Beef tongue issues page

[rozska]

Yesterday at the farmer's market I bought a beef tongue. At $4.99 a pound, figured that could be a good bargain for grass-fed and finished beef.

The recipe I used was this one: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/tende...ns-and-garlic/

I put it all in a crock pot and cooked it overnight -- between 8-9 hours on low.

The meat itself is amazing and tastes so good.

My problem was removing the white skin. It didn't slide off -- I ended up cutting off large chunks of the meat in order to remove it. It wouldn't peel, just kept breaking into pieces.

I waited until the meat was very cool. It was no longer warm to the touch. Was that my problem? Should I have tried removing the white outer skin earlier? Or warmed it up again?

There's a chance that this tongue was old, several months frozen. Could that have been an issue? (The date on the package is hard to make out.)

Any ideas? Thanks!

[Classic]

When I have made beef tongue the skin just peeled off. Perhaps cooking it in the slow cooker so long broke the skin down more than the way I used to cook it. I haven't cooked one in a good 30 years but I just ordered one from Thundering hooves.com last week so will be experimenting with it again soon.

[xz123]

Yes, you probably should've tried to remove it while the tongue was still hot. I've cooked a tongue last week and removed it right after it was done cooking and still hot, and it went off with no problems. Seems to be the recommended way (at least that's what's recommended in the "River Cottage Meat Book")

/edit

Oh, just in case: I've only cooked mine for about three hours in a normal pot.

[Classic]

ah, now that you mention it xz123 I remember burning my fingers when removing the skin. Damn its hell getting old and losing memory. Although it has been getting better since foregoing grains.

[JeffC]

I've cooked tongue several times but only buffalo, not beef. I presume buffalo and beef tongue are very similar. I do it in the crockpot overnight. I buy it frozen but dethaw first. I am not sure I follow precisely what layer you are referring to. I believe that there are actually two membranes. The outer membrane is thicker and tougher. This one I can usually peel off with my fingers in a few pieces about 10 minutes after removing from the crockpot.

Now, there is an additional thinner, inner layer. Some people choose to eat the tongue with this. I usually cut it off with a small knife, holding it almost parallel to the tongue, this takes much longer than the outer layer but still no more than 5 minutes or so. I do this right after I have peeled off the outer layer. I save it and then give it to my dog, who LOVES it. I do lose a little bit of the actual tongue meat this way, but not much. Once I have got off both layers, I slice it as thin as a I can cross wise, each slice is 1/4 inch thick or so. Then I will sautee a few slices each morning for breakfast in some butter, coconut oil, or non stick spray (whatever I feel like) with some spices. It gets a nice crispy outside, soft inside interior this way. Also I don't use any spices in the crockpot because the skin tends to keep the flavors out of the actual meat so it is kind of pointless I have found.

I agree, the texture and taste of tongue is fantastic, it is totally underappreciated. I get my buffalo tongue for $3/lb at the farmer's market, they usually come around 2lb or so. I make 1 or 2 a month and it usually takes me a few days to work through a whole one eating a few slices each day for breakfast. I refrigerate the unused part.

[periquin]

Cooking beef tongue in a pressure cooker is fast (about half an hour) at 15 pounds pressure.

Finest way to cook it.

[rozska]

Thanks for the responses! None of them got emailed to me, despite my settings. Next time, I'll try to remove the outer layer when it's hot. Neither that layer, or the one underneath, came off easily.

[Daemonized]

What I do when I cook beef tongue is I boil it in plain water for a couple hours then I peel it. (I've had to cut parts of it off before) Then after it's peeled I cook and season it they way that I want to. I usually then cook it in a slow cooker for a long time after that.