Pancetta Arrotolata Stagionata

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indaswamp

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Apr 27, 2017
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South Louisiana-Yes, it is HOT
Helped my Uncle Demolish an old deck in his back yard Wednesday. He insisted on paying me, I declined. He insisted...Pulled out $140 and said "Go buy a pastured Berkshire pork belly and make pancetta for the family Christmas party..I'm buying." I said, "Yes Sir! That will be done."

So today, I rode up to the butcher and picked up a 14.25# full belly, 2 1/2" thick; $7.69/# which is not bad for the quality of the pork. The butcher shop just moved to a new location in June and they have expanded to include a deli serving hot lunches, thus they had some new employees that did not know me. I asked for a whole pork belly and he went to pull out what they had in the meat case under the counter. I then clarified that I wanted the full whole belly untrimmed. He went got the head butcher. After some chit chat and filling him in on my new chamber, he said give me 10 minutes and I'll have you a whole belly, need to cut it. He pulled out a loin primal and cut the belly off for me.
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Got home and got to work. Belly trimmed ready to go with Salt, cure and spices...
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Tools and twine ready to go...
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seasoned...
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Sewed...
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Man that skin was tough like leather! I need to get a different needle. I started and then changed up the suture pattern 1/3rd the way through to close it up better.

I did not have a salted veil which is traditionally used on the ends of the pancetta after it is rolled. But I did have half of a beef bung that worked well. I used a piece of 60mm beef middle cut open lengthwise over the sewn area.
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and trussed....
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Be ready in 4 months...Just in time for Christmas.

Thanks to Giorgino and David @youtube for the tips on Pancetta Stagionata.


And thanks to Fabrizio @ the Piacentina Consortium Norcini Institute for the instruction on rolling, sewing and trussing Pancetta:
 
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Pancetta Stagionata Arrotolata

1000 grams pork belly

25g. Sea Salt 2.5%
3g. cure #2 0.3%
2g. Red Peppercorn ground*
0.4g. Black peppercorns ground
0.5g. Nutmeg ground
0.4g. Cinnamon
0.125g. Clove spice (1 clove)
2/3 clove of garlic (3 cloves per 5kg.)

**1g. Dextrose
**0.25g. B-LC-78 whole muscle surface starter culture

*white pepper can be substituted
**not traditionally used, but gives a better safety profile.
 
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Kicking back and waiting for the unveiling. Beautiful work Keith

Point for sure
Chris
 
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Reactions: indaswamp
Awesome, what a work. That looks outrageous.
Thanks Nefarious!

Well you have my attention. See you at Christmas
Thanks Jake! Still got room for more in the chamber...stay tuned.....

beautiful looking pictures, will be fun to follow the progression!
Thanks tbern! Pancetta only needs 4 months of maturing, but it is much better after 8 in my opinion....more complex flavor development.

Absolutely incredible Keith!! I sure hope I'm still on your Christmas card mailing list :emoji_wink:

Robert
Thanks Robery, I have not forgotten about you...

Wow Keith

That will be a nice gift to open for Christmas

I'm in for the show /unveiling

David
Thanks David. Been wanting to do a pancetta for a while. Almost 6kilos of belly trimmed down to 3.6kg. for rolling. I have the trim set aside for Sopressa Modenese when I buy hams to make Culatello this fall; I'll use the trim from those as well.
 
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  • Wow
Reactions: DRKsmoking
Salted veil is the cavity lining of the animal. Italian butchers would remove this prior to breaking down the primals. This is that membrane that you remove when cleaning ribs. It helps to keep the fat from oxidizing and slows moisture loss a little. The beef bung I am using is thicker and should work real well at preventing oxidation of the fat on the ends.

Pretty certain I got it tight enough. I had to stop halfway through and put on a new leather glove to apply the tension while wrapping the twine, bare handed just was not cutting it. When I finished, water was seeping out of the holes from the needle tool.....can't squeeze it by hand it is so tight so hopefully no air pockets....
 
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Like I needed another reason to look forward to Christmas. This looks amazing!
Thanks bertman!

That is art.
Charcuterie is an art.
You Sir are an artist.
And I look forward to seeing this masterpiece unveiled for Christmas.
Thanks chile! I am having a lot of fun exploring this craft! Always more to learn...It's all the little small details.....
 
So, I have just learned that I made Pancetta Stagionata, not Piacentina. Garlic and cinnamon are not in Pancetta Piacentina. It will still be good though!

*edit-
Thread title changed to reflect accurate description...
 
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