Pig Slaughter III - The Pancetta Project...

[WALLE]

With the likes of Rich and CA cheering me on, I'm diving head first into my first batch of Pancetta. This should be one hell of an experience as I'll admit, as close to Pancetta as I have ever been has been drooling over pictures from where I sit now. Bassman assures me that Mrs Bassman has a keen taste and honest mind regarding Pancetta... so that will be a party all by itself!

On to the post.

I pulled my biggest belly and split it length ways with the grain of the muscle, so that when rolled and sliced, it will still be across the grain like bacon.

Dispite the good advice of CA, I used the following mixture:
For one 8# belly,
4 T Paprika
2 T Garlic Powder
1 T Onion Powder

I rubbed this directly on to the belly that had already been curing for seven days using Mortons Sugar Cure, BP, and garlic powder.



Belly split



Pancetta rub, rubbed!



!@#$ - found out that the Mrs's used up all of the vacuum bags... so while I'm awaiting my order from the post a few days ago.. I'm stuck with gallon zip locks.



Pull up a chair. I'm sure you pro's out there will certainly get a laugh out of my new project, and I'm sure I'll be asking questions come another two weeks.

Thanks for checking out my post,
Tracey

[crusty ol salt]

and the journey begins... fair winds and following seas. I cant wait to see the finished product

[Bassman]

I'm sure no matter what herbs and spices you use in there, it will be good. Now we wait.........

[morkdach]

ohe boy this is gonna be good
we just have to wait

[erain]

very intersting... be watching this post as well, with my hawg butchering yet to take place. i am really glad to see posts like this, MPackins sausage posts, TbT's pepperoni, and your slaughter post with subsequent events like this are really priming me up...points upon the finished product bro...

ps: cant wait for Mrs. Bassmans review too...

[HawgHeaven]

Can't wait for the finale!! Looks awesome so far...

[WALLE]

A very good start Wally, But where is the juniper berries, bay leafs?

By the way you should check out my Pancetta thread ( sorry bout the shameless plug )

Derek, I did and that's why I went with CA's suggestion... I think I want pink pancetta, not green - too far away from St. Patty's Day...

JUST KIDDING!!!, brother!

That's the nice thing I like about doing something I know nothing about... it's damn hard to be dissappointmented in the results!

Like I said, I'm sure everone who does know what they are doing will get a kick out of me stumbling my dumb ass through this one! Hell, I'll be laughing right along with all of ya.

Thanks for the comments - back in a couple of weeks.

FOCKER out!

[DangerDan]

When you roll the slab up just be sure to roll it as tight as you can possibly get it and truss it up good. The object is, you don't want any air inside the rolled slab as you'll be drying this product for a considerable period of time. If the slab is rolled too loose, there is a possibility that mold could initiate on the outer portion and travel into the inner portions of the roll. While tending the outer portions and removing any mold that may occur, there is a possibility of intrusion into the inner section through the rolled crevices. This is also dependent on the drying area environment. Just keep a close eye on your project and it should be fine.

[ALX]

Look forward to learning with you Tracey...A great bunch have your back...

[WALLE]

ALX - thanks!

Dan - thanks a lot. I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions when it comes down to that. Damn! about 10 more days before I can even start!

[Cajunsmoke13]

Sounds good...how much cure did you use? I saw this one a website,,,how do you know you put enough on? Basic questions, but don't want any green on mine...

Basic Dry Cure from Charcuterie
1 pound/450 grams kosher salt (2 cups Morton's coarse kosher salt)
8 ounces/225 grams sugar (about 1 cup)
2 ounces/50 grams pink salt (10 teaspoons)

Combine and mix till pink salt is uniformly distributed. Store indefinitely in air-tight container.

[WALLE]

Cajun,
Honestly I don't know. I was curing a belly for bacon using Morton's which is one T per pound of meat. In running it by Rich and CA, we felt I could continue on with that same cure/amount for pancetta, only adding another two to three weeks to the curing time.

I did vacuum seal mine.

[Richtee]

Sounds good...how much cure did you use? I saw this one a website,,,how do you know you put enough on? Basic questions, but don't want any green on mine...

Cajun... one diff. between the Morton's TQ and it's substitute you found is TQ contains a small amount of NITRATE as well and nitrite- or if ya prefer, a bit of Cure #2 and mainly Cure#1.

Hence, it has the ability of being a "longer" short length curing product. Based on this, we figgered it would be fine for Walle to continue on curing and just adding the spice he wanted to create the pancetta.

Honestly, I feel the sub. TQ analog would work as well and a month in cure, at proper temps- is still within Cure #1's range of safety.

You would use the TQ sub. at the same rate of 1 Tablespoon/Lb. You may need a soaking period after to remove some salt, but that's OK.

[BBQ Engineer]

that's why I went with CA's suggestion...
FOCKER out!

Tracey,

Yup...when I'm venturing into unknown territory, it's always best to go with something tried and true, and take advice from people that I would consider experts...Then and only then after I have mastered the basics will I branch out and experiment. Definitely much safer that way.

Can't wait to see how this turns out. I'm sure that it will be awesome!

[Cajunsmoke13]

Thanks Rich and Walle. Good information. Never done anything like that before, itching to do some now.