# Elk Head Cheese



## wyogoob

Everyone loves elk head cheese and I jumped on a gut pile before the wolves gobbled it up..........jk 

It's a nice yearling cow's head.

Stayed tuned, I gotta find some fresh pig's feet.

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## wyogoob

OK. I got a start. Skinned and cleaned up a nice yearling calf elk's head. It looked a little lean so I'm adding some of the neck (top right). The lymph nodes were removed (bottom left):


The game meat will soak overnight in salted water to help remove any residual blood.

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## RandomElk16

This will be an interesting thread!


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## wyogoob

I cut the elk head up into six pieces to fit the pot better. The brains were aside for breakfast:


This elk had a relatively small brain, typical of most of the elk we shoot.

And speaking of small brains; don't run your meat saw blade over elk teeth. :-(

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## wyogoob

Oh, I forgot to mention a de-fatted elk heart was added to the meat that soaked overnight in salt water.

Drained and rinsed the elk meat after soaking and added some fresh pig's feet:


The pig's feet, hopefully, will add to the gelatin that's cooked out of the elk head and neck:


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## longbow

Good Lord Mr. Goob, do you have no gag reflexes?


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## Dunkem

MMMMMMM Head cheese:hungry:


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## brookieguy1

****, some folks will eat anything. :mrgreen: 
I think it's Wyogoat, not Wyogoob.;-)
Hat's off though, you waste nothing!


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## Greenhead_Slayer

wyogoob said:


> OK. I got a start. Skinned and cleaned up a nice yearling calf elk's head. It looked a little lean so I'm adding some of the neck (top right). The lymph nodes were removed (bottom left).
> 
> 
> 
> The game meat will soak overnight in salted water to remove any residual blood.
> 
> .


I just threw up in my mouth a little.


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## wyogoob

When the meat starts to fall off the bones remove it from the pot. Rinse with hot water and drain. When cool remove the meat from the bones. Trim off any fat and tough sinew. Skin the tongue. Be sure to slice the meat in different sizes:


Eyeballs are fine but optional. Many cultures consume them. The are a little on the fatty side but have great "mouth feel", and gawd, who can resist that crunchy optic nerve?



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## wyogoob

Helpful hint: Uh....keep your powder trickler far away from the headcheese cutting board.



Geeze, I kinda scorched the broth. I'll probably make souse. Souse is just headcheese with vinegar and I like souse better than headcheese anyhow.

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## longbow




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## longbow

Goob, if I kill a bear next week, is there any parts of the guts you want me to keep for you? Do you have any recipes for bear tail soup?


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## wyogoob

longbow said:


> Goob, if I kill a bear next week, is there any parts of the guts you want me to keep for you? Do you have any recipes for bear tail soup?


Black bear or brown bear?

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## El Casador

Good stuff my friend shot a cow elk this year he gave us the head we cooked it in a steamed pot. avapor that's how we do the beef cow heads in my culture cow tongue tacos and cabeza tacos,cabeza is head in Spanish. my friends that shot it thought we was crazy they came over when it was done they ate until they were full. Cilantro, onions some home made salsa they said it was the softest meat they have ever tasted :shock:. yummy yummy!


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## longbow

wyogoob said:


> Black bear or brown bear?
> 
> .


Kodiak brown bear.


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## brookieguy1

longbow said:


> Goob, if I kill a bear next week, is there any parts of the guts you want me to keep for you? Do you have any recipes for bear tail soup?


I'll take the gall bladder;-)


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## wyogoob

I started with 7 quarts of water in the pot to cook the meat. That was reduced to around 4 quarts of water after about 8 hours of simmering. The broth was then strained through a towel a couple times. A trial cup of broth was put in the fridge and after about 20 minutes the liquid cooled and turned to a firm gelatin.

I ended up making both souse and head cheese. The souse was entirely elk meat and the head cheese was one-half elk meat and one-half pigs feet.

Ingredients for souse: dried red peppers, garlic, and fresh parsley. Vinegar was added "to taste": 


Head cheese bottom left and in the KFC containers. Note the trial piece of gelatin:


Put the souse in some miniature bread pans and a 3" diameter clear synthetic casing. It turned out OK; has a nice bite to it: 


Had some leftover gelatin:


It's a lot of work.


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## wyogoob

The souse has crushed red peppers (including the seeds), chopped fresh garlic, chopped fresh parsley, salt and vinegar:


The head cheese has minced fresh garlic, salt and coarse black pepper. The black pepper sinks to the bottom, putting it on the top after the head cheese comes out of the mold:


The nose jelly is a little cloudy. I'll have to work on that.


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## torowy

Wow that is super gross. But looks like you really know your stuff. I would be a little leery of eating the brain.


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## Brookie

not worried about prions i guess


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## GaryFish

Just. Wow.


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## swbuckmaster

longbow said:


>


Funny stuff!!!!


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## longbow

wyogoob said:


> The nose jelly is a little cloudy. I'll have to work on that.


THE NOSE JELLY???!! What DaHe!l?


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## AF CYN

Disturbing, but in an awesome way. Pretty interesting stuff.


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## wyogoob

I call gelatin "nose jelly". The nose, snout on a hog, has a lot of gel-producing qualities.

The gelatin comes from cooking skin, cartilage and sinew in water. As you cook down the broth samples are taken to check the consistancy of the gel. I put a small amount in a container and set it in the refrigerator. The gel can be too hard, end up like Gummy Bears.

Getting a nice clear gel is tricky. Cheesecloth or a towel is a little coarse letting sediment pass through. A pillow case or a coffee filter would be about right but the broth takes too long to pass through and it sets up, gels, on the material and clogs the pores up. 

My grandmother used a flour sack and had nice-looking gel. That was at sea-level though. Her gel was 212° when she poured it in the strainer. At 7,000' elevation the broth is only 203°.

Making nose jelly is complicated.

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## 30-06-hunter

Hey Goob, I'm seriously tempted to just drive up there sometime to sample all of these weird foods you make, I grew up eating all types of animal parts and will try about anything. I would babysit for my aunt who is Korean in exchange for cooking me something new to try.


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## sumbuddy

I want to try this.


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## El Casador

Tacos the Cabeza! yummy yummy!!


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## tander123

I think I just lost my appetite for a few days


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## wyogoob

30-06-hunter said:


> Hey Goob, I'm seriously tempted to just drive up there sometime to sample all of these weird foods you make, I grew up eating all types of animal parts and will try about anything. I would babysit for my aunt who is Korean in exchange for cooking me something new to try.


If I'm home the coffee pot is always on.


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## Fowlmouth

wyogoob said:


> If I'm home the coffee pot is always on.


 Heck, I'll stop by for coffee, but that's all. No head cheese for me.:mrgreen: You do a fantastic job with all your game though and I do like reading your recipe posts.


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## wyogoob

Fowlmouth said:


> Heck, I'll stop by for coffee, but that's all. No head cheese for me.:mrgreen: You do a fantastic job with all your game though and I do like reading your recipe posts.


Kind words, thank you sir. Head cheese, although kinda bland tasting, is not for everyone

As I grow older I struggle with killing an animal and it's important to me to dispatch the critter as quickly and painlessly as I can. And then after that, because of the way I was brought up and out of respect for the animal, I try not to waste too much of the "edible" parts of the beast.

I enjoy butchering wild game although I wouldn't want to do it for a living and I admire those that do. And I like messing with the guts really. One of my first duties butchering hogs as a youngster was cleaning out the hog's small intestines. There's a "Dirty Job" for ya. Geeze, I wonder how the pioneers done it without a pressurized garden hose???

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## 30-06-hunter

wyogoob said:


> If I'm home the coffee pot is always on.


Once I buy a boat I'll have more reason to stop in on my way to the gorge and maybe even drag you along.


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## Dunkem

Man that looks good,when I first started cutting meat(dont ask,it was a long time ago)the old man I worked for would make head cheest once a month.I really developed a fondness for the stuff,and he would give me any "2nds" to take home.Really liked a sandwich with rye bread and colemans mustard and a 1 inch thick piece of head cheese.:O--O:


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## wyogoob

Dunkem said:


> Man that looks good,when I first started cutting meat(dont ask,it was a long time ago)the old man I worked for would make head cheest once a month.I really developed a fondness for the stuff,and he would give me any "2nds" to take home.Really liked a sandwich with rye bread and colemans mustard and a 1 inch thick piece of head cheese.:O--O:


Thanks.

1" thick!! You da man.

Rye bread or crackers are it for head cheese.

We are losing our culinary diversity in America and my observation is the lack of diversity is worse in the inter mountain west than anywhere. 30 years ago every grocery store had head cheese. Oscar Meyer had it (still does) hanging with all the their other lunch meats. Now I don't see it much outside of the midwest and northeast part of the US.

I come from Henry County Illinois, "The Hog Capital of the World" We had more hogs per capita than any other place on the planet. It was small-town America, more farmers than city folk. Everyone did hog's heads. My family made only head cheese, great tasting but kinda bland. People of Scandinavian descent did souse (head cheese with vinegar) I like souse.


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## longbow

Dunkem said:


> Man that looks good,when I first started cutting meat(dont ask,it was a long time ago)the old man I worked for would make head cheest once a month.I really developed a fondness for the stuff,and he would give me any "2nds" to take home.Really liked a sandwich with rye bread and colemans mustard and a 1 inch thick piece of head cheese.:O--O:


Man Dunkem, you and Goob need some serious help!

[I'm kinda having fun making fun of this thread but, truth be told, I'd try it just to see what it's like. Sshhhhh, don't tell Goob.]


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## wyogoob

today's snack tray:


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## Dunkem

Thats almost tempting enough to drive up.:mrgreen:


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## gdog

Dunkem said:


> Thats almost tempting enough to drive up.:mrgreen:


....its a con. I went up and thought I'd get lunch...ended up doing yard work....and never got lunch-O,-;-)


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## wyogoob

gdog said:


> ....its a con. I went up and thought I'd get lunch...ended up doing yard work....and never got lunch-O,-;-)


Again, thanks. 

Tomorrow: Cottontail rabbit hunt after we clean the basement.

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## wyogoob

Dunkem said:


> Thats almost tempting enough to drive up.:mrgreen:


Any time.

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## swbuckmaster

If I didn't have to smell the euro mount cooking, didnt know about pigs feet ingredients and nose gelitin, I might have tried it because you make a pretty plate. Lol Right now it would have to be a dare or bet for me to try one of your meat crackers.


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## Mr Muleskinner

I wonder how coyote head cheese would taste.


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## Rspeters

Probably not a whole lot different.


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## wyogoob

Rspeters said:


> Probably not a whole lot different.


Gawd, don't temp me.

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## wyogoob

OK, a word of caution.

Now that we have the internet; notably Google and Wiki, deer and elk brains and eyeballs are not safe to eat.

Geeze, I hope I caught everyone in time.

Uh...........So you'll just have to trust me on this: The elk brains taste like deer brains, which taste like hog's brains, which really have little flavor:


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## fishreaper

Mr Muleskinner said:


> I wonder how coyote head cheese would taste.


I was scouting out I think a real winner location today. you can keep the head for the bounty or head cheese; I don't have the paper work or the stomach respectively.


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## wyogoob

It's that time of year boys and girls!



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## bowgy

OOHHH MY....... that looks like beer food...... yeah that's it .... beer food.

I would have to drink a lot of beer before I could eat that......... and I don't drink.


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## johnnycake

Head cheese is one of those things that are best tried first, and then understood later. It really is a tasty snack!


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## BPturkeys

Now, I like cheese, and I like head, but Head Cheese...I am just scared to try.


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