Just to clarify, this recipe uses sodium nitrite, not nitrate. Pink curing salt is a mixture of sodium chloride and sodium nitrate or nitrite that is colored pink so you don't mix it up with your regular table salt. I know it can be a little confusing. I added a link in the description section of this video which will take you to another video I did explaining the difference between sodium nitrate, nitrite and pink curing salts. Let me know if you have any more questions.
@@rafars2246 I agree, for such an enormous piece of meat, should have taken 2 months minimum I would thiink. I would never use any of those nitrite salts, it's not necessary. None of the other YT videos use it - pure Kosher salt or rock salt is all you need.
Jacob, I just wanted to let you know that I made my first ever pancetta....based on the video you made here. (I watched the video many times to make sure I got it right) It came out fantastic. My next venture will be a prosciutto. Although I will have to wait a little longer for that. But I am sure it will be worth the wait!
Absolutely beautiful tutorial, I followed this to a tee, let the meat go for 4 months and I’ll tell you what, there’s no way anybody has tasted something so good unless they made it themselves. Thanks.
Here in western Oregon, I always make my Pancetta and other 'long cured' meats in the late fall, so I can hang them in my garage. _(unfortunately I don't have a walk in fridge)_ I just pulled a perfectly 'squared off' piece of belly from the deep freeze and it's got Pancetta written all over it! _I'll get back to you in the spring and let you know how it turned out! (my coppa should be done then too)_
I noticed you ate it raw, my wife was upset when I ate it raw with cheese but I told her it was edible but she never believed me so thank for your video as proof to my wife and it looks delicious. keep up the great videos
Porchetta ... it isnt smoked ... it becomes pancetta when smoked .. and wont ever be bacon ... Bacon is just smoked never salt cured ... the smoking process is what cures bacon
Yes, I'm a chef. It was just great to see it done with similar tools, istead of done home style in tupperware or plastic bags. Also seeing it done on a whole slab instead of a small piece was helpful.
i want to thank you for recipe. i used kitchen salt, spicing my way, let it 11days in cold place. then i rolled in cheese cloth and hanged it on windy place for 17days (i couldnt wait anymore). i cut a little, like you did in video and hang it again. i can tell bacon is good, i belive it will be even better next days. i will put much more now. thanks
Just to clarify, this recipe uses sodium nitrite. You can make this pancetta without the nitrite, but you will be loosing some flavor and the rosy color. Nitrites naturally occur in salt peter and and celery.
to make a stronger bond. Could you roll it up, put it in a umaibag and run it in a vacuum machine, then tie it up and ensure a really strong binding? I mean the vacuum would tighten up the pancetta and the bag although technically not a vacuumbag would still let you have enough time to tie it up. Would be fun to try,:)
How is it that you do not need to cook this meat after curing? And is there a way to test the final product to make sure you cured it correctly without tasting? If you have never done this before is it too risky to try at home? You make this recipe look unbelievably I simple. Ha. I would love to try it one day!
I always have trouble with fitting full bellies I use for traditional American bacon on my smoker, and we've wanted to square off 1/4 to 1/3 of the length and prepare the shorter pieces as pancetta to share. Would shorter rolls still work well? Any other ideas for preserving 8" sections of belly? These sections end up in sausage, which is fine, but we would like something new.
Hello, great vids, question, i made 2 rolls, JUST like the vids, hung it in the cool darkness for 4 weeks, took out one roll, no mold, it smelled wonderful, but i was concerned that it wasnt like bone dry cured, i know it lost alot of weight though, It was cured with Prague salt etc just like video and for the correct length of time, rolled VERY, VERY TIGHT..it did not spoil, it looked wonderful, just like all the pics, it just wasnt super, super dry,,, what do you think chef? thanks.
Awe man Chef Jacob that was awesome! Couple questions: For those who don't have a walk-in to hang the pancetta, can we place it on a shelf in the fridge (maybe on a sheet tray with a cooling rack to promote air flow)? Also, is there anything in particular about the rolled shape? Also, could we do it flat (e.g. non-rolled)? Or, is there something about the rolled shape?
Yes; you can cut back salt to about 3% total weight of the pork belly. Use your best judgement though because as you reduce the salt, you increase the risk of spoilage.
Thank you for enlighting me with the matter. It was very helpfull. I already prepared my pancetta and now its off to the fridge for the remaining 4 weeks... just one more thing though; what is the minimal salt % which you should use ( based on the weight of pork belly) if you wish to have sweetened bacon with maple syrup or brown sugar and what % of brown sugar shoul be added to the weight of salt in order to make it sweet. Thanks for the help in anvance...
Hello Chef. I tried this recipe and hung it for 4 months in my basement. It seemed to work ok at least the appearance of the interior is white fat and dark red meat color. I am not crazy about the taste and find that the pancetta is too salty. Is that normal? Thanks for your feedback/suggestions...
If you're not rolling it, you don't need cheese cloth. Simply poke a hole in one corner of the belly, thread with butcher's twine, and use this to hang the pancetta. If you don't have enough vertical space to hang, you can also lay it out on a tray with a wire rack (for airflow). If doing this, I do recommend laying down a piece of cheese cloth over the wire rack, as the pork belly can sometimes react with the metal and turn green (in the areas where contact was made for a prolonged period of time).As the cheese cloth gets damp, switch out with a fresh piece, and flip the belly every 5-7 days so it dries more evenly.Glad you enjoyed the video.
A friend of mine opened a pizza restaurant (Pizzeria Rustica) and offers this as a topping. I tried it an it spoiled me for life. He has his shipped in from Italy. I wonder how this would compare.
Do you have to curate in the refrigerator could you curate in a bedroom that doesn’t exceed over 70° so long as the room is like between 60° that’s fine I also heard that you can bury me because the ground is cooler than the air around it is that true
Great Video! I don't eat vegetables and definitely not grains but your pancetta recipe looks very tasty. Have to ever had "duck breast pancetta?" I raise ducks for eggs and meat. Using the breasts of jumbo pekin ducks makes excellent "pancetta."
Thanks for the video, very informative. Isn't it too salty after spending more than a week in that salt bath? Wouldn't it taste better if soaked in water to remove all the excess salt before hanging it?
never really paid much attention to pork belly when i lived back in the states, but where i am now they have it cut so some of the ribs are apart of the belly. should i ask my butcher to remove the bones? i doubt rolling it with the bone in would be very easy
Hi Jacob. Tried your method but my meat came out very salty after the initial curing process. How do i prevent this happenning again? We dont have kosher salt here so i use thick salt crystals for curing, is that ok? Also how do i de-salt the meat i just cured?
Hello Mr. Burton. It's been a long time since you created this video and I don't know if the Comments are still active. Thank you for such a professional video. It is clear, and provides a treasure of information. The Chart is a particularly 'kind' touch and quite useful. I will laminate mine and use an erasable marker to figure the numbers each time. I am about to make Pancetta arrotolata, but would like to smoke it using Alderwood pellets. Can it be done safely after the first refrigerated curing, if I use Prague #2? If not, at which point can it be done? My Smoker has a temp. probe. What internal temp. should I set it for? I have not been able to find specific information about smoking a rolled Pancetta. Thank you for helping.
Hi Steven; yes, I still review comments when I can. With what you're describing, you're basically making bacon, which will turn out delicious. Rolling is optional. After the first cure, you can roll and tie if you like, or leave flat. Smoke at 225-250F until it reaches an internal temperature of 203F. If you want a bit of a denser texture, you can press it with some weights as it cools. Best of luck.
Thank you for replying so quickly and in details. In my Region (Friuli) one can find rolled smoked pancetta, but it is unusual, more of a peculiarity than the norm. I am looking forward to reporting on the results. BTW, for some reason the comment appears under my husband's name. I am the Charcutier/Cheesemaker. Ambra.
I make guanciale and pancetta in a second fridge that stores mostly cured meat and cheese, so it's rarely opened (I have some Vegas coin tubs in there full of lump charcoal though) unless I'm making more of this stuff or cooking pasta.
Wow thanks for the tips chef! And thanks a lot for the baguette recipe too! I'm curious tho, how would I know the humidity of given room? And how could it make more/less humid? Thanks again!
You can buy a humidity meter at most nurseries, especially if they specialize in in-door growing applications. The same places will also have de-humidifiers / humidifiers that you can attach to a separate humidity reader that will help you adjust your humidity. Most of this isn't necessary though; I was just being technical in the video for all the uber geeks / pro-chefs who may want to fine tune their curing rooms.
Hello Jacob, I was wondering if we can use Sheep or Beef to do Pancetta. If so what cuts do you recommend and what should I tell by butcher to do. Many thanks. Always great as usual! :) /k
I've done this with lamb before and it comes out great. Ask your butcher for the belly, and try maybe substituting in some middle eastern spices. I think a beef belly would just be too big, but I've never tried so I can't say for sure.
Hi there, That was very informative, thank you. I have a somewhat weird question: what part of beef/lamb or turkey can I use to make a kosher style Pancetta, if at all possible?
can I hang this in a walk in cooler? its is usually around 35 degrees. and I just started one today and only used kosher salt. there is no pink salt in my mix because I want to avoid any nitrates.. how will this affect my finished product?
Jacob I like your vide. I do have a question... when you make it like in your video, is it safe to serve on a charcuterie dish and served raw? Or should it just be cooked? Provided that I know where my pork comes from.
Thank you. I have one more question. I sort of.. forgot to put sodium nitrite and just salted my bacon. Can I keep it salted in the fridge for a week, and then put some sodium nitrite for example. for 3 days ? Would it work Ok ?
Hi chef. Thanks for the informational video. In your quick notes section, you mention that 11g should be used in 1000g meat. But .11 (11%) times 1000 would be 110g. Can you give me an accurate measurement of pink salt to use with kosher salt for a 1000g piece of meat?
If keeping a 0.002% of nitrates using his formula, here is my batch 845 kosher salt needs 1.69g of nitrate Prague 1 pink salt is 6.25% nitrate w/ the rest just salt 845 X 0.002 = 1.69g nitrate 1.69g nitrates divided by 0.0625= 27.04g pink salt So for my batch of 845g kosher salt I used 27.1g Prague 1 pink curing salt
Jacob, first let me thank you for your amazing videos, I love them! I have a question, Why put the spices in top of the bottom layer of salt instead of rubbing the pork belly with them, like the top fatty part? thank you
Hi, i hanged my pancetta a week ago.. but i got a question, i want to let it hang ~1 month in a cellar with a temperature ~60°F and than want to cut and do a taste test.. my question is.. if i let it hang after that, does curing process continue or should I store it in fridge from than on.. Thank you
When making your own dry cure mix with sodium nitrite i do understand that the ratio is 200 ppm. However what percentage of salt is necessary for every kg of pork belly. I couldnt find any consistent answers from google search
birtan nazim For me, I just make the salt mix with 0.2% sodium nitrite based on the weight of the salt. I'll then apply this salt on both sides of the belly, and allow it to cure. Generally speaking though, you'll need about 5% salt mix based upon the weight of the belly, but this will vary based upon recipe & desired outcome.