The Day of Pigs II, which was on December 23rd, continues on. Today the pancetta was ready to be taken down, sliced up, sampled, and put in the freezer. Pancetta is unsmoked bacon.
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It starts out with a dry cure like bacon consisting of salt, brown sugar, pink salt, and with added spices; thyme, garlic, peppercorns, coriander, and a bay leaf. This all gets rubbed onto the pork belly and then it cures in the refrigerator for 7 days. |
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After 7 days of curing, you take it out of the fridge and wipe all the cure off. Then you roll it up tightly. Rolling it is traditional, but you don’t actually have to do it. |
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After rolling it you hang in a cool place for 14 days. Yes, you’re leaving raw meat hanging at room temperature for 14 days. The cure has worked its way through the meat during the 7 days in the refrigerator, so it doesn’t turn into poisonous glop while hanging. I hope… |
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I gave it the sniff test every few days (as did the plumber who came to fix a leaky pipe). It always had just a pleasant odor of cured meat. After 14 days I cut it down and brought it upstairs. You can see it has a dry appearance now. |
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With the end sliced off it looks like pancetta! I’m glad I rolled it now, it looks so pretty. I took a bit and fried it in a skillet. Pancetta, like bacon, has to be cooked before eating. It was delicious! |
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And here it is all sliced up, ready to freeze. I sliced it by hand in pieces about 1/8 inch thick. It held together nicely in a roll. Owen and Spenser (the wonder dogs) each got a taste and gave it two paws up. The pancetta was a resounding success! |
Only one thing left do to finish the Day of Pigs II; the ham that is drying curing in the shed. That won’t be ready until August, 2011.
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