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To Dry Pigs' Cheeks

To Dry Pigs' Cheeks is a traditional British recipe, based on Mrs Beeton's recipe of 1861, for a classic method of preserving pig cheeks first by brining in salt and sugar and then dry smoking to cure. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: To Dry Pigs' Cheeks.

prep time

30 minutes

cook time

17 days

Total Time:

17 days

Serves:

6

Rating:

Tags : Pork RecipesBritish Recipes

This is a traditional British recipe redacted from the redoubtable Mrs Beeton's 1861 volume Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, the classic Victorian cookbook.

Original Recipe

TO DRY PIGS' CHEEKS.

830. INGREDIENTS.—Salt, 4 oz. of saltpetre, 2 oz. of bay-salt, 4 oz. of coarse sugar.

Mode.—Cut out the snout, remove the brains, and split the head, taking off the upper bone to make the jowl a good shape; rub it well with salt; next day take away the brine, and salt it again the following day; cover the head with saltpetre, bay-salt, and coarse sugar, in the above proportion, adding a little common salt. Let the head be often turned, and when it has been in the pickle for 10 days, smoke it for a week or rather longer.

Time.—To remain in the pickle 10 days; to be smoked 1 week.

Seasonable.—Should be made from September to March.

Note.—A pig's check, or Bath chap, will take about 2 hours after the water boils.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

2 pig's cheeks, on the bone (the upper part of the skull from the snout to the ear and up to the eye orbit)
120g salt
0.5g saltpetre for every 1kg meat
60g sea salt
120g coarse sugar

Method:

Rub the cheeks an bones thoroughly with the 120g salt, place in a non-reactive dish, cover with clingfilm and set aside in the refrigerator for 24 hours. The following day, drain away the brine then mix together the sea salt, saltpetre and sugar. Add 60g salt and use this to cover the meat and bones.

Place in the refrigerator and leave the cheeks in this for 10 days, turning and rubbing every day during this time. At the end of 10 days, wipe the cheeks clean then dry smoke for 7 days to cure.

For the an example of how you can make a home-made cold smoker with modern materials, see the article on: making a home-made cold smoker.

Find more Mrs Beeton Recipes Hereand more Traditional Victorian Recipes Here.