Pulled Pork from Slow Roasted Pig Head

I had a pig head in my freezer that had been calling my name. After discovering how good roasted lambs head was, I was excited to try this out with a pig head!

I acquired the pigs head last fall from a friend. I traded some lamb's meat for some pigs meat, organs, heads and fat. (If you're curious to see how to render lard from pork fat here is my experience with that!)

After defrosting the head I put it in a large roasting pan and baked at 300 uncovered for about 2 hours. I checked on it and while it was quite done I wanted the meat to be soft and pulling away from the bones, which it wasn't yet. So I covered it and let it bake for another 1 1/2 hours or so.

At this point the meat was cooked exactly how I wanted it.

As you can see the meat is pulling away from the bones nicely.

And chunks of meat pull off easily and come clean off the bones.

There is some nice "bark" effect where the back of the head got some charring action.

Here is all the meat that was pulled off of the bones, minus the tongue, eyes and some tougher pieces of the mouth palate which were saved for my dog. The bones were set aside for making pork bone broth (gently simmered on the wood stove for several days).

I couldn't help sampling pieces here and there... so tasty!

I put all the meat back into the roasting pan which still has some drippings and fat. Then I shredded them using two forks. If I made pulled pork more often I would buy some meat shredding claws, but I can't justify it so I just use forks :)

Once it is shredded to the consistency I am happy with I pour in vinegar, pepper some spices like cumin, salt and a little bit of sugar and mix it all up. You could also brine and rub the pork with a dry rub + sugar mix before roasting.

The result was amazing. I can't describe how delicious it was! I realized that it's just as good or better as slow cooked pulled pork that I have made from pork shoulders. What a delicious under utilized cut of meat! Thanks @idyllwild for making scalloped potatoes and lemon rice to go with our pork :)

I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for free or cheap sustainably raised pig heads in the future.

One other thing I should note was that I looked up a recipe for roasted pig head online and saw that someone had roasted the pigs head with the skin on with really good results. The skin was apparently crispy and delicious. Next time I'll have to get more adventurous and ask to have the skin left on!

I hope you enjoyed this post!