My first and only slice, straight from the jowl. Even better than bacon.
All of the fat has been thoroughly rendered, even picking it up with a fork is difficult. The bark layer is a bit tough, a high heat finish could fix it, but I really don't care at this point.
It just melts away, don't even need to chew. Hopefully that means cleaning the skull tomorrow will be easy.
Looks fantastic!
I've got a pork butt going on my ECB offset tomorrow morning. Been thinking about trying a cow or pig head for a while now.
When I used to do whole hogs for my the boatclub's events, my helpers and I would pick the heads clean while we were finishing up the hog. Pitmaster's Priveledge!
Gonna throw some salt in and thanks to ECM, some peppercorns now too.
For years we used to have an "Arnold Ziffle memorial pig roast". Whole hog on the rotisserie stuffed with home made sausage and kielbasa. How wasteful we were using the head as a centerpiece.
So nobody came through yesterday. Mike had the Saturn blow a clutch line in Delaware, so he has an excuse, everyone else just complained they were tired, despite having 2 weeks notice and them NOT being awake since 1am. berkeleyem. I got to keep the whole head then.
By the time everything was done cooking last night, I was too annoyed and tired to eat and enjoy myself, so I had some samples for the pictures I posted, cooled it all down and put it in the fridge. Today, I get to break it all down. Haven't even been to the fridge yet today, but judging by the tenderness from yesterday this should all fall apart. I need to make sure I clearly label the freezer bags that this is the good meat, don't want to accidentally make enchiladas or anything that would hide the flavors with it.
I am looking forward to doing another head. I will be asking the butcher to leave skin on the primal cuts next year though, if for no other reason than to make my own cracklins. This pig though. It is by far the best tasting pork I have ever had, and I have eaten a lot of pork in my life. I'm kinda curious how the show winners taste, but not $8.50-10/lb live weight curious.
After purchase and butchering, I'm at $4.65/lb. I thought that was a little steep, until I look at price sheets from local farmers markets and see that they want twice that just for single cuts.
Since the brining experiment was a resounding success though, once I get the room in the fridge, I'll be starting on making hams. There will be another thread for that, and I'll try to be a bit more detailed. I may be pushing it though time wise, I only have room in the fridge and smoker for one ham at a time, and they take 2 weeks plus to brine before smoking. Maybe do one this fall and another in the spring.
Man, there's no way I'd be too tired to nom down on those. I bet your house (and the whole neighborhood) smelled incredible yesterday.
So hungry right now. Wish I lived closer to Rev.
pheller said:I'm curious. Having never been involved in the preparation or consumption of an animal's head, much less a pig's, what do you eat on/in there?
for a better answer, about that much meat.
I used a filet knife and my fingers. There's still more to get but if a fine filet and my fingers can't get it, it can stay.
Looks delicious!
Definitely smoking a couple of heads this fall!
Currently have the butt, salt and pepper corns going.
Going on about 4 hours. Butt's at 130, salt is picking up some color, pepper corns have noticably shrunk.
Pit's been 235 to 251 all day. Mix of apple and hickory wood for fuel.
Charcoal the rest of the way now. I'll wrap the butt at 160 and pull the salt and pepper off then take the butt to 190 or so before letting it rest for about an hour, then pull and enjoy!
Gratuitous smoker pic.
Oh yeah, and I'm totally ripping off the Arnold Ziffle Memorial Pig Roast theme too!
I never thought I'd say this, but that pig head looks delicious. If I was closer I'd stop by for a taste.
And you were worried the other day....
Awesome job, but agree with you,get the skin left on the head next time. Apparently the gruntle(snout) is some prime eating.
Glad to hear the brining of the hocks went well, did it help any with keeping them from drying out?
In reply to daeman :
That is a interesting question to think about. I want to say yes, it did help prevent them from drying out.
They raised in temp fast. I only had a probe in the biggest one, and it was at 165 within 3 hours. I made the decision not to wrap them until 5pm, and pulled the probe. At 5 I thought they looked dry and was worried when I wrapped them. At 7 when they came out, fall apart tender, there were some dry spots, but all the packages had a healthy amount of liquid in them, clearly fat and brine.
I have been concerned about keeping moisture in. The Hampfordshire pig, I have learned, is a leaner market breed. The sausage leaves nothing in the pan, the pork chops, while tender, really weren't fatty or greasy when I cooked them on the grill, so I was curious how larger and more traditionally fatty pieces would be. I'm really excited for the shoulders now.
The best way I can describe this pork is marbled, like a high end steak. No big fat caps or deposits, but rich, buttery layers laced through the meat. And not just one cut, it seems like the entire pig is marbled. I've never seen anything like it in stores, I wish I was a better photographer. 
Those are the first pack of the 11 packs of chops I got. They all look like that, and none of it is grisel.
So, yes I do think it helped to a degree, it definitely added a nice flavor, but I think the fat distribution was a big help as well.
Brining absolutely helps to prevent drying while cooking. In this case, starting with a superior pig did not hurt either. 
Hannibal Lector always said the cheeks are the most tender delicacy.
I've never done a head before. I've wanted to do suckling pigs, but my smoking partner has said they are too cute. He can't bring himself to do it.
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