Homemade pork head brawn

Prepared by: Marina Shcherbakova

02/13/2016 Cooking time: 12 hours 0 minutes

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The people's favorite snack will be a worthy competitor to jellied meat on the festive table. I recommend a simple recipe for making brawn from meat. See how to cook brawn at home.

What products are needed to prepare brawn?

Depending on which recipe you will use for preparing brawn or saltison, the choice of ingredients will be extensive and varied. The main products you need are: pork head, pork knuckles, liver, tongue, you can also add poultry meat. For layering, it would be nice to have red bell pepper, pickled cucumber, carrot, etc.

If you do not cook the brawn in molds under pressure, then you can stuff the finished mass into the stomach or large intestines. To flavor the finished snack you will need garlic, bay leaves, white roots, and bay leaves. Salt and pepper to add flavor. It is better to buy a pig's head at the market, it is singed and smells like straw, and it is fresh, which is better to look for!

Basic Research

Sülze or Saltison - is there a difference?

According to culinary experts, there are several definitions, according to which:

Sülze is a pressed boiled sausage product in a natural casing, made from beef and pork, bacon, liver and other offal. The recipe is attributed to traditional German cuisine, where they know how to make it, and is a type of jellied meat.
Salceson is a product made from boiled pork guts and head, common in Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia and Ukraine.

There is another judgment from advanced gastronomes, for whom the question of how to properly prepare saltison from a pork head at home has been resolved a long time ago - this is generally the same dish.

Components

In the process of research, I discovered only one difference - salceson is classified as sausage products of Italian cuisine, and sülze is classified as chopped pressed meat of Polish cuisine. At the same time, on forums, cooks who know how to make brawn claim that these are different dishes:

Saltison contains only meat and fat; the calorie content of such a product is very high.
The brawn consists of the same meat and lard, but here they use skin and cartilage, which are boiled to a jelly state. The only question is how long to cook semi-finished products, but that’s a separate conversation.

The conclusion is this: only the ingredients speak in favor of the differences, and even then they are not so significant. Well, look, according to those discussing, salceson should contain the entire range of offal. But in the Sülze recipe the same products are found, but in different proportions.

Moreover, both products are prepared both in a bottle and in a stomach, or simply in cling film. Sometimes recipes mention a specific cutting method: meat and lard - in cubes, lungs and liver - in bars, and tongue - in strips. Everything else is absolutely the same, so the problem of differences remained open for me.

In the meantime, I’ll tell you my version of preparing this snack. For a more complete coverage of the topic, I will provide useful recommendations that I found on the Internet.

Preparation of raw materials for the preparation of brawn or saltison

The pork head needs to be cut into several parts, the skin from the outside should be scraped off so that there is no hair. Trim off excess fat and soak in cold water for several hours to remove blood residue. Then add hot water and set to cook. You will have a question, why do we fill it with hot water a second time? Done correctly, so that the water-soluble, complete proteins remain in the meat itself, then the result will be a very tasty brawn.

If you have to use the stomach or large intestines, then they need to be turned inside out, rinsed, cleaned, rinsed again, salted and set aside for later stuffing. The remaining meat products are also cut into pieces, washed and added to a pan of water depending on the cooking time.

Preparatory procedures

The main thing in the dish is the pork head. It is better to buy it on the market (official, of course, checked by the relevant authorities). If you don’t want to do cutting, buy already chopped, without extra “spare parts” (spot, eyes, teeth), but always with the cheek present. To prepare brawn, you will need about three kilograms of pork head, unless you are going to supplement it with something. The meat is carefully washed without removing it from the bones; If there is any stubble left on the skin, it is cleaned. Then the chopped head is poured with cold water and left to soak. Its duration differs among different cooks: some keep the pork for only a couple of hours, others – the whole night. However, it is necessary to soak: water washes out blood clots and makes the meat more tender.

How to cook homemade brawn

Components:

pork head – 3.5 kilograms;
small onions – 3 pieces;
carrot – 1/2 root vegetable;
salt, pepper and garlic - to your taste.

Cooking homemade brawn

Pour the prepared pieces from the pork head with hot water and bring to a boil for about 5 minutes, then drain everything and fill with a new portion of water - this is done so that later the broth is lighter. Cook over low heat until the meat comes off the bone easily. During cooking, add salt, baked whole onions or carrots cut into quarters and pieces. In this case, the finished product will be more aromatic and have a caramel tint.

Remove the finished meat from the broth, cool slightly and remove bones and small seeds. Then chop, add spices and seasonings to taste, mix everything well. Strain the broth through cheesecloth folded in two layers. Take a convenient dish with low sides, add cellophane, minced meat, pour a little broth on top, lightly press it all over with a fork and cover the top with the edges of the cellophane.

Let it cool completely, then put it in the refrigerator. As soon as it hardens, you can take out the bag, put a load on top and put it back in a cold place. The brawn will become even, thinner and more beautiful in appearance.

Seltz for the New Year

Not only the Slavic people love to prepare such a snack, but they are also adored in Scandinavian countries, although brawn is called differently, but the basic preparation is almost similar. The required ingredients should be rutabaga, which makes the broth aromatic and sweetish, juniper berries, which saturate the meat with a light aroma, and honey! Every housewife has her own cooking secrets, but I will tell you how we cook in my family.

Components:

pork leg with skin (sometimes called a stump) - 2.5 kilograms;
rutabaga - 1 piece;
carrots - two pieces;
juniper berries – 12 pieces;
juniper sprigs – 3 sprigs;
cloves - 5 buds;
peppercorns – 1 tablespoon;
dill stems - optional;
garlic - five cloves;
onions – 2 onions;
bay leaf – 2 leaves;
honey – 1 tablespoon;
dry gelatin – 2 tablespoons;
salt - according to preference.

Preparation

So, first of all, we wash the pork leg and thoroughly clean the skin with a knife, then lightly dry it with a paper towel and rub it with honey. Leave to soak for 20 minutes, and then lower into a saucepan with a thick bottom, fill with water and bring to a boil. Add salt during cooking. Carefully skim off all the foam and, if necessary, strain the broth through cheesecloth.

Add rutabaga, carrots, onions and all other ingredients cut into pieces to the broth. Cook the leg over medium heat for hours. We prepare the dishes, it can be a bowl or a plastic container.

Next, separate the layer of delicate, steamed skin and place it on the bottom of the mold. Cut the meat from the bone into pieces of different sizes and place in a deep bowl, sprinkle with dry gelatin. Mix by hand so that the gelatin is evenly distributed. Place the meat on the skin layer, alternating it with two or three layers of skin. The top layer should be leather.

As soon as the mold is completely filled, cover it with a convenient lid or wooden board and place a very heavy weight on it; the mass should be under pressure for about 12-14 hours, ideally 24 hours. It is better if the form with meat is kept at room temperature for the first 10 hours. The pressed meat is perfectly cut and is traditionally served with horseradish sauce, mustard or sour cream and dill mixture, etc.

Liver and chicken brawn

This brawn is not difficult to prepare, but is incredibly tasty!

Ingredients:

beef liver – 300 grams;
fresh lard – 150 grams;
chicken pulp – 400 grams;
gelatin – 1 tablespoon;
vegetable oil – 1/2 tablespoon.
salt, garlic and pepper - according to your preference

Cooking brawn from liver and chicken

Meat set of products: cut beef liver, lard and chicken fillet into medium-sized pieces, salt, pepper, sprinkle with chopped and lightly fried garlic. It is also recommended to add dry gelatin powder. Place the mixture in a double plastic bag or sleeve, tie it and place it in a pan with cold water.

Pierce the bags with a thin needle in several places. The water should completely cover the contents. Cook for 4 hours. Then take out the bag, loosen it from the ties, put it on gauze, folded in half, tie it, put the weight on it and put it in the refrigerator. To prevent the brawn from becoming airy, it is better to wrap it in food paper.

The meat appetizer is ready. When slicing, different colored products look beautiful. For contrast, you can also add raw carrot cubes to the minced meat.

Advice from experienced chefs

It is better to cook the head for a long time - 5-6 hours. During this period, the meat will become soft and easily separate from the bones;
It is better to cut off the skin, it is very tough and can spoil the taste of the brawn;
be sure to use various seasonings and aromatic herbs, they will add flavor to the brawn and make it tasty;
Natural pork stomachs are better suited for filling, but if they are not available, you can use plastic bags or a plastic bottle.

Preparing brawn from a pig's head at home is a fairly lengthy process that requires a lot of work. But the result is worth it. If you do everything correctly and follow the cooking recipe, you can end up with an excellent snack that everyone will like! So, if you want to diversify your table, then brawn will come in handy.

Homemade brawn with added semolina

This is a budget appetizer, but at the same time it is not difficult to prepare and tasty. This includes the simplest products that are available and always in the refrigerator of every housewife.

Components: