How to Prepare and Cook

If necessary, trim the cheeks, removing any excess fat and any flaps of meat from the edges of the cheeks to leave a solid piece of meat. Turn the cheeks over and remove all the silverskin and fat from the inside of the cheeks. The veins of sinew running through the cheeks will melt during cooking.

Removing the cheeks from a split head yourself is not that difficult. Place the head on a cutting board cut side down. Using a boning knife or other small sharp knife, make a cut under the eye to the bone. Keeping your knife on the bone, cut down and around the edge of the mouth to the jawbone to lift off the cheek meat in one piece.