The Cut the Pros Do Not Want You to Know About

Beef cheeks are the pitmaster's secret weapon. While everyone fights over brisket flats and prime ribs, the beef cheek sits quietly at the butcher counter, criminally underpriced and absurdly flavorful. These small, hard-working muscles from the jaw of the cow are loaded with collagen that breaks down during a long cook into the most luscious, spoonable meat you have ever tasted.

Why Beef Cheeks?

A cow chews thousands of times a day, which means the cheek muscles are incredibly well-developed and dense with connective tissue. That connective tissue is pure collagen, which transforms into gelatin during low-and-slow cooking. The result is meat with a texture that brisket can only dream of -- silky, rich, and so tender it barely holds its shape on the fork.

The Two-Stage Approach

This recipe combines the best of two worlds: American smoking and French braising. First, the cheeks get 3 hours of heavy smoke to build a deep bark and infuse that smoky flavor into every fiber. Then they move into a Dutch oven with red wine, beef stock, aromatics, and herbs for a long braise that converts all that collagen into liquid gold.

Choosing the Wine

Use a full-bodied red wine that you would actually drink -- Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, or Syrah are all excellent choices. The wine concentrates during braising, so any off-flavors will be amplified. Avoid cooking wine at all costs. A good rule: if you would not drink it, do not cook with it.

The Long Game

This is an 8-hour cook, and there are no shortcuts. The cheeks need every minute of that time to fully break down the collagen. You will know they are done when a fork slides through with zero resistance and the meat jiggles when you poke it. If there is any tug or pull, they need more time.

The Sauce

After removing the cheeks, the braising liquid is a concentrated sauce that needs nothing more than a quick reduction. Strain it, reduce it by half, and you have a silky, wine-infused BBQ sauce that belongs in a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Pro Tips

• Ask your butcher to trim the cheeks of excess silver skin but leave some fat for basting
• Sear the cheeks in a hot cast iron pan before smoking for deeper bark development
• Use oak or mesquite for the smoking phase -- beef cheeks can handle bold smoke
• The braising liquid makes an incredible pasta sauce the next day
• These reheat beautifully -- some say they are even better the second day as the flavors meld