As a reminder, I used the recipe from the book, Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. It is available here, http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Craft-Salting-Smoking-Curing/dp/0393058298. The only difference is I used a bit more Juniper Berry Of course, I don't have a fancy curing chamber so that is why I used the garage. The garage stayed in the general temperature range and the cheese cloth wrapping made sure the surface didn't dry out too fast since I had no way to control the humidity.
Here is the Pancetta newly tied and ready to wrap in the cheese cloth. If you want to learn a quick easy way to tie a roast or Pancetta check out The Scott Rea Project on Youtube and look up "How to tie a Butcher's Knot". I couldn't get the link to work posting it here.
Here is the Pancetta unveiled. It got a squeeze each day when I got home from work to make sure it wasn't case hardening. The cheese cloth did its job and slowed the rate of moisture loss making up for the lack of humidity control.
Yes, I had a time getting the butcher's twine off the Pancetta. The best part was cutting into it and testing a sample. There is no way I can adequately describe the silky texture, the excellent porkiness, or the subtle flavor notes added by the cure and flavoring agents.
Regrettably, I forgot to weigh it before it started its aging hang and when I opened it up. I'm not sure how that happened as I usually go by a percentage of weight to determine the aging time. After putting it on the slicer and packaging it we ended up with 8 packages of thin slices for charcuterie dinners and 5 packages of thicker slices to use for making my version of spaghetti carbonara.
Wonderful things happen when you combine salt and other seasoning/curing agents, good pork, and time together. Give it a try and you won't be disappointed.
Uncle T
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