The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: suziequeue on November 03, 2012, 07:53:10 pm
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We are about to send out pigs and we are going to have the heads back this year for sausages.
Any ideas on the best way to prepare the ears for the dog to eat? The ones we buy in the shop for him seem to have been baked or something.
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i put ours on baking trays and leave in the rayburn until crisp
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Are you doing the sausages Suzieq or is your butcher? Do you just use the cheeks or are there other meaty bits too? :-\
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Oh right - so I'll just leave them in the bottom of the oven whilst I make a few cakes?
Yum yum :-)
I think most of the meat on the head for the sausages will be coming off the cheeks. The butcher's going to do it but he is going to just give us all the meat boned and chopped ready for us to make sausages ourselves this time :-)
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thats interesting, i thought they were deep fried, all the ones ive bought from my local butcher seem to hsave been.
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thats interesting, i thought they were deep fried, all the ones ive bought from my local butcher seem to hsave been.
i have only ever stuck them in the oven they come out just like the pet shop ones. i always thought they were fried until the slaughterman told me how to cook them.
either way the dogs love them.
i also slice the lungs and slow bake until dry for dog treats.
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righto, thanks
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We have baked ours in the lower oven in the past and could never get that crispness through the ear. I made the mistake of thinking they were cooked through, shoved them in the feed bins to give as treats much later. They got all maggoty and stunk to high hell! ...just bear it in mind, check they are proper done :), if not feed sooner rather than later ;)
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i do ours until crisp depending on size (they dont come much bigger then ours) can take anything upto 24hrs
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;D ;D
I think with our lab it'll be sooner rather than later :eyelashes:
He's only got four to get through
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they don't last long here either the dogs start waiting from the time the pigs are loaded........................trouble is most of the time they are disappointed when we turn up on a showground rather than a slaughterhouse ;D
they will be lucky this week they will get a ear each and some dried lungs which i have to say is their favourite treat.
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Kja.....dried lungs...hadn't heard of those being used before. What do you do to get those? Have lots of piggies to slaughter in Feb and a whole pack of keen dogs willing to try anything!
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Kja.....dried lungs...hadn't heard of those being used before. What do you do to get those? Have lots of piggies to slaughter in Feb and a whole pack of keen dogs willing to try anything!
we ask for them on cutting list for pigs, sheep, goats & cattle they come with the liver, kidneys etc under ofal.
if you dont usually get them automatically ask for the lights next time dogs love them, i have brought them from pet shops if i run short although if dried correctly they last ages.
one slaughterhouse we use often sells dried pigs ears and lungs as pet treats i should think they get them from people that dont ask for them back.
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we put our lugs and trotters in the top oven on the aga then put it into the bottom oven and leave them untill they are crisp
The dogs love them
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Cool, thanks :thumbsup: will def give them a go .... And leave them to cook for as long as possible!
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Is the meat from the pigs head OK for sausage? I have heard of brawn and pigs cheeks ( alla jamie Oliver and bath Chaps). We don't eat brawn so all that meat on the pigs head was cooked up for the dogs.
Sausages ? anyone done this?
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yes the meat from the head can go into the sausage meat
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MAK, my friends French mother took our pigs heads for pate which she said was the normal thing to do. Apparently it tasted good but the texture was something to be mastered.
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Don’t waste the cheeks in sausages, make Guanciale with it (Italian cheek bacon) it takes about 10 days to cure in salt/sugar/spices. Doesn’t get smoked but air dries for 2-3 weeks either outside or in the fridge and then it’s done.
Guanciale is the traditional bacon for using in carbonara in Rome and tastes much better than pancetta.
I just had a look and there is quite a few recipes on the net for it, but it is really quite easy to make and gives you a special little treat from your piggies that you weren’t expecting.