[PigBeter]

I love tongue, but have never had it smoked. That's something I would love to try!

[Callahan-que]

Sliced thin and piled high on most any type of bread or roll!

[BobBrisket]

Best meat for tacos there is. Wife boils them in pot, removes outer layer then shreds meat. Throw in tortillas with diced onion, hot, hot chili sauce and a squeeze of lemon juice. Looks like I need to do another tutorial.

What you waitin fer?:becky:

[jacob]

Beef Balls(Cowgirl Recipe) is one thing but I absolutely draw the line with the tongue. Them things are gritty and that would hurt. NTTAWWT

[trufunk]

Never liked Lengua but you've got to try it at least once in your life

[likeadeere]

I did actually end up smoking one for about 4 hours. But seein how there was some Old English involved I never took any pics. I just don't see how it could be cooked like a butt, because it doesn't have much fat to it. It is a strong muscle with zero fat. I think your best bet is to boil the hell out of it and chop it up and then smoke it. Mine didn't turn out so hot, and it ended up in the garbage. Not to mention I couldn't get over the fact what it was.

[Joe Grod]

Pickled, cooked like corned beef and served on rye bread with plenty of good mustard.

Joe

[landarc]

I love tongue! :-D Great flavor. Two things that turn people off......the way it looks and even once you have cooked the hell out of it........the texture. My mom learned to make it from my Grandma. Their version was boiled, then sliced. After slicing, they get tossed in a hot pan with some oil, lard, or bacon grease and allowed to brown a bit. The sauce is a tomato, celery, onion, garlic, and green peas sauce.......OMG!!! Farking incredible!
That is not so far from what my mom did with tongue. Interesting. The only difference was that she use some sugar to make what she called 'Creole sauce'. It was very good as I recall. I haven't cooked tongue in quite a while.

You can get pig tongue, lamb tongue (blue and somewhat off-putting) and goose tongue in Chinatown. I have never tried the pig or lamb tongue. I kinda think I did try goose tongue, it must not have been memorable though.

As a child, I loved grabbing the raw tongue and 'licking' people, this had a poor risk/reward payoff, but, was still entertaining to me.

[HB-BBQ]

It's very common around southern California, almost every corner Mexican joint offers Lengua tacos. I tried it a few times myself but just cannot get into it. Thanks for putting that list together Bandit, it will help a lot of folks down the line.

[El Ropo]

Lengua tacos are quite popular down here with all the food trucks. Tried 'em, some were better than others.

Not as tasty as I would like (pun intended)

[woodbutcher1]

Beef tongue good stuff. Boiled until tender with kosher salt and lots of black pepper corns and some bay leave,remove skin, serve with a good mustard and horse radish sauce and a loaf of rye bred.

Now , leave me alone,don't bother me, I'm eating.

[deguerre]

Love it! All the mom and pop taquerias here have them and quite a few are excellent! However, I can only get them for me, and as to cooking one, well, I'll lose that vote everytime.

[pomah25]

My parents boil it for hours, then ad garlic, allspice and bay leaf to it (cut a small incision and insert)... delicious! I often thought about smoking it, but didn't think it had enough fat , so it would just dry out...

Let me know how it goes!

[BobBrisket]

That is not so far from what my mom did with tongue. Interesting. The only difference was that she use some sugar to make what she called 'Creole sauce'. It was very good as I recall. I haven't cooked tongue in quite a while.

You can get pig tongue, lamb tongue (blue and somewhat off-putting) and goose tongue in Chinatown. I have never tried the pig or lamb tongue. I kinda think I did try goose tongue, it must not have been memorable though.

As a child, I loved grabbing the raw tongue and 'licking' people, this had a poor risk/reward payoff, but, was still entertaining to me.

If I had a choice, I'd take pig or lamb tongue anyday. MUCH more tender. The sauce my mom and grandma make has a bit of a light colored roux along with it. I've never seen my mom make it, but I do believe it's some type of thin sauce she starts it off with and the tomatoes and stuff add their juices to it as well. Another key is to slice or dice thin and small. That helps a bit with the texture.

LMAO!!! That would have been my grandfather going after us with it!:becky:

[snook806]

You forgot this one BBQ Bandit...this was one was also delicious.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=131800

[Boshizzle]

I remember that my Mom used to cook it back in the days when my Dad raised cattle. I have had any for many decades. I might have to give it a try.

[Militant83]

I would give it a try if it ended up in my fridge might have to add this to the to do list.