salty pancetta

tc fish bum

Meat Mopper

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Oct 23, 2013

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• Oct 28, 2015

• #1

so I did my first batch of lamb pancetta and it was way salty. my cure/sugar/salt mix was the same as I use for bbb and hams and they always turn out good. could it be that because my lamb belly was only 3/4" thick that it picked up too much? I had it on cure only 2 days because it was so thin, pork is more like a week or so as its thicker. any ideas on what to do for my next batch? im gonna have 8 more bellys to play with so I do have enough to experiment with.

 

daveomak

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• Oct 29, 2015

• #2

Did you weigh the salt..? Did you roll the belly and tie it or put in a casing. ? Cure #1 or #2..?. Only 2 days on the cure ?? What does that mean....

 

tc fish bum

Meat Mopper

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Oct 23, 2013

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• Oct 29, 2015

• #3

sorry, 1/4 cup salt, 1/4 cup brn sugar, 1 tsp cure #1, bay leaf, juniper berries, rosemary, garlic,pepper corn. into a ziplock for 2 days. washed with red wine and cover with honey,rosemary,garlic and pepper again. rolled- put into a umai dry bag for 1 week to set the roll. thin sliced and fried like bacon.it is spot on, just really really salty. I can use the batch I have in stuff like fried taters or as flavoring in pasta in moderation but nobody is gonna want to eat it straight like it should be eaten

 

DanMcG

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• Oct 30, 2015

• #4

How much weight loss did you have? the more weight loss the more concentrated the salt will be.

 

tc fish bum

Meat Mopper

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Oct 23, 2013

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• Oct 30, 2015

• #5

this was the first time I have ever tried to do a mutton cure of anything. weight loss is really nominal because my  aim was to develop a flavor profile and cure rate before I start to age/dry them. I measured the thickness of the ones I just did and they were 1/4" to 3/4". so im guessing that the time spent on the cure itself could probably be more in the 12-24 hrs  range. maybe? the next batch I do I will fry test every 12 hrs till im happy with the salt leve,l then herb roll and age. .may even cold smoke a few just cause. will throw some pics in when im done cause they do look pretty. now if I can only get them to taste like they look!

 

tc fish bum

Meat Mopper

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Oct 23, 2013

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• Oct 30, 2015

• #6

here is a dumb question. would I be better off using tender quick given its a fast cure and my belly is so thin? can you age with TQ or will I have to freeze it fresh? the next belly I do will come off of a 1 year old hair sheep so im guessing it will be slightly thicker? if she is tough I will cube and can all of her. done it before and it tastes a lot like venison

 

daveomak

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• Oct 31, 2015

• #7

It sounds like you are making a "rolled" bacon.... pancetta takes months to dry, uses cure #2 and a fermenting/aging chamber of sorts...

For the rolled bacon, may I suggest weighing the salt so you are adding about 2- 2.5% salt, proper amount of cure #1 etc.... Then do what ever you are going to do with it... Personally I like 2% salt... 1.0-1.2 grams cure #1 per pound for a dry brined bacon...

 

tc fish bum

Meat Mopper

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• Nov 2, 2015

• #8

thanks dave I will take you up on cure #2 and 2% salt. as for curing chamber? the old timer sold his farm in ky and moved to northern Michigan with me so my smoke house and curing chamber got left behind to a darn nice doctor who bought the spread. I will have to figure something out or find someone.