Using the broth remaining after making headcheese, strain out all the bones and thicken with corn meal, buckwheat or rye flour. Use three or four parts broth to one part meal to make a thick paste. To prevent lumping, it is best to slightly moisten the meal with a little cooled broth before adding it to the other broth. Season to taste with the seasonings given for headcheese. Cook for 30 to 45 minutes and pour into shallow pans to cool. Slice and serve like scrapple.
Pigs’ feet should be clean, free from hair, and the toes removed. Make certain to clean between the toes and trim any remaining hair.
Cure clean, chilled feet in brine for 15 days to 3 weeks. Use the same brine suggested for curing hams. Weight the feet to keep them from floating above the solution. Use enough solution to completely submerge the feet. Keep the feet cold throughout curing period (at 36° to 40° F, if possible).
After curing, slowly cook or simmer the feet until they are tender. Cook them slowly to keep the skin from parting excessively and the feet from pulling out of shape. Thoroughly chill the cured, cooked feet and pack them in cold, moderately strong vinegar, add spices such as bay leaves or allspice. Use the feet at once or store them in the vinegar.
Tender cuts of meat are best cooked with dry heat such as broiling, roasting, and panbroiling. Less tender cuts of meat are tenderized by cooking with _moist_ heat. Connective tissue is softened and tenderized by cooking slowly in moisture.
Temperature control is very important in meat cookery. Meat loses moisture, fat, and other substances during cooking. However, some of the meat juices and fat may be retained in the pan drippings.
Cooking losses can be minimized by controlling the oven cooking temperature and final internal temperature of the meat. Shrinkage is increased when hot oven temperatures are used for cooking and when meat is cooked to a higher internal temperature.
The meat thermometer is the most accurate guide to the degree of doneness of meat. Cooking time in relation to weight is often used as a guide to the degree of doneness, but this may be influenced by the cut’s fat and moisture content and by its shape or size.
Fresh pork, smoked picnic shoulder, shoulder roll, and other smoked products should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160° F (71° C). Excessive cooking will toughen and dry the meat, thus decreasing its acceptability.