22” Blue Weber Kettle with SnS insert
Kamado Joe Jr with Kick Ash Basket
Char-Broil Smartchef Tru Infrared Gasser
Anovo Hot Tub Time Machine with Custom Hot Tub
Inspired by my latest trip to MX and the enthusiasm from fellow Pitmasters, I am going to work on Birria. I know it’s traditionally goat, but beef is where I will start. Thus, it is posted on the Beef thread.
For starters, I searched the free side and saw no recipes. Searching on this side results in us talking about it, but no true recipes. Unless I missed something, and I welcome the feedback.
22” Blue Weber Kettle with SnS insert
Kamado Joe Jr with Kick Ash Basket
Char-Broil Smartchef Tru Infrared Gasser
Anovo Hot Tub Time Machine with Custom Hot Tub
As a continuation of my series paying homage to the Netflix’s documentary called the Taco Chronicles, I promised for my next selection I would do some Birria Tacos. Since then both barelfly and 58limited have offered up fine and very delicious examples of both beef and goat versions. Trying not to be too redundant, I offer up
Smokin-It 3D
Weber Kettle with an SNS
Masterbuilt kettle that I call the $30 wonder grill
Bullet by Bull Grills gasser
Anova WiFi sous vide machine
Thermoworks Thermapen and Chef Alarm
Over the years, I’ve done some reading and YouTube surfing and from that, I’ve combined a few recipes for what I use. The adobo I use is from Alex Stupak’s book and included here as a Paprika file. I make jars of this stuff to have on hand for various things, but birria is always the main reason. The flavor is excellent and it’s pretty simple to make.
For the birria de res, it’s pretty simple once I have my adobo, but this is the recipe/method I use, very simple and comes from food and wine. Really, it’s adobo, onion, carrot, water/beef stock and you let the chuck roast go until tender.
From there, I make a chile oil that I picked up from a YouTube channel Views from the Road. This video was shared here a while back and it was fun to watch. But she makes the oil and that is how I finish my birria de res tacos, it really gives the tortilla a great crisp crunch. You can use the oil/fat that is on top of the consome but I think the oil provides so much more flavor and a better finished corn tortilla.
The paprika file for the chile oil is below as well.
The combination of these recipes/processes gives what to me is the best birria de res tacos I have ever had.
I also feel what you serve with the birria de res tacos helps complete the meal. So, cilantro, white onion, queso fresco, lime. That’s what I think adds well-rounded taco, fat, acid, salt and heat.
You can also get into the quesabirria lane, using a nice melting Mexican style white cheese once you have dipped the tortillas in oil/consome and build the taco from there.
It’s a canvas for you to paint! Looking forward to reading this post as it grows from what you are able to find and eat!
I've been making birria for a while and have tried various recipes. This one is my favorite guide. I say guide because I have a problem following recipes in general but this one is solid as written and the only thing I might tweak in this is the amount/type of dried peppers to account for what I have on hand. Some recipes aren't balanced and end up being to vinegar-y, or too salty, or so hot that the heat from the peppers hides all the other nuanced flavors. I like heat, but a balanced heat.
I love birria tacos. I made goat birria once from scratch (can easily sub beef). I smoked the meat before stewing it - I highly recommend this step. One trick I used was to coat the tortillas with Asian chili oil before placing on the griddle - that took them to another level. After doing that I saw that Views On The Road youtube channel posted a few versions of Mexican chili oil. Here is my recipe:
Several recent posts inspired this. I made goat birria (Birria de Chivo) this week and it turned out great. I'm using it for tacos mainly. I've never had birria or birria tacos so I made this blind but based this on recipes found on the net, especially this one:
http://www.edibleaustin.com/index.ph...ated-goat-stew (http://www
Birria Chili Oil (starts at time mark 10:20):
Mexican Chili Oil video:
And I see that she posted a hotter version (wow, that is a lot of chile pequin):
Last edited by 58limited; January 5, 2025, 12:31 PM.
I’m no taco expert but we used to get wild chilipequin from a friend in New Mexico. They were so hot that 2 of the small ones would make a pot of pinto beans very warm.
Oak Smoke They used to grow on my uncle's ranch north of Uvalde. Yes, they are very hot! My uncle would put them into an old Tabasco bottle and cover them with vinegar, let them age about a month, and use it like Tabasco. As you use it up you can add more vinegar and use the same peppers for several months or even a year. He would add more red ones if he wanted it hotter.
MAK 2 Star pellet
Big Green Egg
Fuego gasser
Pitboss ceramic griddle
Eastman Outdoors wok burner
Ooni 16 pizza oven
Cast iron chimenea with pizza steel
Breeo smokeless fire pit, with Titan rotisserie and Titan Santa Maria style adjustable grate
Oklahoma Joe Bronco
Hopefully The Wife won't be sick this time when it's ready. lol.
I gotta say, I ate on them leftovers for quite a while, and the consommé stuff, well I had plenty of it, and I just mixed it in with some leftover pulled pork outta the freezer and I think the result was just as damned good. I don't know that you really NEED to braise the pork IN the sauce - all's you need is the damned sauce!
My house smells amazing right now, by the way.
Oh yeah, pic of today's pork getting ready for the bath, for attention:
I made some with short ribs on Saturday mainly so I could have consome for future use... lol. Definitely gonna try the pork version. And while I probably wouldn't make the consome using chicken as the base, I bet it would go great on chicken tacos as well...
Right now my wife and son are both fighting over who has to go to the store to get the cilantro. You'd think this crock pot full of pork and that smell wafting through the house would chase away all fear of the outside - and the dusting of snow and the 24ºF (and dropping!) temperature!
I told 'em, if we don't got no cilantro, ain't NO ONE eating birria today!
MAK 2 Star pellet
Big Green Egg
Fuego gasser
Pitboss ceramic griddle
Eastman Outdoors wok burner
Ooni 16 pizza oven
Cast iron chimenea with pizza steel
Breeo smokeless fire pit, with Titan rotisserie and Titan Santa Maria style adjustable grate
Oklahoma Joe Bronco
Like barelfly I've looked at and cooked a bunch of different recipes to figure out my Birria. This Rick Bayliss video is probably closest to my approach:
I've also cooked The Views on the Road recipe posted above. It's good, and the chili oil kicks.
This one is really good, Claudia has a lot of great recipes.
And this one from Villa Cocina is also good:
The five constants between those are Guajillo, Mexican oregano, cumin, garlic, and black pepper. Other warm spices are all over the map, but cinnamon, thyme, clove, and allspice are fairly common. It's really about taking the dish and finding your own Såzon. It's a fun dish to play with.
Following!! I’ve been informed that I will be preparing Birria tacos for my daughter’s birthday in 2 weeks. This is what I followed the two times I made it before. It turned out great but I look forward to seeing other recommendations.
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
I discovered birria several years ago at a Mexican place that opened about 1/2 mile from my house, but unfortunately did not survive. They had the best birria tacos and quesadillas.
I've been using this recipe from Sam the Cooking guy for the past couple of years, and think the results are top notch.
I will add that I usually use chuck roast, not short rib, to make birria. It's just more readily available. Very few stores around here have boneless short rib, and if they did, it would cost twice as much per pound as chuck.
I was talking to a friend this morning who is Mexican. He told me his aunt corrected him recently. She told him it isn't birria unless it is goat. He told me she made it clear in no uncertain terms.
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