Fergus Henderson’s Trotter Gear Recipe (2024)

I have yet to find a single shred of meat on a pig's foot. I cook with them all of the time. There is None. There is some meat on ham hocks and even more on a pork shank, but those are not feet. I would therefore respectfully ask people to stop talking about shredding the meat off of a pig's foot.

If you are pressed for time use a pressure cooker, it will bring the time down to under one hour and it will extract all the goodness and flavor from the ingredients.

I've been wanting to make this the entire pandemic and finally found myself in a Mexican grocery with pigs' feet - in mid-summer, oh well. I also just got Fergus Henderson's book, and there are some differences. It says "flesh, FAT & skin," and calls for 6 trotters, not 3, but the same amount of veg; he boils them first in water for 5 minutes, then drains (I couldn't believe the NYT recipe didn't say to skim the scum). Finally, he cooks it in a "gentle" oven for 3 hours, not on the stovetop.

You just toss in the whole garlic head as is? That's what it sounds like.

Also search the Times archive for Glace de Viande, a highly useful product for your freezer.

I don't know where your pigs come from, but we find lots of meat on a trotter -- which are often served pickled as snack food in local bars. We just picked up a package of wonderfully meaty trotters at our neighborhood Korean grocery store. You might give that a try if you have one near you.

I just finished this as my food project for a Sunday afternoon. After straining the stock and then mincing the bits, I put the bits back in the stock and reduced it for another hour or more. I then took my immersion blender and smoothed out all the bits. I love the way it looks now, like a nice, thick, gelatinous gravy. I’m going to chill it overnight then parcel it up to freeze.

Yes, you can also include the onion skins. As they cook, they add a beautiful dark brown lacquer color to the broth, tastier looking than a light colored broth.

I used my slow cooker as well, overnight... It does not matter if you cook it longer. The wine helps get the calcium out of the bones and into the broth, and does it better if you give it more time.

If you are struggling to find “meat” on your pigs feet, then you aren’t shopping at the Hispanic markets. Asian markets don’t cut the foot the same way leaving just collagen. Just saying... this doesn’t let me post pics for comparison.

For a gelatinous substitute without the trotters, follow the recipe and add a packet of dissolved Knox gelatin to the ingredients. Use only 2 cups of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of wine. Not nearly as rich, but adds to the mouth feel.

This is just so heavenly good. Any soup or stew made with this stock is instantly raised to another level entirely. Personally I don't chop up and use the skin, but I do try to rescue any morsel of meat I may find. Have no fear of pigs' feet, full of collagen, rich and delicious. I also use chicken feet when making chicken stock. So much concentrated flavor in both!

Very savory, complicated, Rich, allWords to describe this recipe!I could only find one pig trotter, so substituted a few fresh ham Hocks, otherwise followed exactly!! Do not substitute any wine, a must to use Madeira!I used this in Turkey tetrazzini, chicken pot pie! Adds another depth, enhancing the pot!Never would have guessed pigs feet to be sooo tasty!

Am I the only one who doesn't understand the difference between meat and flesh?

You're going to strain the stock so the solids should be discarded, however I would separate the cloves, peel them, and squish them with the flat side of the knife before adding them.

Not to be snarky here, but tossing a clean, split, parboiled (10 minutes) pig’s foot in any soup/red sauce or pasta water will add a gorgeous mouthfeel. And quicker.

Plus, leftovers make for a lovely before bed mask/moisturizer!

Nearest butcher is 20 minutes away. After cooking this for 3 hours, an in-law dumped the result down the sink. The next day, I made it again. I don’t think it was worth it. The result is like an unusual tasting fatty stock with chopped meat and skin in it. It didn’t add much to the Guinness pie recipe I followed. I’m hopeful it will fortify a stock I’m making tomorrow.

I used 13 peppercorns instead of 12. I found it added an extra spicy essence that came through the end product.

Can anyone give an approximate weight for the pig's feet? I bought mine cut into chunks from an Asian grocery. The package weighs 2 pounds. Thank you.

I made this, very good, ended up being more than stated. I have suspicions. Upon reading this recipe, and the original, it’s unclear how big these pigs feet are. And how many exactly to use, as some come split. some are big, some are little. weight? four split feet that I used made double the amount. I tried very hard to cram everything in the pot before covering with liquid. Therefore, I have inklings the author of this recipe also was a bit unsure, but not letting on. Shave and scald to start.

Any advice for slow cooker method? How long should it cook and on which setting? Sounds like fabulous gifts (along with homemade lemon cello) for my family who are all excellent home cooks! I can’t wait to get some advice and start cooking! Thanks

Like many commenters, there wasn't any meat on the pig feet I used. However, I don't think that meaningfully detracted from the outcome. You really don't need to be fussy with it. I didn't cut up any part of the feet to put back in and it was still amazing. Note that after the 3 ish hours of cooking, it will be very liquid-y. I split mine into 1 cup amounts and put into the refrigerator. The next morning it was gelatinous. Adding this to the steak and Guinness pie was a game changer.

Maybe I missed it in the notes, but has anyone used a pressure cooker or insta-pot???

I grabbed a bag in the grocery frozen bits and pieces department without reading the label, thinking I had beef soup bones. When I defrosted them, they were beef feet pieces. So I used beef feet instead of pork, following this recipe. We are a non-pork household. I'd wanted to make Trotters Gear ever since I read the recipe. Voila! Delicious!! It made a huge amount, some of which I turned into Glace de Viande.

I don't eat pork, is there any part of a cow tail, neck, shank, rib bones that can be used as a substitute? I realize the taste will be different but will the bones still have the same affect on making the gelatin texture?

You can substitute 3 lb of oxtails for 3 pig trotters

I don’t eat pork, but I want to try this—with sheep’s feet. Is that a good substitute?

I had a broth when I followed this recipe, reseach confirmed, it should be gelatinous. Found the exact same recipe on 'serious eats', from 'Beyond Nose to Tail' by Fergus Henderson. 1 major exception, instead of 3 pigs feet it had 6 and only half a bottle of madeira (not one bottle of wine as mentioned in this recipe, which I followed as I did not have enough Madera). Also, cooked in gentle oven.

What do you do with the 4th foot?