How to make pressed pig head meat. Pork head: features, properties and preparation

Pork's head is rarely considered as a serious culinary product. It is customary to make jellied meat from it, and the tongue makes a good aspic. But that is not all. It turns out that you can make very tasty pressed meat from a pig's head.

Everything ingenious is simple

Recently, the daily menu of any family is increasingly being “attacked” by sausages. They have become a real attribute for a quick breakfast or light dinner. This significantly reduces cooking time, but does not provide the same pleasure that is felt after eating food prepared with your own hands. And it’s not that difficult to do. Take, for example, a pig's head. You can make not only jelly from it, but also something interesting. There is an excellent recipe that makes it easy to make unusual pressed meat from a pig's head. For this you will need a pork head, garlic, onions, ground pepper, carrots, spices and water.

You need to prepare as follows:

  1. Wash the pork head, cut it into two parts lengthwise and place in a wide pan.
  2. Pour the product with water and immediately cook for 4 hours.
  3. After this, remove both halves from the pan, place them on the table and completely remove them from the bones.
  4. Then spread gauze on the table, place one piece on it, skin side down, and generously season it with spices.
  5. Roughly chop onion, carrots and garlic. Mix the products and spread the resulting mass on top of the first piece of head.
  6. Cover the entire structure with a second piece and wrap the resulting roll very tightly in gauze.
  7. Place pressure on top and leave the product in this position for one day.

Pressed pork head meat prepared in this way turns out very tasty, juicy and aromatic.

A long-familiar product

There are many dishes in cooking that are prepared in this way. Take brawn, for example. By and large, it is the same pressed meat from a pig's head, decorated in the form of a sausage product. To prepare it at home you will need: 1 pork head, 7 liters of water, 3 onions, 1 kilogram of piece pork, salt, 1 carrot, parsley root, spices, 2 bay leaves, herbs (parsley, dill) and lemon zest (for those who like ).

Preparing brawn is quite simple:

  1. Boil a piece of pork and head along with roots for 5 hours. Half an hour before the end of cooking, add bay leaf and salt to the pan.
  2. Place the finished product on a cutting table, remove any existing bones and cut everything into small pieces.
  3. Now the chopped meat must be boiled again along with the onion and lemon zest. This will take approximately 1 hour.
  4. Combine the boiled pieces with the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Then put everything on gauze, roll it tightly, tie it with twine, put it under arbitrary pressure and put it in the refrigerator for several hours.

The finished pressed meat from the pork head should be served on the table, first cut into pieces and sprinkled generously with herbs.

To prepare pressed meat, you can use not only pig heads, but also legs. For variety, you can also add any poultry meat. For the standard version with pork you will need the following ingredients:

  • 2.5 kilograms of pork legs;
  • 2 carrots;
  • 1 potato;
  • 3 bay leaves;
  • 5 sprigs of cloves;
  • a tablespoon of peppercorns;
  • 2 onions;
  • 5 cloves of garlic;
  • salt;
  • several stalks of dill;
  • 2 tablespoons of gelatin powder;
  • 1 tablespoon honey;
  • a couple of juniper branches and 10 berries of this plant.

The work starts with the most important thing:

  1. rinse, clean and dry with a cloth.
  2. Then brush them with honey and let them sit for 15 minutes.
  3. Place the legs tightly in a saucepan, add water and slowly bring to a boil.
  4. Skim the foam from the broth, and then add the chopped vegetables and other ingredients. Cook the legs in this composition for at least 3 hours.
  5. After this, remove the skin from the legs and cut off the meat.
  6. Line the prepared pan with pieces of leather.
  7. Grind the meat, mix with gelatin and place on top of the skin in a mold. Make several such layers. Cover everything on top with skin again.
  8. Close the mold, place a weight on it and leave it in this position for a whole day.

The result is very tasty pressed meat, which is well known in Norwegian cuisine. Scandinavians eat it with toast or special flatbreads, topped with sour cream and dill sauce. But everyone can decide for themselves what to eat such a delicious dish with.

Equipment in everyday life

Technology is increasingly coming to help housewives in the kitchen. Designers are developing new devices that can make work in the kitchen easier. One such mechanism is the ham maker. It makes cooking much easier. A special recipe has been developed for each dish. Pressed meat, for example, is very convenient to make using this device. It is not necessary to take the head. For preparation, you can use the following ingredients: carrots, spices, sweet pepper and 2 eggs.

Everything is prepared in two steps:

  1. Cut the meat, carrots and peppers into pieces, mix and set aside for a while (2 hours) so that the products are lightly marinated.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix everything again.
  3. Line the ham pan with foil and place the prepared mixture in it. Cover the device with a lid and place in a deep frying pan. Poke holes in the marked holes and pour a glass of plain water into the pan. Place the structure in the oven for 1.5 hours.

After cooling, the finished product can be removed from the device and safely served. This aromatic meat product can be placed on bread in the form of a sandwich or served in a plate with a vegetable side dish.

Wide choice

Any housewife can decide for herself how to make pressed meat. It all depends on the availability of products and auxiliary equipment in the kitchen. If you don’t have a standard ham maker at hand, you can always cook the meat in regular cling film. It is better to take a simpler recipe. For this option, the following set of products is suitable: 1.2 kilograms of pork, a glass of water, spices, 3 tablespoons of gelatin, salt, a little garlic and onions (if desired).

The dish is prepared in the usual way:

  1. Cut the meat into large pieces and place in a pan. Then fill it with water and put it on fire. During cooking, add salt, onion and pepper.
  2. At this time, dilute the gelatin with cold water and set aside to swell.
  3. Remove the finished meat from the hot broth into a separate plate and let it cool. Then carefully separate each piece into fibers. Add chopped garlic to the meat.
  4. Dilute the prepared gelatin with a little hot broth.
  5. Moisten the baking dish with water and line the inside with film.
  6. Pour some gelatin onto the bottom and place some of the meat and garlic on top. Continue to lay out in the same order until all the products are gone. There must be gelatin on top.
  7. Wrap the resulting mixture with the edges of the film and place a weight on top. Place this design in the refrigerator for 10-12 hours.

The meat should be served on the table generously sprinkled with herbs.

Step 1: Cut the pork head.

I thought for a long time about how to cook such a delicious pork head and decided that we would have meatloaf for dinner. At the same time, in this recipe I will teach you how to properly cut a pig's head. So, we buy a fresh head of a young pig at the market. Carefully check that it is free of any hair or stubble. But if you do notice the presence of hair, you can easily remove it with a disposable razor (unusual, but effective). Now we face the most difficult thing - washing the pig's head. To do this, we stock up on an iron brush and thoroughly clean our hair with it. Pay special attention to the heel and ears. As a result, the head, in the literal sense, should shine with cleanliness.
Now let's get down to an equally difficult task - cutting up the head. To do this, take a sharp knife and begin to cut off the meat and fat from the skull. Then we cut off the tongue, clean it and cut off all excess from it.
Then we cut off the ears from the head, and at the same time cut off as much fat as possible, and then close the holes from the eyes with a piece of meat. In the part where the neck was, we make small cuts.

Step 2: Prepare the pork head.


Set the oven to preheat to temperature 180 degrees. Rub the cut head well with salt, pepper and all the dry herbs. We peel the garlic, and then pass it through the garlic and rub it on the head.
Then carefully wrap it in a roll and tie it tightly with thread. We insert sprigs of rosemary (fresh) under the thread.
Place the cut pieces of fat and a few sprigs of rosemary in a baking dish. Place the roll on top and cover the pan with foil. And put it in the oven to bake for 2-3 hours. In this case, it is necessary to periodically open the foil and pour fat over the roll, and then cover it back. If you're wondering why we take so long to bake? The fact is that in this case our task is to render as much fat as possible from the roll. Cool the finished roll at room temperature. Then transfer it to a plate and put it in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours.

Step 3: Serve the pork head meatloaf.


Remove the threads from the finished roll and cut into portioned pieces, which are then beautifully transferred to a serving dish and decorated with green leaves. Bon appetit!

In this case, we prepared a cold appetizer from a pig's head. But it can also be served as a hot dish, by preparing, for example, still young boiled potatoes as a side dish.

Of course, the pork head can be baked whole and served that way. To do this, you just need to wash your hair well, rub it with spices and put it in the oven for a couple of hours. In this case, you can place a frying pan with water under the baking sheet with meat so that the head does not dry out.

If you have an electric oven, then I advise you to put the roll in the baking sleeve and prepare the appetizer this way.

Most housewives prefer to purchase various cuts for the holiday table, most often these are different types of sausages, cheeses, shreds, and so on. But you can often also find very tasty brawn on the table.

You can buy it in a store, at the market and prepare it yourself. Some may find that preparing brawn is very tedious and time-consuming, so few people will want to tinker with it. But still, if you once try to cook it yourself, you will probably realize that you were wrong in many ways.

Oh, how my family loves this delicacy! Let's cook it with you this time.

How to prepare pressed pork head meat recipe:

2) Then we take out the head and thoroughly clean the skin. If possible, cut it into pieces. Place the head, onion, and carrot in a deep saucepan. Fill the pieces with cold water and put on fire. As soon as the water boils, skim off the foam and add pepper and bay leaf. Let it cook for 4-5 hours over low heat. We check readiness. If the meat can be easily separated from the bones, congratulations - the head is cooked!

5) After this time, we look into the refrigerator compartment and what do we see? Perfectly formed, flavorful pressed meat! Most often we call it brawn. This shape, like the one in our photo, is very convenient for beautiful cutting into a dish. In general, the pressed meat itself is simply divine in taste! Try it now. Enjoy your meal!

Saltison from pork head is an excellent alternative to store-bought sausage without E-additives and flavor enhancers. This delicious meat snack is prepared from inexpensive products that are simply ignored by many housewives. In vain!

Invented by German gourmets, saltison, which they call brawn (from the German Sulze - jelly), found a second home in Ukraine and Poland. Previously, in villages it was considered a ceremonial dish and was prepared on major holidays. Today, in order to enjoy homemade saltison, there is no need to slaughter a wild boar. All you have to do is go to the city market and buy a pig's head.

Don't forget to ask the butcher to chop it into small pieces, so it will be much easier to prepare it at home. The meat will fit compactly in the pan, will cook faster and will be easier to separate from the bones.

In ancient times, saltison was prepared by stuffing boiled pork belly into the stomach. Today, housewives prefer to give a product its signature shape using more affordable means. This saves a lot of time and does not affect the taste of the brawn. In a modern kitchen, natural meat delicacies turn out no worse than in a wood-burning oven.

Cooking secrets

Saltison is prepared in almost the same way as the jellied meat we all know. If you have experience making jelly with your own hands, then you can handle brawn without difficulty.

Food basket

  • Pork head - 4 kg.
  • Veal - 1 kg.
  • Garlic - 1 head.
  • Onions, carrots - 1 pc.
  • Black peppercorns - 10 pcs.
  • Allspice - 5 pcs.
  • Bay leaf - 5 pcs.
  • Salt, seasonings - to taste.

Apart from the obligatory pork head, the rest of the ingredients are quite affordable: every housewife who loves to cook will have them in stock. Instead of veal, you can add any offal to saltison: tongue, kidneys, heart, lungs. As they say: “One loves watermelon, and the other loves pork cartilage.”

Pork head processing

If there are hairs on the head, they need to be singed over a fire, then rinsed thoroughly, and the skin and ears should be cleaned with a brush. In places where the skin cannot be cleaned, it can be trimmed and the eyes and brain removed. Soak the processed pieces of meat for 4-6 hours in cold water. During this time you need to change the water 3-4 times. The purpose of soaking is to wash away any remaining blood from the head. After the last rinse, the water should remain as clean as possible.

Cooking saltison

Place the pieces of meat for the brawn in a large enamel pan or tank. Fill to the top and put on fire. If the water is too cloudy after boiling, you can drain it. This way the saltison will be less fatty. After washing the pork head, fill it with water again and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and carefully remove the foam.

Cover with a lid and cook over low heat for an hour. Then add some salt to the broth. After another hour, add the onion and carrots, bay leaves and peppercorns. The total cooking time depends on the size of the pork head. Usually 4 hours is enough. The tongue cooks much faster. You need to take it out after two hours and, while it is still hot, remove the film. This will be much more difficult to do when cold.

About 20 minutes before the head is ready, place the brains in the pan. If you are preparing saltison with offal, it is better to boil them separately, and then cut them and add them to the minced meat.

Disassembly

Turn off the heat when the meat begins to easily separate from the bones. Let the brew cool. Strain the broth through cheesecloth or a colander into a separate container. If desired, you can make an excellent jellied meat out of it if you add boiled chicken or other meat product.

We disassemble the boiled pieces of pork head. Place meat, fat, and cartilage on separate plates. Cut the meat into small cubes (about 1 cm), and the ears and tongue into thin strips. Cartilage lovers can also finely chop them with a knife and place them in a common cauldron.

If you chop the pieces of meat more finely, you can get a delicious pork saltison, reminiscent of homemade sausage. You can chop the meat using a food processor, after removing the cartilage.

Pass the garlic through a crusher and mix with the meat. Salt and pepper. As a spicy seasoning in some recipes, dried parsley, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, and cumin are added to the brawn.

Stir and after 10 minutes. take a sample. When warm, the correct saltison should be a little saltier than your usual taste. To make homemade brawn brighter and more beautiful, you can add pieces of carrots, olives, nuts, eggs, and herbs.

Forming homemade brawn

In order to give saltison the signature shape of a meat loaf, any container available at home, for example, a vessel for jellied meat, will do. If you want to get the usual sausage shape, use cut plastic bottles. To make it easier to get the finished saltison, line the bottom of the mold with cling film. Its edges should be large enough to wrap the brawn on top, as shown in the photo.

Place the meat pieces on the film, compact them tightly, and pour in a little broth. The “jelly” of the result depends on the amount of broth. If you like jelly pieces, add more broth. If you want the product to be meatier, use minimal broth, only to bind the ingredients together.

Wrap the film tightly, put a press on top and put it in the refrigerator overnight. You can form a saltison without a mold. To do this, you can use a thick plastic bag. Place the minced meat in a bag and tie it tightly. Place in a basin, press down with a wooden board on top and place a weight. We take the finished saltison out of the mold and carefully release it from the film. Fat accumulated on the surface can be removed.

About the benefits of saltison

Quite a long time ago, nutritionists came to the conclusion that dishes containing jelly are incredibly healthy. Just like jellied meat, saltison is recommended for people with joint problems. This is an irreplaceable source of animal collagen, which nourishes cartilage tissue, makes skin and muscles elastic.

The gelatin present in its composition perfectly improves joint mobility. Easily digestible animal collagen promotes cellular regeneration and fights wrinkles.

In addition, saltison from pork head contains other useful substances:

  • A large amount of iron, which is indispensable for hematopoiesis.
  • Mucopolysaccharides that strengthen bone tissue.
  • The amino acid lysine has antiviral activity and promotes better calcium absorption.
  • Glycine stimulates brain activity and normalizes metabolism.
  • People have noticed that saltison eases hangovers, so you won’t find a better snack to go with strong drinks.
  • The increased amount of proteins and vitamins makes this dish indispensable for people involved in active sports and those who seek to build muscle mass.

An incredibly relevant recipe for a meat product will attract the attention of men, guests and all meat lovers. Saltison should be served chilled and cut into thin slices. Seltz is perfect for holiday sandwiches or canapés. Meat with an amazing garlicky spirit will become even more appetizing with spicy horseradish, mustard, pickled vegetables or mushrooms.

If your household is trying pork head saltison for the first time, then get ready to receive enthusiastic compliments on your culinary talents.

Home-cooked pressed meat is an excellent substitute for sausage. It is used as a cold snack. With pressed meat you can make a hearty sandwich for breakfast or serve it on a holiday table. Guests will appreciate the taste of this dish. The main ingredients are relatively cheap, but the result is practically a delicacy. Try it!

You will need:

Half a pig's head;

1 large chicken leg;

1 onion;

A few black peppercorns;

3-4 cloves of garlic;

Bay leaf;

Large saucepan;

A piece of gauze 30*30cm.

Preparation:

1. Buy half a pig's head at the market or store. It can be fresh or frozen. Ask for it to be cut into 3-5 pieces. Don't forget to buy one large chicken leg.

2. Soak the pork head pieces in cold water. To do this, put them in a saucepan, cover with water, and leave for 2-3 hours. Then drain the water and rinse the pieces of meat under running cold water.

3. Place pieces of pork head and chicken legs into the pan. Fill everything with water so that it completely covers the contents of the pan. Cover the pan with a lid and place over high heat.

4. Reduce heat as soon as the contents of the pan come to a boil. Place in it a peeled onion (whole), a few black peppercorns, and a bay leaf. Cook the pork head over low heat until the meat comes off the bones easily. During the cooking process, do not forget to salt the broth to taste.

5. Once the pork head is cooked, turn off the heat. Wait until the contents of the pan have cooled to room temperature.

6. Place gauze in a deep cup so that its ends hang over the edges of the cup.

7. Carefully remove one piece of boiled pork head onto a wide flat plate. Separate the fat and meat from the bones, place them in a deep bowl on cheesecloth. Disassemble the entire contents of the pan in a similar manner. To prevent the pressed meat from falling apart when cutting, first place large pieces of lard on the gauze, skin side down (towards the gauze). Place pieces of boneless pork and chicken meat on the lard. Place the pieces of lard on top again, only this time with the skin side up. When laying out the meat and lard, sprinkle them with finely grated garlic.

8. Gather the loose ends of the gauze together and twist them several times. You will get a tight knot of gauze with meat inside. Place the bundle of meat in the cup so that the twisted ends of the gauze are at the bottom. Place a cutting board on top of the meat and place a weight on it (heavy pan, jar of water, etc.). Leave the meat under pressure for 5-6 hours to harden.

9. Free the meat from the gauze, cut into neat slices, and serve.

Bon appetit!

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