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I cured 4 pig cheeks in Franco's Organic bacon cure and hot smoked them on the BBQ for 45 minutes using white oak chippings, then cooked them on low fora further 20 minutes and they came out really nice. They are equally good eaten hot or cold.



Not for the diet concious

Regards, Paul Kribs

Yum, yum

It's going to be hard finding Pigs cheeks here in the states.
Sounds and looks great though.

It looks like streaky bacon. Does it taste the same?

I would eat almost anything if it tasted like bacon.

DarrinG

why is it hard to source cheeks in the states?

Never seen them in the butcher shops, Only on some of the neibor women

we don't usually see them in butchers over here either. they're usually bunged into the sausage mix. however you get a good quantity of meat off them. may be worth your while asking for the jowls/cheeks or even a whole head, as you'll then get the meat from the top of the neck and a load of good fat . . .

jpj wrote:... may be worth your while asking for the jowls/cheeks ...

I think you are pretty unlikely to *see* such a thing on offer. You'd need to ask. "Jowl" may be a more common name in North America.
And while you are asking, ask about the glands that should be removed...

FYO, when I order my half pigs from the smallholding, I request half the head. Fortunately a lot of people can't be bothered or do not relish the head so usually I end up with a whole one. Sometimes there is plenty of cheek meat, but sometimes they come up smaller, in which case they are a welcome addition to the sausage mix.

DarrinG
They do taste similar to streaky/belly bacon, but are more succulent. I liked them hot just off the BBQ, but preferred them sliced cold with plenty of Picallilli (mustard pickle), between 2 slices of bread..

Well worth a try IMO.

Regards, Paul Kribs

Looks great, Paul. We can get whole hog heads frozen here at Latin markets. I might try that. I love beef cheeks, braised like beef short ribs or osso bucco.

Paul Kribs wrote:FYO, when I order my half pigs from the smallholding, I request half the head. Fortunately a lot of people can't be bothered or do not relish the head so usually I end up with a whole one. Sometimes there is plenty of cheek meat, but sometimes they come up smaller, in which case they are a welcome addition to the sausage mix.

DarrinG
They do taste similar to streaky/belly bacon, but are more succulent. I liked them hot just off the BBQ, but preferred them sliced cold with plenty of Picallilli (mustard pickle), between 2 slices of bread..

Well worth a try IMO.

Regards, Paul Kribs

I think that they were previously known as 'Bath Chaps. But as things change into hormonal treatment then the removal of the pituarity gland becomes essential. Personally I would take a full head anytime, if only to make brawn with.

There is some good informatio about Guanciale and Jowl Bacon here:http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=79195&st=1950 including pictures and description of the gland to be removed before use.

Regards,
Richard

Just to say cheek bacon is wonderful -my father used to rear pigs and would have one killed for our familys consumption. I later used to buy it for my family but it has disappeared now.
I have just returned from Portugal where organic home cured fat bacon is 2euros per kilo .
Where has this country gone wrong?
Why do all the best things seem to end? and does anyone know where I can get pigs cheeks near Wigan, Lancs, England?

I know that they sell them on Barnsley market, but that's not a lot of use to you. (Too far away and "contaminated" by the locals. )

thanks for that info. If I get the pigs cheeks, it will be a bit of reminiscence therapy. H.