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Yesterday Cochon 555 came to Boston, and one of the parts I was looking forward to the most was the butchering demo where they took apart an entire pig and then sold the parts to the crowd. I had already planned going in to walk away with the pig's head, and sure enough I was able to snag that beauty. What I didn't spend much time thinking about, however, was what I was going to do once I bought that delicious mound of face. I had lots of ideas (headcheese, guanciale, fried ears, roast pigs head) but no real clear plan. So I figured I would come in here and ask for suggestions and advice. I am almost certain that I want to take half of the head and throw it on my smoker, which brings up my first question: What is the best way for me to split the head in half? I've seen some sites that suggest a hand saw, some that suggest using a sawzall, and even the suggestion to just have at it with a heavy cleaver. What experience do you have with splitting the head? Should I just man up and split it with an axe? The second question I have is what should I do with the other half of the pig? Does anyone have any great recipes that I should be trying out here? Thanks for whatever advice you can give. I'll be sure to keep the thread updated with pics as I make progress on this little piggy.
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Apr 7, 2014 15:28
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I'm no expert, never done it before, but wouldn't it make sense to use a hack saw? There are a lot of small crevices and thin bones that you probably don't want to disturb with too much force from a cleaver right next to very thick, strong bones that could probably take more than one hit. Again, never tried it before but a hacksaw seems like the most straightforward method since it would be the same amount force the whole way through and will leave a clean, even cut at the end. e: A band saw would probably be awesome for this job if you know somebody who has one. You could probably freeze the head too for less mess when you cut it. for sale fucked around with this message at 17:49 on Apr 7, 2014 |
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Apr 7, 2014 17:35
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Most meat departments at groceries have a band saw. Maybe you can call and ask if they could cut something for you if you walked in with your own meat?
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Apr 7, 2014 18:42
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I tried fried pigs ears in Spain once and they were inedible. It just seemed like gristle and not much else. Do people really eat them?
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Apr 7, 2014 18:58
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The only concern with using a FDA approved outlet for this work is that they have no way of knowing how the meat has been handled leading up to them taking control of it, which often results in them rejecting the meat outright. I learned this when I tried to get a local grocer to slice some home cured prosciutto for me. I'm still going to give it a shot though, so thanks for the suggestion. I am actually going to talk to my local deli, who competed in the event. Any other ideas for what to do with the other half of the head? I'm already planning on pickling the eyes, and I want to do something nice with the cheek. My climate is hit or miss for dry cures so I am apprehensive about trying guanciale.
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Apr 7, 2014 20:52
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ada shatan posted:The only concern with using a FDA approved outlet for this work is that they have no way of knowing how the meat has been handled leading up to them taking control of it, which often results in them rejecting the meat outright. I learned this when I tried to get a local grocer to slice some home cured prosciutto for me.  Just whack it like a kid who just found porn on the internet for the first time. That head will come apart in no time
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Apr 8, 2014 04:45
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Most obvious thing to do. Be sure to check out the video. 
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Apr 9, 2014 15:30
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You may want to use the whole head for this before cleaving it, but I recommend trying Porchetta Di Testa: http://www.foodrepublic.com/2013/06/20/video-extreme-creation-porchetta-di-testa-blow-tor http://raiseitkilliteatit.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/porchetta-di-testa/ I am excited to see the results of whatever you choose I eat baby skin fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Apr 10, 2014 |
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Apr 10, 2014 01:31
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 I undertook the splitting of the pig's head yesterday, and it was a fun time. I also took one of the ears and decided to make a nice treat for my dog.   I started off by cutting down through the skin and flesh until I hit bone, and then I started at it with a cleaver and a mallet.   When I finally got to the lower jaw I started having issues getting at the cleaver with the mallet, so I grabbed a saw out of the basement, gave it a good cleaning, and went at it. The sound of the saw tearing through the bone was awesome, and made my wife squirm more than once.  Eventually I was successful in splitting the head in half.  At this point we wrapped up one of the halves and threw it in the fridge in anticipation of smoking it this weekend. The plan is to give it a nice Memphis style rub and throw it on the smoker at around 250 alongside a nice slab of brisket. Should make for a good meal. With the second half of the pig I attempted to remove as much of the meat from the head as possible. I'm not much of a butcher and ended up making a pretty big mess of the pig. Because of this, I am going to take all that is left and throw it in a pot tomorrow morning to start making head cheese. Once the meat has all fallen off of the half-skull I am also going to soak it in hydrogen peroxide and then hit it with a layer or two of clear coat and then mount it on my wall. I'll throw some pics up later of the head cheese experiment and results, and also of the smoking process. I eat baby skin posted:You may want to use the whole head for this before cleaving it, but I recommend trying Porchetta Di Testa: I considered Porchetta Di Testa, but was too excited about the idea of smoking the head that I passed on it.
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Apr 10, 2014 14:31
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ada shatan posted:When I finally got to the lower jaw I started having issues getting at the cleaver with the mallet, so I grabbed a saw out of the basement, gave it a good cleaning, and went at it. The sound of the saw tearing through the bone was awesome, and made my wife squirm more than once. You are real man! Seriously though, that's really cool. Let us know how the smoked head turns out.
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Apr 10, 2014 15:08
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Awesome thread! Looking forward to the cooking 
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Apr 10, 2014 17:18
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I always thought pig ears were just for dogs to chew on.
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Apr 10, 2014 17:58
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ada shatan posted:At this point we wrapped up one of the halves and threw it in the fridge in anticipation of smoking it this weekend. The plan is to give it a nice Memphis style rub and throw it on the smoker at around 250 alongside a nice slab of brisket. Should make for a good meal. Where do you live? I'm coming over. Can't wait to see the head cheese!
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Apr 10, 2014 19:32
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contrapants posted:Can't wait to see the head cheese! I think I'm going to regret asking this, but what is "head cheese"?
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Apr 10, 2014 21:26
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radthibodaux posted:I think I'm going to regret asking this, but what is "head cheese"? You could've googled this yourself but head cheese refers to meat from an animal's less desirable parts e.g. head, feet etc set in aspic, like this:  It's tasty and not really gross by any standard..
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Apr 10, 2014 21:53
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I had a roasted pig's face at this Laotian restaurant a while back: http://www.yelp.com/biz/khe-yo-new-york It was fantastic.
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Apr 10, 2014 22:18
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indoflaven posted:I always thought pig ears were just for dogs to chew on. Not at all. Pig ears are often a great appetizer. Chinese places stew them and slice them into ribbons. The outer skin is tender and flavorful while the cartilage remains crunchy. 
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Apr 11, 2014 12:11
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ada shatan posted:Once the meat has all fallen off of the half-skull I am also going to soak it in hydrogen peroxide and then hit it with a layer or two of clear coat and then mount it on my wall. Your results may vary, but I was told by a butcher I worked under - who cleaned and collected a lot of skulls - that boiling the meat off broke down the bone too much. Her method of burying it and letting maggots eat the flesh until it's all rotted off, though, is both more disgusting and more time intensive though.
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Apr 11, 2014 21:44
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ekeog posted:Your results may vary, but I was told by a butcher I worked under - who cleaned and collected a lot of skulls - that boiling the meat off broke down the bone too much. Her method of burying it and letting maggots eat the flesh until it's all rotted off, though, is both more disgusting and more time intensive though. I've got some concerns already. I've been boiling it all for about 7 hours now (making headcheese and getting the last of the gelatin from the skull) and I've had some loss. So far it isn't too bad, so we will see how it turns out.
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Apr 11, 2014 21:49
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And to whomever bought me this avatar - thank you. You are awesome.
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Apr 11, 2014 21:53
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Throwing the pigs head on now. Three loaves of head cheese in the fridge. This pig's head has served me well so far. Pics coming soon.
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Apr 13, 2014 10:31
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I was sort of half kidding about the mallet and cleaver but god drat you almost made it 100% with it!
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Apr 13, 2014 19:22
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welp, wasn't expecting this whilst casually strolling the forums.quote:Eventually I was successful in splitting the head in half.
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Apr 13, 2014 20:39
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Everything but the squeal, son.
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Apr 13, 2014 21:51
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ada shatan posted:And to whomever bought me this avatar - thank you. You are awesome. Seconded. That's a great avatar.
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Apr 14, 2014 03:06
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Picture time! Sorry for the delays, I'm lazy as gently caress. First off, a pic of the meaty results of boiling a pig's head for 5 hours.  Next, a pic of the skull after an additional few hours of boiling (gotta get all that gelatin goodness out!)  I let it all sit overnight, and got a nice thick messy bowl of goodness from the meat in the morning.  Then, while I let the meaty fat and gelatin warm up and take on some of the other added flavors (lemon juice, rosemary, salt, and pepper) I packed a pan full of pig face.  I dumped some of my fatty face goo over top of the pig face and let it sit overnight, and ended up with this beauty. It is fantastic!  The next day, I threw the other half of the face on the smoker for about 14 hours.  I forgot to take a pic of just the head when it was done, but here it is alongside the brisket I smoked with it, some smoked corn, fresh biscuits, homemade sauce, and cold beers.  Overall it was a fantastic success. The face meat was very tender, and the smoked brains were an amazing and delicious experience. I ended up with three loaves of head cheese, so I have two in my freezer that I am saving. Next time (and there will be a next time) I am going to probably try out Porchetta Di Testa.
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Apr 17, 2014 13:33
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Oh my god that loaf of head cheese looks sublime. Awesome job! I'm jealous.
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Apr 17, 2014 14:23
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I want all of that
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Apr 17, 2014 14:33
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I'm moving in. 5'd.
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Apr 17, 2014 15:36
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This is amazing. You're amazing. I might have to see if I can get a pig's head.
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Apr 17, 2014 23:55
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This thread is loving bad rear end, great job
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Apr 18, 2014 06:09
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Wow this thread was a wonderful find, my local butcher just hooked me up with a free pig head and I was wondering how to cook it. I have had it roasted before and I loved it and would love to try and roast one myself. Anybody have any hints or tricks on roasting an entire pigs face?
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Apr 18, 2014 22:26
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ada shatan posted:
I'm probably too late to this party, but oh my god that is amazing. If it were me, I'd put that half head through a dishwasher cycle or something, mount it on some nice wood, and hang it in my living room. too loving awesome.
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Apr 20, 2014 08:40
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A friend roasted a whole lamb over the weekend, and I got its fresh head and offal. The lamb was killed on Friday, and I'm planning on cooking it tomorrow for supper. My plan is to reserve the tongue, split the head in two, then cook each half a different way. I have a pressure cooker and want to make stock with one half, but I'm not sure what I should do with the other. I'm also not sure what I should do with the brains. I would welcome any and all advice, because frankly I'm a bit intimidated.
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Jun 2, 2014 07:12
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Health Services posted:A friend roasted a whole lamb over the weekend, and I got its fresh head and offal. The lamb was killed on Friday, and I'm planning on cooking it tomorrow for supper. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smalahove http://www.matoppskrift.no/sider/recipe_3175.asp
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Jun 2, 2014 07:57
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I haven't eaten meat in nine years and this thread is loving awesome. In that picture with the finished product, the top looks blackened - is that just parts of the structure, like bone? The photos are kinda low-res 
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Jun 2, 2014 09:36
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hhhmmm posted:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smalahove Thanks very much for the suggestions! Unfortunately, I ended up being lazy and just made a stock out of the head. I reserved the tongue, split the head, and removed the brains. I parboiled the halves for ten minutes, and then roasted them with rough mirepoix and rosemary before putting them in the pressure cooker for an hour. I salted the tongue, and will braise it and cook the rest of the offal tomorrow. Here's some pictures!  Deciding how to cook the head with a nice beer.  Carrot, onion, and celery plus garlic and rosemary.  My roommate is a geologist and I borrow his rock hammer on the principle that rock_hammer > lamb_head.  I am worried the whole head will explode when I hit it.   Cooool.  I was pleasantly surprised at how cleanly the cleaver cut through the skull. It took a few taps, but really wasn't anywhere as gory as I feared. At this point I removed the brains with a spoon, but the eyes were recalcitrant so I gave up trying to remove them.  I brought water to a boil and cooked the heads for ten minutes.  I peeled and roughly chopped the vegetables, and after tossing them in olive oil moved them to a baking tray.  Before going into the oven.  After 45 minutes at 400 degrees. Smelled delicious, and would probably be perfect to eat at this point.  Into the pressure cooker for an hour at high pressure.   After the cooker. The stock has a strong aroma, and smells quite good.  Strained and ready to freeze for future soups and shepherd's pies! Upon reflection, I'm a little disappointed that I didn't try to eat part of the head as part of a meal, but I'm really glad that I went through processing the head. I was more than a little intimidated going in, but it turned out to be a pretty straightforward process. I found the first time I deboned a chicken to be more difficult than this. I would definitely try it again, and I think that roasting a pig's head is definitely something doable for next time (maybe the porchetta de testa, that looks amazing).
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Jun 3, 2014 08:27
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Nice job
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Jun 3, 2014 17:01
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americong posted:In that picture with the finished product, the top looks blackened - is that just parts of the structure, like bone? The photos are kinda low-res Most of the blackened look comes from the rub that I used on the head before smoking it. Sorry for the low-res photos, I completely forgot to get photos off it myself when it was done so I had to pinch one off of instagram. edit: Also - Health Services, that looks great. Glad you had fun playing with that lamb's head!
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Jun 3, 2014 18:02
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You guys are amazing... Quick question: what's the closest food to head cheese ? Pate? Trying to imagine what the taste and texture approximates.
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Jun 4, 2014 00:29
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