Report: my 1st whole head pig roast

[gdenby]

Hi, all,

I posted here a few days ago, seeking pointers on how to cook a whole pig's head. Thanks for the tips. It turned out wonderful.

As far as I could tell, leaving the eyes in is a matter of preference. I decided to try removing them, for whatever slight aesthetic improvement that might make. It was harder than I had supposed. I used a very sharp, pointed wood carving knife to slice around the sockets. When they were loose, I used wire cuters to sever the optic nerve, which was much tougher than I might have expected.

I scrubbed the head with a scouring pad. (I didn't feel any hairs left. At the end of the cook, I could see some stubble around the snout, and shaved those off easily with a paring knife.) I rubbed it all over w. salt, and let it sit in the fridge for about 36 hours. The morning of the cook, I rinsed it again, and put some rub on the exposed meat. I lightly brushed the skin w. some oil.

While it seemed to me that the head should easily fit into my medium Big Green Egg, I had to try several different set ups. In the end, I placed the grill on the fire ring, and laid 2 firebrick splits flat on the grill, one at each side. I put the head into a pan that fit quite snugly, w. only a bit of the jowls flopping over the edge. I placed the pan across the gap, with its bottom just a few inches away from the coals.

It was a very unusual cooking session. I suppose the bricks and the mass of the head impeded the air flow. Vent settings that would normally produce a dome temperature of 250F would only give 200F. After several adjustments over a period of several hours, I eventually had a dome reading of 275F.

To my surprise, at 4 hours, the Thermopen was reading well into the 170S most places I was probing. I needed to spoon fat from the pan frequently. Eventually, I removed more than a pint. I dropped the temperature, but by that time, the bricks were sizzling hot, and the head was braising in its own simmering fat.

At 7 hours, the internal temperature was 200-210 everywhere I tested.

The results. Unbelievable. It was like a giant confit, only held up by the bone, and together by the skin. As my son dug into his 4th helping, he commented that it was what steak aspired to be. My wife said the meat was more tender than any pulled pork. I slurped some up just like ramen noodles. While there were bites here and there flavored w. the rub, the meat itself had the most delicious flavor. We didn't bother w. sauce, or extra salt, or anything. Really, it was intoxicating.

The preparation was not the most economical use of the head. I have many pounds of fat to throw away, and I doubt the smoked skull bones would produce a good stock (altho' I may give it a try.) In the end, there might have been about 4 pounds of meat from the initial 14 pound head.

Altho I had to fuss some, and the time was longer, the cook overall was about as difficult as doing a goose, but far and away more tasty.

[sparrowgrass]

Looks delish!! I would definitely make stock from the leftovers--it would be incredible for cooking beans!!

[Paul Bacino]

I'll take the jowls!!

[gdenby]

I'll take the jowls!!

I'm not quite certain what parts I was cutting, but I think the jowls disappear in about 3 minutes. Sorry

[HungryC]

I swear, that pig's head is following me around! LOL. Makes me hungry every time I see it.

[FrogPrincesse]

This looks incredible. Thanks for sharing!

[rane008]

Want. Want now.

[ChrisTaylor]

Smoked pork fat has its uses. Don't be too hasty to bin it.

I mean, gumbo.

[gdenby]

I've made stock twice with smoked meats. Once with pork neck bones, and once w. beef neck bones. Both times, the bitterness was too intense.

I did render out some of the trimmings today. The smoke flavor in the fat is intense. I will keep a small amount on hand. I avoid liquid smoke, but this smoked fat is much better. Strong, but not acrid. But just at the moment, my lips having been coated w. unctuous fat for most of a day, I'll hold off for awhile.

Oh, wait. The drought has ruined most of the corn crop. But I know a guy who irrigates some. Sweet corn grilled and smeared w. this could be good

[ChrisTaylor]

Could use the fat in the confit stage of the Momofuku wings recipe.