Headcheese...today's the day!
Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 14:59
Okay I just picked up my hog head, tongues and snouts are ready to go.
My plan is to first parboil the tongues for about 5 minutes, cool and skin before adding to the rest of the kettle full of meat.
Then I'll cook the head, snouts and tongue meat at 190 degrees for a couple of hours to firm up the meat. Then let it cool so I can pick it off the bone.
Now here's the part I'm not sure about. While I'm picking the meat from the bone, I've also put the cooking liquid in the fridge to form a layer of gelatin which I hope to skim off once formed.
Day 2: My meat is cold and I have my gelatin layer off the water. I believe I can grind the snouts, tongue and skin through a grind plate, along with the gelatin for a rough distribution.
The rest of the meat I can chunk into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Mix all this together well and stuff.
So I then put the big chub into the water bath and cook until the proper internal temp which should also liquify the gelatin back up and promote better distribution throughout the chub.
Remove and return to the fridge to cool and solidify the gelatin.
In reading my Rytek book, he talks of dissolving some store bought gelatin in a quart of warm water to add to the meat mix. Is this good insurance to add this along with the natural gelatin to ensure good outcome?
Does this look like the proper sequence of cooking and handling the meat? Obvious the spice will be added at mixing.
Thanks to all for your consideration to my question.
My plan is to first parboil the tongues for about 5 minutes, cool and skin before adding to the rest of the kettle full of meat.
Then I'll cook the head, snouts and tongue meat at 190 degrees for a couple of hours to firm up the meat. Then let it cool so I can pick it off the bone.
Now here's the part I'm not sure about. While I'm picking the meat from the bone, I've also put the cooking liquid in the fridge to form a layer of gelatin which I hope to skim off once formed.
Day 2: My meat is cold and I have my gelatin layer off the water. I believe I can grind the snouts, tongue and skin through a grind plate, along with the gelatin for a rough distribution.
The rest of the meat I can chunk into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Mix all this together well and stuff.
So I then put the big chub into the water bath and cook until the proper internal temp which should also liquify the gelatin back up and promote better distribution throughout the chub.
Remove and return to the fridge to cool and solidify the gelatin.
In reading my Rytek book, he talks of dissolving some store bought gelatin in a quart of warm water to add to the meat mix. Is this good insurance to add this along with the natural gelatin to ensure good outcome?
Does this look like the proper sequence of cooking and handling the meat? Obvious the spice will be added at mixing.
Thanks to all for your consideration to my question.