A pig's (nose to) tale - guanciale and pancetta

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atomicsmoke

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Apr 3, 2014
4,313
1,235
Toronto, Canada

I used this Texel culture....first time. They say it helps with colour stabilisation, conversion of nitrates to nitrites and flavour development. Towards the end of the hanging stage I could still detect a wiff of "culture", you know yeast-like smell. Wasn't happy with it. A few days of rest in vacpac...and you can only smell well cured meat. Never had this deep slightly sweet cured meat aroma in my dried meats. Something close to what you smell in a fresh cut 18 months old prosciutto.

Love it.

Pancetta coming soon.
 
Looks great. Which Texel did you go with, SA-241, for mild acidity?...JJ
 
Dry cured for two weeks (Texel culture added at the beginning).

Washed and hung to dry. Done (for me) at 28% weight loss.

Just to be clear...I made this as cold cut. I saw recipes for pancetta meant for cooking with it. This is not one of those.
 
Beautiful! Have you ever considered cold smoking? I was in Budapest in February for the mangalitsa pork festival and had some amazing smoked cold cuts. the smoked belly and loin (with a nice thick layer of fat) were to die for.
 
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