You can do this. Also, once you do – you’ll never look back. You’ll never look at a case of cured meats and think of them beyond your grasp. As always, let’s get to work:
I ran two duel tests. One test with Cure #1 and one test with Cure #2. This walkthrough is for pancetta cured with Cure #1, and it’s meant to be cooked before using.
First and foremost find a local butcher. Do not go through all of this work and effort and skimp on the quality of the product. Pancetta highlights the beauty of pork, not mask it. Make sure what you’re starting with matches that sentiment.
Worksheet:
Before I go any further, when in doubt, this website was my Bible: http://curedmeats.blogspot.com/. If you run into any in-depth questions or want to browse through all of the interesting comments it’s a great read.
On to the pork!
I used roughly 2.5 lbs of pork belly purchased from Salt & Time in Austin, Tx. Again, even though the worksheet says Cure #2 I made this version using Cure #1 (it’s the same measurement). Cure #2 is for pancetta meant to be eaten raw, which we’ll get to on a different post.
Feel free to tweak your recipe as you see fit other than the Cure. The Cure is .26% of whatever the weight of your meat is.
First, combine all of your spice ingredients into a bowl or baggy and use an object to ground as much as possible. Cure #1 on it’s own is not something you want to eat raw, so don’t use a pepper grinder or anything you plan on using again to grind ingredients. I like putting it all in a ziploc and running a rolling pin over it a couple of times.
From this point on you can choose to go professional (vacuum sealed bags, curing chambers, exotic spices you may have never cooked with before like juniper berries) or you can go home cook “I don’t want to invest till I get a couple test runs in” style.
The latter is the style I chose.
Meaning, using ziploc bags, a baking sheet with a cook wire rack, and a cleared out bottom shelf in my everyday fridge.
Second, once your spices are ground, completely cover the pork belly in them. Rub into every nook and cranny. Date a ziploc bag and place your pork belly in. Go ahead and pour in whatever spice rub that didn’t stick to the pork the first time. Place this beauty in your fridge and try and forget about it for 10 to 14 days.
After your 10-14 days are up, pull the pork belly out and wash as much of the spice rub off as possible. Make sure to use cold water since pork fat melts at a relatively low temperature and you don’t want that happening. Pat the pork belly completely dry and ponder existence. While pondering, decide whether you want to add another coat of rub or go simple. Many add red pepper flakes and other seasoning at this point. I went with a simple later of fresh ground black pepper – that’s it.
Prepare a cookie sheet and place a wire drying rack inside of it. Get one with as much clearance as possible (the important part here is airflow, you want there to be as much of it as equal as possible.). The cookie sheet will help keep the bottom of your fridge shelf clean from potential fat dripping or spice rub falloff. Get a piece of tape, write the date on it, and place on the cookie sheet.
Third, place your washed, dried, and re-seasoned pork belly back into the fridge on your wire rack/cookie sheet contraption.
Finally, let it slowly dry out and finish it’s curing process for a minimum of 2 weeks (I’d say max 1 month before you taste the thing). Slice thin, chop up, quick fry and toss in some homemade pasta and you’re in serious, serious business. You’re also probably now addicted to what my butcher romantically called “the good fats”.
Note: If you’re using Cure #2 your curing time is different. It usually lasts about 1 month minimum but is more often a result of the weight of the pork belly reducing by 20%.
