BACON - Homemade recipe for 70 days
- bbqspark
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Today we'll show you how to make homemade guanciale, a cured meat famous for melting in your mouth.
The guanciale comes from the neck and cheek area of the pig.
The video shows a homemade process intended for self-consumption and based on our local traditions.
INGREDIENTS
- Pork cheek or neck
- White or rosé wine
For the spices:
- White peppercorns
- Fennel seeds
- Coriander seeds
- Dried chili peppers
PREPARATION
We trim our cut of meat, removing the excess fat.
Then, using a larding needle, pierce a corner of the meat and thread the string through, which will be used to hang them. This step can also be done after salting, but we recommend doing it first because applying salt will make the meat extremely firm.
Once the thread has passed through, we make a figure eight knot to join the two ends, tightening and pulling it very well.
The next stage is salting.
We'll need a large baking dish, and we'll add a first layer of salt to create a base. Place the cut, rind-side down, and cover it with more salt. We use medium-grain sea salt, to which we've added 2 grams of nitrite salt. The cut should be completely covered with salt, including the sides.
Once salting is complete, we will leave the meat in the refrigerator for 6 days.
After six days, you will notice that the salt has worked correctly: the cut of meat will be firmer and the rind and lean parts will have changed color slightly.
It's time to clean the guanciale: first, we'll manually remove the excess salt and then, using white or rosé wine, we'll rinse off the remaining residue. The wine will help add sweet, floral notes to the dish, and the alcohol will also help disinfect the surface.
After washing it thoroughly, we dry it meticulously with kitchen paper, since water is a favorable environment for bacterial proliferation.
All we have to do is hang it up and let it dry further, while we prepare the spices.
The spices we have chosen are white peppercorns, coriander seeds and fennel seeds, which we will place in a mortar and reduce to a fine powder.
We'll add some chopped dried chili peppers to the spices, but if you don't like it spicy, you can omit them or remove the seeds.
Take the guanciale and cover it completely with the herbs, massaging the spices into all sides, leaving aside the rind, where the flavors won't penetrate. Don't forget the string hole.
Once spiced, we will leave them hanging in the kitchen for three days at a temperature of 18°C, so that they can dry before curing.
Once the drying process is complete, we can place the guanciale in the cellar to mature: it will have to remain there for at least a month, at a temperature of 8-15°C and 75-85% humidity.
Once the curing time is up, we can observe the result: the cured meat should be mold-free, with a firm, dry consistency. Even the rind should not be sticky.
We proceed with the sectioning and removing the rind. The guanciale should be sliced very thinly with a slicer, about 1 mm. This way, each slice will melt in your mouth.
The aromas bring freshness to the mouth, and the spiciness of the chili pepper contrasts with the delicate fat, allowing you to eat several slices without it becoming cloying.
Eaten like this, it's really delicious, but it would also be perfect for a pasta carbonara!
If you want to always have the cooking levels for each preparation at hand, try our new T-Shirt!
