Anyone do these? Basically followed these guys, and it was pretty easy. I'm pretty new to smoking and they were a little closer to "fall apart" than I'd like so I'll try to correct that next time but they were a big hit.



After four hours smoking



After four hours confit

I think there's a guy who posts here who has a little experience with this.

Hey, I've cooked these a few times! (I even squeeze one in that video)

Looks like you did an excellent job with your cook.

My two tips:

1) Make sure the bark is set during the initial smoking process. When the cheeks go into the confit, it's very easy for the tallow to wash off some of that salt and pepper.

2) Pull the cheeks when they feel squishy like a water balloon. This is the tricky part that takes some practice reps because you are ideally taking them right up to the brink of being too tender. The cheeks should have some give but not fall apart.

If you pull them too early and they feel tight, you can fix it on the cutting board by slicing them deli thin, will still make for a great sandwich/taco.

If the the cheeks are too tender and falling apart, trying slicing thicker cuts with your sharpest knife and you can still maintain some structural integrity.

Hope that was helpful! Looks like you're doing great so far.