# Pancetta Arrotolata Stagionata



## indaswamp (Aug 11, 2022)

Helped my Uncle Demolish an old deck in his back yard Wednesday. He insisted on paying me, I declined. He insisted...Pulled out $140 and said "Go buy a pastured Berkshire pork belly and make pancetta for the family Christmas party..I'm buying." I said, "Yes Sir! That will be done."

So today, I rode up to the butcher and picked up a 14.25# full belly, 2 1/2" thick; $7.69/# which is not bad for the quality of the pork. The butcher shop just moved to a new location in June and they have expanded to include a deli serving hot lunches, thus they had some new employees that did not know me. I asked for a whole pork belly and he went to pull out what they had in the meat case under the counter. I then clarified that I wanted the full whole belly untrimmed. He went got the head butcher. After some chit chat and filling him in on my new chamber, he said give me 10 minutes and I'll have you a whole belly, need to cut it. He pulled out a loin primal and cut the belly off for me.






Got home and got to work. Belly trimmed ready to go with Salt, cure and spices...





Tools and twine ready to go...






seasoned...






Sewed...





 Man that skin was tough like leather! I need to get a different needle. I started and then changed up the suture pattern 1/3rd the way through to close it up better.

I did not have a salted veil which is traditionally used on the ends of the pancetta after it is rolled. But I did have half of a beef bung that worked well. I used a piece of 60mm beef middle cut open lengthwise over the sewn area.






and trussed....

























Be ready in 4 months...Just in time for Christmas.

Thanks to Giorgino and David @youtube for the tips on Pancetta Stagionata.


And thanks to Fabrizio @ the Piacentina Consortium Norcini Institute for the instruction on rolling, sewing and trussing Pancetta:


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## Nefarious (Aug 11, 2022)

Awesome, what a work.  That looks outrageous.


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## TNJAKE (Aug 11, 2022)

Well you have my attention. See you at Christmas


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## indaswamp (Aug 11, 2022)

*Pancetta Stagionata Arrotolata*

1000 grams pork belly

25g. Sea Salt 2.5%
3g. cure #2 0.3%
2g. Red Peppercorn ground*
0.4g. Black peppercorns ground
0.5g. Nutmeg ground
0.4g. Cinnamon
0.125g. Clove spice (1 clove)
2/3 clove of garlic (3 cloves per 5kg.)

**1g. Dextrose
**0.25g. B-LC-78 whole muscle surface starter culture

*white pepper can be substituted
**not traditionally used, but gives a better safety profile.


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## tbern (Aug 11, 2022)

beautiful looking pictures, will be fun to follow the progression!


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## tx smoker (Aug 11, 2022)

Absolutely incredible Keith!! I sure hope I'm still on your Christmas card mailing list   

Robert


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## DRKsmoking (Aug 11, 2022)

Wow Keith

That will be a nice gift to open for Christmas

I'm in for the show /unveiling

David


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## gmc2003 (Aug 11, 2022)

Kicking back and waiting for the unveiling. Beautiful work Keith

Point for sure
Chris


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## indaswamp (Aug 11, 2022)

Nefarious said:


> Awesome, what a work.  That looks outrageous.


Thanks Nefarious!



TNJAKE said:


> Well you have my attention. See you at Christmas


Thanks Jake! Still got room for more in the chamber...stay tuned.....



tbern said:


> beautiful looking pictures, will be fun to follow the progression!


Thanks tbern! Pancetta only needs 4 months of maturing, but it is much better after 8 in my opinion....more complex flavor development.



tx smoker said:


> Absolutely incredible Keith!! I sure hope I'm still on your Christmas card mailing list
> 
> Robert


Thanks Robery, I have not forgotten about you...



DRKsmoking said:


> Wow Keith
> 
> That will be a nice gift to open for Christmas
> 
> ...


Thanks David. Been wanting to do a pancetta for a while. Almost 6kilos of belly trimmed down to 3.6kg. for rolling. I have the trim set aside for Sopressa Modenese when I buy hams to make Culatello this fall; I'll use the trim from those as well.


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## indaswamp (Aug 11, 2022)

gmc2003 said:


> Kicking back and waiting for the unveiling. Beautiful work Keith
> 
> Point for sure
> Chris


Thanks Chris! Got it hanging in the kitchen to warm up from refrigerator temps and to drip...Whole house smells awesome right now!


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## indaswamp (Aug 11, 2022)

Salted veil is the cavity lining of the animal. Italian butchers would remove this prior to breaking down the primals. This is that membrane that you remove when cleaning ribs. It helps to keep the fat from oxidizing and slows moisture loss a little. The beef bung I am using is thicker and should work real well at preventing oxidation of the fat on the ends.

Pretty certain I got it tight enough. I had to stop halfway through and put on a new leather glove to apply the tension while wrapping the twine, bare handed just was not cutting it. When I finished, water was seeping out of the holes from the needle tool.....can't squeeze it by hand it is so tight so hopefully no air pockets....


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## bertman (Aug 11, 2022)

Like I needed another reason to look forward to Christmas. This looks amazing!


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## chilerelleno (Aug 11, 2022)

That is art.
Charcuterie is an art.
You Sir are an artist.
And I look forward to seeing this masterpiece unveiled for Christmas.


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## indaswamp (Aug 12, 2022)

bertman said:


> Like I needed another reason to look forward to Christmas. This looks amazing!


Thanks bertman!



chilerelleno said:


> That is art.
> Charcuterie is an art.
> You Sir are an artist.
> And I look forward to seeing this masterpiece unveiled for Christmas.


Thanks chile! I am having a lot of fun exploring this craft! Always more to learn...It's all the little small details.....


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## SmokinAl (Aug 12, 2022)

That is beautiful work!
I’ll be back!!
Al


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## indaswamp (Aug 12, 2022)

SmokinAl said:


> That is beautiful work!
> I’ll be back!!
> Al


Thanks Al!


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## indaswamp (Aug 12, 2022)

So, I have just learned that I made Pancetta Stagionata, not Piacentina. Garlic and cinnamon are not in Pancetta Piacentina. It will still be good though!

*edit-
Thread title changed to reflect accurate description...


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## indaswamp (Aug 12, 2022)

...That just means I get to make another one! Piacentina this time! LOL!!!!!!!! I got PLENTY of room in the chamber!!!!


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## GonnaSmoke (Aug 12, 2022)

As Arnold said, "I'll be back."


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## indaswamp (Aug 12, 2022)

Mossimo Spigaroli 'The Maestro' rolling and trussing the biggest pancetta I have ever seen!


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## BB-que (Aug 12, 2022)

indaswamp said:


> Helped my Uncle Demolish an old deck in his back yard Wednesday. He insisted on paying me, I declined. He insisted...Pulled out $140 and said "Go buy a pastured Berkshire pork belly and make pancetta for the family Christmas party..I'm buying." I said, "Yes Sir! That will be done."
> 
> So today, I rode up to the butcher and picked up a 14.25# full belly, 2 1/2" thick; $7.69/# which is not bad for the quality of the pork. The butcher shop just moved to a new location in June and they have expanded to include a deli serving hot lunches, thus they had some new employees that did not know me. I asked for a whole pork belly and he went to pull out what they had in the meat case under the counter. I then clarified that I wanted the full whole belly untrimmed. He went got the head butcher. After some chit chat and filling him in on my new chamber, he said give me 10 minutes and I'll have you a whole belly, need to cut it. He pulled out a loin primal and cut the belly off for me.
> View attachment 640518
> ...



The stuff you put on here is nothing short of spectacular.  Can’t wAit to hear how it tastes.


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## crazymoon (Aug 13, 2022)

IDS, Professional job right there !!


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## indaswamp (Aug 13, 2022)

THIS IS THE VIDEO!!!

I was looking and looking for this video the night before I bought my belly....could not find it! I'll be doing another pancetta soon and will definitely do it this way next time for a tight roll and 100% skin coverage!


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## indaswamp (Aug 13, 2022)

Now that is a very interesting trussing technique! I've never seen the triple twist used to cinch down loops! Amazing! I will try this!


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## indaswamp (Aug 13, 2022)

GonnaSmoke said:


> As Arnold said, "I'll be back."


Thanks Gonnasmoke!



BB-que said:


> The stuff you put on here is nothing short of spectacular.  Can’t wAit to hear how it tastes.


Thanks BB-que. I am having a lot of fun exploring this new craft....and I'm learning a whole lot in the process that is making me better and other areas of my smoking/cooking hobby.



crazymoon said:


> IDS, Professional job right there !!


Thanks Crazy...not perfect, but this was my first time binding a pancetta. I'll do it better next time. I just hope I got this one tight enough....I think I did, but won't know for sure until it dries.


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## indaswamp (Aug 13, 2022)

I pulled the pancetta out of my old chamber (set to fridge temps. 37-41*F with 80-85%RH) to massage it. This will accelerate salt equalization within the piece. I also took my rolling pin and wrapped it with cellophane then used it to massage the piece deep and well with a lot of pressure. Then I rehung it in the chamber. I will pull it after 10-14 days, let it hang at room temp. 65-68 for 3 days, then invert and hang for another 3 days. This accelerates the enzymes within the meat and fat for enhanced flavor development. After 6 days will transfer to my new chamber.


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## indaswamp (Aug 23, 2022)

Another excellent trussing video:


^^^^First time I've seen paper used to cover the seam on pancetta. But I have seen mention of using "Vegetable paper"...


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## indaswamp (Aug 24, 2022)

I removed the Pancetta Stagionata from refrigerator temps. in my old chamber. It has lost 7% weight since rolling it 11 days ago. I hung it in a closet for 24hrs. @74*F; 60%RH. Then moved it to my fermentation can @68*F; 75%RH...will leave it there for another 4 days for flavor development.

The color is really developing nicely...and it smells awesome!!


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## DRKsmoking (Aug 24, 2022)

Put that away it's not Christmas yet

David


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## checkdude (Aug 24, 2022)

Beautiful just beautiful! Am speeches! When I grow up I want to be............!


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## smokininthegarden (Aug 24, 2022)

Nice job Swamp you do some beautiful work.

Cal


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## indaswamp (Aug 25, 2022)

checkdude said:


> Beautiful just beautiful! Am speeches! When I grow up I want to be............!


Thanks checkdude. If you want to take the plunge into salumi, whole muscles are the place to start. Much less involved than making salami.



smokininthegarden said:


> Nice job Swamp you do some beautiful work.
> 
> Cal


Thanks smokininthegarden. I have room for improvement, but I get better with every piece I make. I'll get the hang of it eventually....


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## indaswamp (Aug 27, 2022)

After 5 days of hanging @ room temperature 68-74*F; 60-75%RH, I moved the Pancetta Stagionata to my new drying chamber for the long wait until Christmas.





It has lost 8.94% so far. I expect it to lose 20-25% by Christmas...


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## indaswamp (Aug 29, 2022)

I have been looking and looking for this video!!! This is an english dub of the salumiTV video on Pancetta Piacentina!! I am posting this here so I can find it....and for everyone's enjoyment....


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