Hog Head Cheese??

[hatchaholic]

Does anyone here eat Hog Head cheese? Is it good? Does anyone make it? If so, is it hard?

Thanks.

 

[tomcio]

MMM.. headcheese. A bit of spicy mustard and a good slice of rye bread!

Headcheese is just plain tasty.

I have never made it, but it's not too difficult if I remember correctly. It sure is worth the trouble though.

 

[hatchaholic]

We just sent 3 pigs to butcher yesterday and they asked if we wanted the heads. My DH wants to try head cheese, but I wanted to find out more about how it tastes and what is involved before I agree.

 

[poisonivie]

Yes it is good! Heres how we make it you cut the head remove the brain and eyes put it in a big pan and boil it till its falls off bone done . while that is cooking I boil two good sized beef roasts. when they are all done I use a meat grinder and grind them and some of the beef broth and savery powder to taste I put mine in a foil lined pan for easy removal and easy washing . Set in the fridge till its solid. I then freeze some for later. and have some in the fridge. My 7 yr old loves it its his fav lunch meat.

 

[cackle]

Yes, I do like it but it has been many years since I had it. I remember mom making it one time. She said it was a lot of trouble. But it was good.

 

[Possumpoint]

I used to help my granny make it years ago and yes, there is alot of work to it. She had two big aluminum pans that she would put it in, cover each with cheese cloth, add a board that was cut to fit exactly inside the pans, and then she would put bricks on top for weight to press out the excess fat. She made a batch of regular souse, as she called it, and a batch of hot souse in which she had added lots of hot peppers to while she was grinding the head meat together with the boiled hams. She used all pork meat in hers. Every fall, when it was butchering time, we made souse meat, lard and cracklings, and I've cleaned my share of chitterlings too. Wouldn't eat em, but I cleaned em.

 

[NanaKat]

Head cheese made this week.


It was really a lot easier than I first thought....although doing 4 heads in one day was a bit much. I spent a day cooking and cleaning 5 heads and then it took time to reduce 4 gallons of broth to the gallon we used for the head cheese and the soups. We canned the remaining broth.

Head Cheese (Brawn)
Pressure cook 2 skinned, cleaned pig heads with jowls in 1/2 cooker full of water for 90 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure . Begin timing from when the rocker begins to move.
Cool down the cooker and remove the heads to a pan to cool.
(You can substitute a 4 - 5 pound pork roast and 4 ham hocks to get the same result.....You need the bones cooked with the meat to get the gel factor in the broth...chunk cut the roast and then.roast it in a deep pan with water to cover at 350 for 2 hours or until the meat falls off the bone.)

In the meantime, strain the broth to remove bits of bone and meat. Add the ingredients and boil down to 1/2 gallon or 1 quart. You will make enough broth to make soup as well as the brawn. let it cool and dip off the fat that rises to the top....this seasoned lard will make great fried potatoes.... Strain the veggies and reserve for soup for tongue and noodle soup...recipe to follow.

Ingredients:
1st for flavoring the broth as it reduces:
3 c coarse diced onions
3 c sliced celery with leaves
2 bell peppers chopped I used green and red for color
4 carrots sliced 1/2 inch rounds
1/4 c sliced garlic (5 or 6 big cloves)
2 whole bay leaves
1 tsp dry thyme
1 tsp whole black pepper corns

When the meat is cool enough to pull apart and separate from the head, pick out all the meat from the fat and gristle.., separate it into a large bowl...you will have about 4 pounds of meat to shred or coarse chop. (The chickens and pets liked the fat, We tossed the skull and bones etc). Reserve the tongue for Tongue and Noodle Soup

To the shredded meat add:
1 c fine diced green onions
1/2 c fresh parsley fine chop (or 1 T dry parsley)
1 red Bell pepper chopped fine
Salt to taste
1 1/2 tsp crack black pepper
1 tbs crushed red chili pepper (optional) we like it
Toss well to mix the spices in with the meal
Now add 2 cups of the strained broth and mix to coat. Add another 1/2 c to 1 c if needed to make a moist mix.

Fill containers and pack down the meat tight...should have no air bubbles and a little fluid on the top. seal and refrigerate. We used plastic freezer containers, but any plastic sealable container will work. Glass loaf pans lined with plastic wrap work too.

The left over broth can be canned in pint jars in your canner for 10 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure or water bathed for 20 minutes. be sure to add 1/2 tsp of canning salt to each pint before you seal the jars and a little lard in the broth will not be a problem.

Tongue and Noodle soup.
Peel the membrane off the tongue, and slice/chop into thin chunks. Add enough broth to cover in a slow cooker. When fork tender move to a sauce pan , Take out the bay leaves and pepper corns from the reserved veggies reserved from the broth earlier and add to the tongue with 2 - 3 cups of broth and 2 cups of egg noodles and cook until noodles are tender. Serve with crackers or garlic toast. My family likes to season at the table with salt or crushed peppers.

 

[JHaller]

I recently made my first batch of head cheese with one pig's head. I canned the broth. NanaKat's tongue and noodle soup sounds like a great way to use some of it. My head cheese isn't as pretty as hers, but my recipe was similar.

I recommend you have a jar of cornichons and a spicy mustard to eat with it. Sweet pickles don't quite taste right with head cheese. Toasted bread is better than crackers. White wine seems to go best, so I don't eat head cheese at lunch.

It's absolutely worth making head cheese at least once. You might experience a real nutrient boost or energy lift from it, which will encourage you to make it again.

I hope you try it!

 

[jomoncon]

My Mom made delicious Hog's Head Cheese. But instead of using a head - kind of hard to find in the city - she used a Boston Butt roast. Never did get a recipe or anything from her, and now she's gone.

Please try to get recipes from the elders in your family before they leave us. So many things Mom used to make that I now have no idea how she did it.