UMAi Pancetta: Phase 1 (With Pics)

[tx smoker]

I've been toying with the idea of doing Pancetta for a while but have never done anything that requires long-term aging. After reading a post by Holly2015 (Lance), that gave me the confidence to proceed. My original plan was to build a curing chamber per his tutorial then discovered that I'd need a completely separate unit. We currently have four refrigerator/freezers in operation and there simply is not room for a fifth. At that point I had to drop back 10 and punt. One of our moderators had asked Lance in his post about possibly doing the Pancetta UMAi style versus in a curing chamber. There were no definitive responses but the general consensus was that it would work. Fast forward to a conversation with NEPAS (Rick) and he provided a ton of essential information to fill in the gaps from all of my research.
Side Note: Thank you both VERY much for the time and info you provided!! That sort of help is a big part of what makes this group so great.

Never having done this before, I can only guess that this thread will be in three separate sections: 1) Spicing and curing 2) Aging 3) Finished product

Needless to say, this may take a while so please bear with me. Stay tuned for further updates.

Phase 1 started yesterday.

Started with a 10.09# belly


I've seen a bunch of pics where the finished product had WAY too high a fat content so I decided to trim mine and have a higher meat to fat ratio. Certainly any "bacon" product needs some fat but not 80% :-)


Weight after trimming was 3785 grams. Mixed all the spices exactly per the calculation table provided by Lance. It includes sea salt, brown sugar, Cure #2, black pepper, juniper berries, bay leaves, nutmeg, thyme, and fresh garlic


Into a vac seal bag. All spices were gently scraped off the foil and put in the bag before sealing it. I squeezed out as much air from the bag as I could but did not vacuum it, just sealed.


It will cure until next Saturday which will be 12 days. Then it'll be rinsed, rolled, tied off, put into the UMAi bag and weighed. Weight will be checked every 4 to 5 days and written down. Target will be 30 to 35 percent weight loss as it ages.

Uncharted territory in Lago,
Robert

 

[daveomak]

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[disco]

I'm watching this for sure!

 

[tx smoker]

"Looking good so far. After water rinsing you can also rinse again in white wine if you want. After all the rinsing is done and the meat is patted dry don't forget to give it another light coat of black pepper before rolling and tying."

I definitely plan to sprinkle with black pepper but had not considered rubbing it with wine. I like that idea and can't help but think it'd add another layer of flavor.

"Another thing to make belly curing easier is if you have a local restaurant supply store get a food grade 20 x 15 x 7 bus pan and lid. They can easily be had for around $10. They hold a full size belly eliminating the need for large vacuum bags and clean up is a snap. Also no need for secondary containment when using the bus tub. I have also found them handy when curing multiple smaller individual meats as the bus tub works as secondary containment and keeps everything together."

I saw where you were using the tub and love the idea. The problem is that I live well northwest of Austin and the only restaurant supply stores are in the city. It's a major case of doing Commuter Combat (as I call it) to get into Austin. I'm through there regularly for work but it's usually at 4:30 in the morning and they aren't open yet. If this stuff comes out like I hope it does, there are several other things I want to try and will most likely order a couple of tubs from Amazon.

"Keep us posted on your progress."

Will do....and thank you again for all the help!! I'd have never attempted this if weren't for reading your post.

Robert

 

[tx smoker]

Hey Dave....thanks for dropping in. Need some butter for that popcorn? <grin>

Robert

 

[tx smoker]

"I'm watching this for sure!"

Thank you Disco!! It's gonna be a while so you may want to grab a bucket of popcorn and sit down with Dave.

Robert

 

[daveomak]

Yep.... Mo butta is always a good thing....