Help w. cooking whole hog head

[gdenby]

Hello all,

Looking for some pointers.

I found a place that sells whole hogs head. They asked how I was going to prepare it, and said I planned on just putting it in my BGE, and doing it as BBQ. They said that would work just fine, and to give it about 8 hours.

I had thought from an earlier visit that the eyes were removed, but the head I got still has the eyes. I've found different recommendations about cooking with the eyes in or out. Any one have any experience with this?

I suppose it might be a really trivial thing. One thing I read said to remove them, as they pop at a certain temperature, and make a mess. But then I see pics that appear to show the head cooked w. the eyes in. Is it just a matter of style?

Thanks.

[Chris Hennes]

I haven't seen anyone comment on that precise aspect, but you might check through our previous discussions: Pigs' Head and Pig head.

[gdenby]

Thanks for the links. I see you asked pretty much the same question. And there was no post that mentioned much, if anything, about trimming parts out of the head. Eyes in, eyes out, doesn't seem to be a major issue.

[PaulDWeiss]

I've done hog's heads sawed up and poached (to make tête de fromage) a few times, and have never taken the eyes out. In fact, the recipes I've used talk about trimming away the corneas from the cooked eyes, and throwing the trimmed eyes in with the other bits which will comprise the finished dish; I've always done that without thinking about it too much. It gives a little bit of the same sort of crunch that the ears lend to the final dish.

With regard to roasting, I roasted a whole bull's head last month, and left the eyes in. There was no pop-out, nor any sort of mess. (They didn't get eaten, mostly because everyone seemed to want to fill their plate with the muscle meats which we got from the head. Probably also because all the diners actually knew Blue, and didn't like it that he kept looking at us while we were eating his head.) That was roasted in a slow oven for about 4 1/2 hours, the first 3 hours closed in metal foil.

By the way, in my personal opinion, you'd have to cook a head on a very low open fire for a lot of time if you want the results to be good. Most of the meat is from the masseter (jaw) muscle, and the ends of the various neck and trunk muscles which remain attached to the skull; they are all hard-working, coarse, stringy muscles, and although tasty meat, do better cooked moist than in a roast. (The muscle from over the temples is more tender.) My bull's head was only moderately successful, I think – the meat remaining after the first dinner (at least 2/3 of it) got trimmed off and re-cooked as a daub, and was much better after the second cooking. I had eaten cow, lamb, and goat heads several times in Morocco cooked over open coals, but the fire was very low, and it had cooked and had been turned for many, many hours before it got to my plate. If your BBQ can manage that level of low heat for a long period of time, it's an exceptional one, I'd think. Is yours a "kettle" style, which you're planning on closing up, to roast the head, effectively? Good luck, and post a followup to the thread when you've done the deed.

Paul

[gdenby]

If your BBQ can manage that level of low heat for a long period of time, it's an exceptional one, I'd think. Is yours a "kettle" style, which you're planning on closing up, to roast the head, effectively? Good luck, and post a followup to the thread when you've done the deed.

Thanks for the info. I may try to remove the eyes, just to see what needs to be done if I ever make this for people who might be squeamish (like maybe my wife.)

I have a Green Egg ceramic cooker, which can easily hold a low temperature for at least 20 hours. The recommendation from the shop owner was 8 hours. he head is about 14 pounds. I plan on cooking longer. 6 -7 hours at 250, and then, if the internal temp in the cheeck is not 180, cook at 350 for an hour or two more.

Will try to post on the results.

[PaulDWeiss]

Oh — a Green Egg; I hadn't read your original posting closely enough. You should be fine with "low and slow." Not so different from an oven roast, if you leave it closed up, I wouldn't think, but I've never used an Egg.

Are you going to roast piggie's head with the skin on? I wonder if you're going to get a lot of fat drips and flare-ups if you are. As I said, I've only poached pig's heads, but there's been plenty of fat on them. The beef head had been skinned, and pretty well trimmed of fat, and it cooked in a roasting pan. I also wonder if you're going to split the head and take the brain out first. I don't imagine that you're going to have very good control of the brain temperature if the head is whole — your cooking time is going to be controlled by the doneness of the meat. (Pork brain is pretty tasty. When I've done pig heads, I've split them with a hand meat saw, and eaten the brains as a separate dish. It would be a shame to lose it.) Last question (for the moment): are you going to cure the head before you cook it? I'm quite curious as to how your experiment is going to work out: there are some good bits on the pork head, like ears, snouts, and skin, which I've always assumed would only be good cooked moist.

Edited July 15, 2012 by PaulDWeiss (log)