10 Pound of Beef Cheeks

First, the bad: The 10 lbs of cheeks have been sawed off from a much larger chunk of frozen beef cheeks. As such, only the middle pieces are whole. All the pieces on the sides are in small parts. The cheeks are also completely untrimmed. I had to spend a lot of time trimming them and lost about 60% by volume (not necessarily weight) by the time I was done, and I was being careful.

The good: once you get past the points above, the cheeks are great. Beautifully marbled and melt-in-your-mouth soft when cooked.

Per Cameron’s review, the package comes as a frozen block, so I was prepared to cook the entire amount in a single go. Smoked them for 3 hours then braised for 4 hours. Delicious. Since cheeks came frozen and clumped together I made the entire batch in one go and shared it with the neighbours.

The quality itself is excellent. However, came as a 10lb frozen block which I did not expect, which in itself is not a big deal. My issue is really that because its cut off a larger frozen block, you end up with perhaps a few whole pieces in the middle, and a lot of smaller cuts/pieces. So if you are expecting to serve whole pieces, I don't think this is the product for you. If you're making a ragu or something, it shouldn't be a major problem. I will add that they pieces were also untrimmed. The next time I buy Beef Cheek I think I will buy whole pieces in smaller amounts from a local butcher.

Only recommendation is to cut it into smaller pieces.

huge 10 lb frozen mass - inconvenient to have to commit to cook all 10lbs at once.