Dry-cured Pancetta

ExpatCanadian · December 05, 2011, 09:48:56 AM

Hey all... some pancetta I've had curing in my drying chamber over the past month is now ready. I started with 2 small(ish) bellies, used the Ruhlman recipe (more or less!) and I'm really happy with the end results! I didn't really intend to do a post on it, so I only have a few pics... but I thought I'd post what I have anyway as it does look pretty good if I do say so myself! This batch was unsmoked... but I may cold-smoke the next for a bit and see how that changes it.

After initial 7 day cure, rolled and tied:

Fully dried... approximately 40% moisture loss:

Slicing it up....

All sliced:

Vac sealed up into the rough equivalent of 1 cup chopped (which tends to be about what I use in a pasta)

All chopped up for amatriciana

Couldn't wait for supper, so had to fry up a couple slices! Delicious!

Anyway, enjoy!

viper125 · December 05, 2011, 01:50:17 PM

Curious about your "drying chamber" It looks like a basement where its hanging. I was wondering about doing that here butnot sure of requirements.

viper125 · December 05, 2011, 01:50:52 PM

By the way that looks awesome!

Keymaster · December 05, 2011, 02:45:40 PM

Looks excellent, thats on the to do list now!

Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk

NorthShoreMN · December 05, 2011, 04:23:54 PM

pancetta looks great, I just started a slab in the cure yesterday. I was planning on leaving it flat when done curing but you have got me thinking
about rolling it up. Also used the Rhulman recipe. what temperature were you able to keep where you hung it?

oakville smoker · December 05, 2011, 04:59:24 PM

Nothing short of amazing !
I almost cried when I saw it fried
its meant to be sliced thin and enjoyed with a sharp cheese and fresh bread

You now have mi inner pancetta urge going again but I have to wait until the garage gets cold enough to hang it for a few months

Well done. Any left overs can be sent in C/o oakville Smoker ......

SiFumar · December 05, 2011, 05:01:40 PM

Sure looks better than anything I ever bought! And I'm sure MUCH better tasting!

ExpatCanadian · December 06, 2011, 12:17:00 AM

Quote from: viper125 on December 05, 2011, 01:50:17 PM
Curious about your "drying chamber" It looks like a basement where its hanging. I was wondering about doing that here butnot sure of requirements.

Viper... After I rolled them up, they were so wet that they were saturating the air in my chamber, so I took them out and hung them from the roof of my unheated conservatory to drip and dry and bit more. I only had them there for a day or so them stuck them back in my converted fridge. If you're curious about my setup, here is a post I did on it when I built it: http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=18974.0

Quote from: NorthShoreMN on December 05, 2011, 04:23:54 PM
pancetta looks great, I just started a slab in the cure yesterday. I was planning on leaving it flat when done curing but you have got me thinking
about rolling it up. Also used the Rhulman recipe. what temperature were you able to keep where you hung it?

NorthShore, leaving it flat, it would definitely dry faster, but I kind of prefer the rolled look. In Italy you get both, seems to be a regional thing. Also... they smoke it sometimes too, but that's less common. As far as temperature, I set my controls at 12^oC.

Quote from: oakville smoker on December 05, 2011, 04:59:24 PM
Nothing short of amazing !
I almost cried when I saw it fried
its meant to be sliced thin and enjoyed with a sharp cheese and fresh bread

Oakville, thats certainly certainly one very good way to enjoy it, and one I enjoy very much. But we tend to use it in various pasta dishes more often so I decided this time to pre-slice it into nice thick rounds ready for dicing into whatever we're making at the time... Amatriciana, Carbonara etc. Last time I made it I left it whole thinking I'd then slice it as I needed it, paper thin for an antipasti platter or thick for dicing into a sauce. Problem was, we don't use it fast enough (I know, I know... but there's only 2 of us, and it only hits the dinner rotation every couple of weeks... so it takes a while!) and it was a pain in the proverbial to have to get it out of the freezer, thaw it enough to slice off whatever I needed, then put it back. So... tried this way this time.

Quote from: SiFumar on December 05, 2011, 05:01:40 PM
Sure looks better than anything I ever bought! And I'm sure MUCH better tasting!

Thanks SiFumar.... it is pretty good. If I'm honest... I've only had better actually in Italy... and even then it was as Oakville suggested... sliced paper thin, and eaten raw!

oakville smoker · December 07, 2011, 12:42:22 PM

Regardless of how you eat it, its darn good.
Well done and I can see another trip to the meat packer the near future once the weather is consistently cold enough here to turn the
roof of my garage back into a "drying chamber"

I have 10 massive cooked salamis I made last week waiting for the that cold to hit and longing to hang away from the beer I like to keep
cold in the fridge...

Once again, well done. If you have trouble using it all up, please dont let it go to waste. PM me and I will give you my address and you
fire it across the pond. I think we are still part of the Commonwealth here so customs should be a piece of cake

ExpatCanadian · December 11, 2011, 01:49:53 AM

Quote from: oakville smoker on December 07, 2011, 12:42:22 PM
I think we are still part of the Commonwealth here so customs should be a piece of cake

You kiddin' me!!!???? Canada is just about the WORST country to bring stuff into, commonwealth shmomonwealth! I travel all over the world... and never get searched so much as when I come back into my HOME country... the country of my citizenship. It's nuts... they are serious customs nazis!! I give my sister a hard time about it actually, she works for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency inspecting ships coming into Vancouver... but a colleague of hers at Vancouver Airport actually confiscated some tulip bulbs from me that I had just bought in Amsterdam to give my grandma for Christmas (last year). They were totally kosher too... had the North American inspection approval stamps etc etc.... but the girl decided that although the tulips WOULD be allowed... she would have to confiscate them anyway as I didn't have an import permit, her book said so. Apparently that takes a couple weeks and from overseas has to be applied for from Ottawa. So... I would have had to predict the future, figure out that I was going to make an impulse purchase of around 10 bucks worth of tulips.... pre-arrange an import permit costing several hundred bucks... buy my tulips... declare them at customs, and all would have been good.

My sister still laughs at the newbie mistake her colleague made. Yeah... it was all bullsh!t, she totally got it wrong.... but the way I see it, they still owe me 10 tulip bulbs!!

Anyway, so don't expect to see any raw dry cured meat flying your way anytime soon!!! **SORRY**

Habanero Smoker · December 11, 2011, 02:22:02 AM

Wow!! It looks like you been wanting to get that off your chest for years!! :)

I can understand your frustration.

ExpatCanadian · December 11, 2011, 02:49:11 AM

Quote from: Habanero Smoker on December 11, 2011, 02:22:02 AM
Wow!! It looks like you been wanting to get that off your chest for years!! :)

I can understand your frustration.

:) :) :) ::) ::) ::) Oops... having re-read that, it does sound rather rant'ish :-[ :-[

NorthShoreMN · December 11, 2011, 08:35:35 AM

Have any of you ever dried you pancetta or other items on the shelf instead of hanging? I have a small wine cooler that I could use
but it is not tall enough to hand things in.
Paul

oakville smoker · December 11, 2011, 02:14:22 PM

Ex Pat

I understand your frustration. Not sure if its the Canadian in me, but I always feel criminal when I go through customs when I am coming
back from somewhere. I am usuallu guilty to a point, that much i can admit ;D Cigars Booze maybe some spices and stuff. never tried the tulips or anything like that but those guys can problematic.

That being said, i will have to go off and find me a pork butt to harvest a copa from. The garage is cold enough now to serve as a cold room. I have 3 rather large salamis hanging in there now from the ceiling ..... LOL not kidding. I bet there is not another garage that smells like mine does right now

Enjoy your pancetta. I will have to grab a belly the same time as a butt. Sounds overtly sexual LOL Ihave my eye on a commerical slicer
i found on an internet ad site since my cheapie had the blade come right off as I was slicing. Then I can get those paper thin slices that go so well with a well aged Regiano

Cheers and happy border crossings !

Habanero Smoker · December 12, 2011, 01:30:12 AM

Quote from: NorthShoreMN on December 11, 2011, 08:35:35 AM
Have any of you ever dried you pancetta or other items on the shelf instead of hanging? I have a small wine cooler that I could use
but it is not tall enough to hand things in.
Paul

Yes! You can air dry on a shelf. Just make sure it is elevated on a wire rack so that air can circulate around it. An inverted Bradley rack would work. Also you may want to turn it over daily.

Dry-cured Pancetta

Keymaster