Right – after 1 month of careful hanging and weighing it’s ready!
The result:
It’s lost 33% of it’s weight and is considered done. It’s firm and taking off the cheese cloth revealed, well, a really rather nice looking piece of dried & cured meat. It’s not exactly pretty – I think this is because I tied the string too tight (something to remember for next time) but it tastes pretty amazing.
The first cut into it revealed (much to my surprise) something that really looked the job. Smelling it confirmed this (ok – probably best to do it the other way round but I was really curious as to what it looked like “inside”. As for tasting – well – if you have never had pancetta – I can seriously recommend it. If you have never had home made – I can recommend it even more:) This really is something to try at home.
The taste?
Is something special. It’s quite powerful so you don’t need a lot, You can eat it as is (a form of jerky) or use it as a replacement for bacon bits in sauces. I just had some in an omelette. I cut a thick slice (maybe 1/4″/4mm) and cubed it. I then fried it for a little to make the fat run, poured in the egg, added a couple thin slices of brie and bang – you have a very special lunch
The original recipe is here:
http://www.eatingrules.com/2012/10/how-to-make-pancetta/
I’ve a graph of weight over time here:
http://themellors.org/cooking/?page_id=8
What do I learn from this?
- Don’t be scared of trying something new.
- Making your own meats gives good results.
- Patience is a virtue
Will I do this again?
Absolutely. I’ll probably start a few more over the weekend. I’ll again record the weight but this time I’ll try different marinades and learn how to do belly bondage the right way
And now some pictures, in chronological order:
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- Some meat, some salt and some herb mix. Rub in the salt, cover with the herb mix, rub and wrap. It’s on the road to taste explosion.
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- After the meat has the rub applied – it’s left in clingfilm for a few days to let the salt and flavours infuse. During this time – it’s also massaged to the rub gets worked in, especially into the fatty areas.
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- This is the pancetta after it has been washed and bound. With hind sight – the binding needs to be a lot more even and tension applied more equally. Hey – we live and learn
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- This is the end result of the hanging. You can see it’s shrunk. It’s a shame you can’t smell it:)
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- After a month of preparation, this is what it looked like after removing the cheesecloth.
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- This is what it looked like on first cut.
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- The Finished Product, Great colour and very firm
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