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Scrapple. Mystery meat. Lips and, well, scraps. Scrapple is scorned by many, loved by those who know.
Yes, industrial scrapple literally used to be made from scrapings off the killing room floor. Ew. But any homemade scrapple recipe uses bits that are far more wholesome.
First off, what is scrapple? It is a hybrid meatloaf-sausage common in the mid-Atlantic states, notably Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania, but I’ve eaten it as far west as Peoria, Illinois. It’s there that I first had scrapple I liked.
I grew up in New Jersey, in the heart of Taylor ham country. Taylor ham is the single greatest breakfast meat ever made, but then I am biased. When you live in Taylor ham country, you look down on scrapple, so I never ate it as a kid. Then, one day, I ran a 10k road race in Peoria. Afterwards, I could eat anything I was so hungry. So I ordered the scrapple.
It was served with apple butter and maple syrup, and I could choose. I thought it weird, but then, I like maple breakfast sausages, so why not? And damn it if it wasn’t tasty!
Scrapple tastes meaty and porky, peppery with warming spices and that softness you get from good polenta. Good scrapple is very crispy on the outside, soft in the center.
Flash forward some time, and I found myself with a pig’s head. This an oddly common occurrence in my household.
I’d already made a fantastic pozole with one head, as well a French fromage de tete and an Italian version of head cheese, so I was looking for something to make that was different. Why not make scrapple?
Scrapple recipes are all over the map. Southern versions use only pork and cornmeal, but mid-Atlantic ones use buckwheat flour, too. In Ohio, you see goetta, which uses oats. This is a Pennsylvania-style scrapple.
A truly authentic scrapple recipe use a pig’s head, and that’s what I used here. But you need not go that far if you really love scrapple. You can make it with any assortment of random pig bits. But keep in mind that scrapple has to bind to itself, so you want that collagen that is in a pig’s head.
You could sub in pig’s feet, or even use a sheet of unflavored gelatin in a pinch.
Scrapple takes time to make, so make your scrapple on a weekend or day off. It also needs to rest overnight in the fridge to set up. Once made, however, scrapple will keep for a week in the fridge, and it freezes well.
To serve, cut off thick slices from the loaf, dust in flour or fine cornmeal, then fry in butter, lard or bacon fat. Eat it solo, or with apple butter or a nice dark syrup.
Scrapple
Ingredients
FOR THE PIG'S HEAD
- 1 pig's head, with or without the jowls
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 to 6 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon juniper berries, crushed (optional)
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, cracked
SPICE MIX
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon savory
- 2 teaspoons Bell's poultry seasoning (optional)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
TO FINISH
- 2 heaping cups cornmeal
- 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
Instructions
- Set the pig's head in a large kettle and cover it with water. Bring this to a boil and skim off all the scum that floats to the surface. When this is done, add the carrots, onion, bay leaves, juniper and black peppercorns. Simmer this, adding more water if the level drops below the pig's head, until the meat wants to fall off the bone, about 3 hours.
- Carefully remove the pig's head and pick off all the meat and random bits. I toss the eyes and the palate, which aren't very tasty. Chop everything up very fine, and combine with the spice mix in a bowl.
- Strain your pig broth and pour about 10 cups into a large pot. Bring this to a simmer and add the cornmeal and buckwheat flour, stirring constantly so you don't get lumps. Add salt to taste. Cook this, stirring often, about 30 minutes.
- Add the chopped pig bits in with the mush and stir well to combine. If you happen to be using the unflavored gelatin, now is when you would add it. Let this all cook for 10 minutes or so.
- Pour this into loaf pans, or a terrine pan. While not strictly necessary, it will make the scrapple easier to remove if you line the pan with plastic wrap first. Pack it in well. Let it cool to room temperature uncovered, then cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight before slicing and frying.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi, Hank…
I too grew up in Jersey but went to college in PA which is where I first enjoyed scrapple in the college cafeteria. What pork can I use instead of a pigs head (I never saved the heads of boar I shot).
Thanks,
Brian
Brian: I’d use shoulder and hocks and feet. Buy the feet if you have to, because you absolutely need that gelatin or it won’t set up right.
My mom (100% Dutch) used to make something she called “krooboot “ (sp) I’m sure the spelling is wrong, made with the pigs head. The end result was real runny. She would freeze it,and when she needed to make it she’d thaw it and mix with flour and fry it. Is this similar to scrapple?
Would it be possible to make scrapple using Spam as the meat?
Is the coarseness of the cornmeal necessary for this to hold together, or can I use a finer corn flour?
Thank you and blessings~
Neve: I’ve never tried super fine cornmeal, but I see no reason why it would not work. You definitely do not want corn starch.
How do you prep the pigs head before cooking? Do you remove the ears or grind them up too? Wash it out real well or no?
Richard: I remove the ears and clean well, but I use them in the scrapple. Everything gets washed very well.
I have tried making scrapple 6 times and always follow the recipes exactly but I cant get it to thicken up that I can slice it, would adding gelatin help?
The last recipe I used called for 4 lbs of pork, 3.5 to 4.5 cups of corn meal 1 cup of buckwheat flour mixed in with 4 qts if water, I even added extra corn meal and buckwheat flour.
I used a wooden spoon the mixture was that thick the wooden spoon would stay at a 45 degree angle and not fall, but it still never thickened up.
Oh I checked it after 2 days 48 hours in the fridge, still sloppy mush.
Ed: Yes, add some gelatin. That is usually the problem. It is supposed to be soft, but you should be able to cut it once it’s cold.
Hi Hank, because I have to use other parts to get the meat, roughly how much meat should be in the end product added at step 3? Thanks.
Michael: About 2 1/2 to 3 pounds.
Enjoyed this take on my favorite part of hog killing time. I love how the recipe varies on region. This is our Madison county NC style. Granny always made the “head meat” when we were growing up. When she couldn’t anymore I took over the duty. She pressure cooked the head and organ meat. Cornmeal, red pepper flakes, black pepper, salt and a lot of sage. Otherwise pretty much the same.
My son is interested in making scrapple but wants to know if you can home can it?
Sandra: I don’t think so. But it freezes well.
I was raised with scrapple, now in my 60s. Freezing scrapple formulates ice crystals and when it thaws, micro water pockets that pop when frying and is difficult to get crispy on the out side.
Sean: Good tip, thanks!
I am not sure where you came up with this recipe but I grew up butchering hogs a butchering hogs and making scrapple. We never put carrots or onion in it nor did we put in juniper berries Or many of the other things in this recipe. Good scrabble is just a very basic recipe and we only used cornmeal for the thickener.
Rick: This is from a bunch of friends from Delaware and Pennsylvania. The juniper is my personal addition, which can be left out if you like.
When I was a kid my dad would give me a nickel to try foods that he ate on the farm. One was boiled cows brains so I tried it. It was tasteless. When I was a teenager I cut them up into bites size pieces threw them in a bag of Italian bread crumbs ( you can use gluten free) bake them on non-stick pan. They’re absolutely delicious! Practially, hardly any calories too!! I love’em!!!
I forgot to put bake at 350 degrees F for about 5 minutes maybe a couple more.
Thank you for this recipe. We finished making our first batch last night, and it’s in the fridge awaiting us. From our local shoprite, my husband brought home pigs feet, tails, pork belly on the bone. I followed your recipe. Got a good amount of meat from the tails, and a chunk of pork belly, which I supplemented with a cup of pork shoulder I’d froze for the occasion, plus one slice of guanciale. My husband went back over the bones and pulled off more skin and bits (he says I’m too fussy,) and we ran all the meat through a vintage hand meat grinder. Added the spice mix to the meat, and let it sit (a dry marinate) while we started cooking the cornmeal, which was grown and ground down the road at our friend’s farm. Cornmeal took much longer to cook cause of the courser grind, but I think we’re going to like the texture. Added the meats for the last ten minutes, and poured into two molds. It smells exactly like it is supposed to. I have to wait for my husband before I cut into a loaf, slice it thin, and fry it up till it’s crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside. It will bring up childhood memories of my grandfather, who grew up in Philadelphia.
I stumbled across this article when looking for ways I’d like to use my pigs jawls. (We recently had pigs butchered. I will make bacon with some of the jawls but would like to try this with one of them.) You don’t mention the skin, though. Do you remove the skin off the jawls before boiling them?
Michelle: You can. Scrapple often has skin in it, however.
Ate this growing up in the Texas Rio Grande Valley. It was a great use for the feral hogs we hunted on my grandparents farm. I still make it with fresh rosemary and sage – domestic pigs these days though. This was a recipe handed down for generations from my Virginia ancestors.
Dave, I too am from The Valley. My grandfather came down in 1926 from Illinois. He used to make scrapple but unfortunately did not have a written recipe for it. I am searching for one to put in a family book but haven’t been too successful just yet.
Hi Angie. I grew up your neighbot in McCook!
We made sausage every year and it was my job ( the youngest ) to make headcheesefrom the head. Amazing to hear from you. Hope all is well!
AJP
My old neighbors in WV butcher hogs every winter. 10-12 of them. It’s a community event complete with the huge cast butchering kettles. Scrapple was the last act! Heat water in one of the kettles and add all the meaty scrap bones, some liver, we fileted and cleaned kidneys. We didn’t add the head but removed and skinned the tongue and trimmed jowl meat. You boil this until the bones are clean.
We then then used large strainers and removed the ‘meat mush’ and moved to a huge smooth surface table in the barn. Everone would stand around and pick all the cartilage and other non edible stuff out. Then it all went through the grinder and back into the broth kettle. Note- some old timers wanted some of the ground mush saved- they called it ‘liver pudding’.
The scrapple ingredients were now simple- buckwheat four or corn meal, salt and pepper to taste. We had large ‘kettle stirrers’- long wooden tool handles with a flat wooden angled paddle. We all took turns mixing the scrapple and cooked until it pull and hold from the sides.
After pouring into molds and setting them aside, the kids would each grab spoons and literally clean the kettle of any scraps, lol. Good times. We’d have over 20-30 people involved in this endeavor!
I’m now in MT and this past spring I had a hog butchered. I asked the guy to save the scrap bones, liver (if clean) and the head. He looked at me quite funny. I explained scrapple and he had no clue, lol. My son and I will be making a batch in a 20gal iron kettle this winter :).
Love your site and your recipes hank- keep them coming!
Tom, My mom’s father and neighbors made scrapple as you described. Thanks for sharing.
We love scrapple in PA! We just got some beef scrapple through a friend and the texture is more like mush. Do you know a way to tighten it up? Should I just mix it with more cornmeal?
Bobbi: you can try that. In my experience, scrapple is pretty soft though.
Do I use the brain once all done cooking or just leave it in the skulls and discard to the dogs?
Sheryl: Either way. I generally leave it in there.
When we made this we used the head from a pig and a cow pluse the organ meat. We only used salt, pepper, coriander, corn meal and buckwheat flour. We never measured just added everything to taste. It’s been a long time ago though.
We. Here in Illinois, not far from Peoria, we only use pig head. But we are French Canadien And all my relatives make it and eat scrapple. But primary is head cheese, with left over bits for scrapple. Yum
I’m assuming you have already removed the brain? Or is that essential for collagen?
Nicholas: Nope. I leave it in there. But you can remove it if you like.
Here in central PA we thin slice scrapple so it can be fried crisp. The buckwheat is required. And lots of pepper.
Anna
Anna: OK. As you will see, I also slice my scrapple, include lots of black pepper and buckwheat flour.