Pancetta
Well a few weeks ago I found a store with pork belly. I suspect if I went into that butcher shop yelling 'Green Card, Green Card' there would be a panic, but he sold me the pork belly, showing he has a better idea of what is good than the SS, I mean Homeland Security.
14 lbs it was, with some ribs.
I got a almost 5 lb piece with skin I used for bacon and roasted last week, mmmm good.
And a 5 lb piece without skin that I cured and last week roled tight, after the manner of Ruhlman and Polcyn.
That is what it looked like this AM.
'I'm ready for my close up1"
That is what a slice looks like coming out of the meat slicer - lovely little Xmas present from the sous-chef (I'm the dish washer).
And that is what the whole piece looks like, a bit more than 4 lbs of pancetta, for a total cost of about $18.
And three ounces of the pancetta went into tonights dinner.
Warner
Those are beautiful!
Kathy
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Ruhlman and Polcyn?
Wow that looks wonderful! This is so neat, I really like your blog. That slicer is amazing.
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Michael Ruhlman wrote a book on Charcuteire with Brian Polcyn. Ruhlman's blog is listed on the left under food blogs and a connection to the book on Amazon is under books.
It is a piece of factory pork belly which was brined for almost two weeks and then rolled and hung in a cool place for another week. The color changes in the lean are amazing.
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The pancetta is really beautiful. It's hopefully going to be one of my next projects; I've ordered a whole pork belly, due to come in on the 16th. I just finished and posted about my first bacon experience. Definitely addictive. Let me know if you have any hints on the pancetta-making. And congrats on the slicer - and the sous-chef who got it for you...
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If you don't have strong hands, don't try and roll it up, rather wrap it in cheese cloth. You really do need to get all the air possible out of the roll.
The sous-chef thinks I'm crazy and is going crazy tryiing to figure out what to do with the output.
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My wife says it is really useful to be able to just go to the freezer and pull out 1/4 lb of pancetta or prosciutto or bacon.
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I heart pancetta. I don't slice it up right off (nice slicer, BTW), but I do chunk it into lengths, then vacuum-seal and freeze each length. Makes the belly last a good 5 months. Cut thickly into lardons, it's better than bacon. No...really.
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That is how the sous-chef wanted it. The idea of being able to go to the freezer in the garage and pull out a 1/4 lb of pancetta fascinates her. It is getting used.
The slicer is a Waring and I think she paid under $100 for it.
The first five lbs of that pork belly became bacon, the second five pounds pancetta. Same meat, such different tastes.
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Your post in CI's BB got us going. This site is GREAT! We ordered Charcuterie , thanks to your recommendation.
Our local butcher ordered a certified pork belly for us.
DH cleaned out our wine cooler and checked to see if will maintain a temp of 55. It does.
Is Morton Tender Quick a good 'pink salt'? Can't wait to rock n roll with this.
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I use InstaCure #1 or #2 as specified in the recipe in Charcuterie, or other book. They are also Prague Powder #1 and #2 at other suppliers. These are available from www.sausagemaker.com (which is in the list of supplier's links). Some items, such as the Dry Cured Ham use neither, using only salt, and later lard and pepper. You do want Kosher or Sea salt. You don't want iodized salt for charcuterie. It should be available at any good supermarket.
I don't know if Morton Tender Quick is a good 'pink salt' as I've never used it or seen it specified.
If the pork is going to be cooked/smoked to a temperature of over 155 F it does not need to be certified. An alternative, which I use for dry cure work, is to freeze the meat for over 3 weeks at 0 F, a temperature probably not reached in a refrigerator freezer.
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The pig looks great. I imagine it tastes as good as it looks. As an FYI, I had a Waring Pro slicer like the one you received as a gift. I would use it periodically, i.e. once per month to slice lunch meats, salami and summer sausage. It lasted less than 1 year. The slicer is screw/gear driven. The screw is made out of cheap delrin plastic that connects to the metal gear on the slicer blade. After a while, with repeated usage, the screw simply strips out. When my slicer gave up the ghost recently, I looked on the web and found innumerable complaints expressing the same dissatisfaction. I should have checked the web prior to my purchase. Mea culpa. I hope you have better success with your than mine. Definitely do not use it to slice cheese as it will definitely burn up much faster. This time around I purchased a serious meat slicer that will last, the Berkel 825A, for $693 online with free shipping. It's overkill and takes up considerable storage space but it sure works well and should last me a lifetime.
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Thanks for the word on the slicer. I recently had a similar problems with a top of the line Kitchen Aid mixer where KA refuses to admit poor engineering practice even though they have replaced the part in question on current production.
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