Lardo Typico

  It has been a long time since my last blog post.  I completed two other projects in between the Pancetta Tesa and the Lardo Typico, but the pictures were lost and a post just would not look as good without them.  One was Breasola, which is dry cured eye of round, and the other was Pork Filetto, which is a dry cured pork tenderloin.

  One thing that is important to remember is that the quality of the pork fat being used will determine if the end result is bland or flavorful.  It is simply not worth it to attempt this cure without having a source of pork that is allowed to forage on its own.  Using a hog that has eaten grains and nuts will have a unique flavor that the curing will only enhance.  A factory raised hog will just end up being flavorless and a waste of one's time to cure. 

  Lardo is basically the back fat from a hog that is covered in salt and herbs/aromatics and placed in complete darkness for at least six months.  The lardo is placed in darkness because any exposure of the fat to light will damage it.  Historically lardo is made Colonnata style in which the fat is placed inside of a solid marble casket to cure.  The calcium carbonate that is in the marble is supposed to change the flavor of the fat when it interacts with the cure.  Since it would have been almost impossible for me to find a solid marble container I ended up making Lardo Typico. 

 This was definitely one of the easier projects I have taken on.  To start all that I had to do was mix the ingredients in the cure together.  Next I put the back fat in a 2 gallon zip-top bag and completely covered the fat with the cure.  Finally I just had to wrap the zip-top bag in a black plastic bag just to ensure that no light would be able to penetrate through to the fat and place it in the fridge...oh and I had to wait around for six months.

 I started this cure back in the first week of May, now after six months it was finally time to remove it from its slumber.  The only other thing left to do was to brush off the excess salt, cut a gossamer thin slice and give it a taste.









  I can't even describe what it tastes like, it is unlike anything I have ever had.  There is a slight hint of the 'pineyness' of the rosemary and juniper along with a touch of garlic.  I wasn't able to taste any of the black pepper or bay leaf, but there was not much of either in the cure.  The lardo when sliced thin enough just melted from the heat of my mouth, leaving that amazing pure pork taste.  I found that giving it a drizzle of good olive oil also helped enhance the flavor.

Pancetta Tesa

  This was my first attempt at actually dry curing meat using my curing chamber.  I decided to try pancetta first since I was already purchasing pork belly for bacon. Pancetta also requires less supplies needed to cure it, such as casings, twine, or even a mold spray, which some other whole muscle cuts need to cure. The two most common types of pancetta are arrotolata and tesa. Arrotolata is the rolled up shape that most Americans think of when they think of pancetta. When curing using the arrotolata style, the belly must be rolled up tight to prevent any space from left open in the middle of the roll, for this reason sodium nitrate is usually called for in the cure. The other style, tesa, is just cured by hanging it as is after it is cured, and does not call for nitrates due to there being no chance of dead air space inside the meat. The only bad thing about having air pockets is that botulism can form, since it is anaerobic.

  The first thing I had to do when making this, was cut a section of the whole belly I used in the previous savory bacon post. I then trimmed the piece of any overhanging flaps of meat. The final weight of the piece of meat was 44.60 oz. 
 

 Next up was to create the cure. The cure I used is similar to the savory bacon, but with a few less flavors that would overpower the pork taste.
The original recipe was for 10 lbs of belly, which I then cut by 1/4th, except for the salt, which I kept at 3% of the weight of the meat.

 Just like the bacon, this will then go into the appropriate sized Ziploc bag and go into the fridge for 5 days, flipping daily and re-rubbing the cure at least once halfway through. Once this process is finished, it needs to be rinsed under cold water to remove all of the cure/seasoning. The next thing I had to do was to pat dry the meat and find out the final weight before it is placed into the curing chamber. 

 The final weight of the meat was 44.25oz (1256g) and to be considered finished, it has to hang until it loses 30% of its weight, which should be a final weight of 31oz (869g). To hang the meat in the chamber, all I had to do was puncture a hole in the corner of the belly and run a piece of twine to hang it with.  The only thing left to do was to wait and weigh the meat every couple days after waiting two weeks.

The finished product ended up taking just over three weeks in the curing chamber to hit 30% weight loss.










The pancetta can be eaten raw since it lost 30% of its weight, but I prefer it cooked.  It seemed to be very chewy compared to other cured meats.  I am not sure if this was due to not using a slicer to get a paper thin cut, or if this is how belly is compared to say prosciutto.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara is one of the more popular dishes using pancetta. 

Savory Bacon

  One of the easiest ways to start learning how to cure meat is by making bacon. The key ingredient that makes bacon bacon is sodium nitrate. Sodium nitrate goes by many names, including DQ1, Prague Powder #1, and sometimes just Pink Salt (not to be confused with Hawaiian salt, which is just pink). Sodium nitrate also gives bacon its distinct pink color and flavor, otherwise, it would just taste like pork. Bacon can be made with as little as a pork belly and some curing salt, or as complex and flavorful as a savory recipe.



 

  Whole 12lb pork belly before being cut into sections for different recipes. Unfortunately this came with the skin already removed.

5lb section of belly that I am going to be using for the savory bacon.








  Here is the cure I used for the belly, which it will sit in for 7 days in the fridge in a 2 gallon Ziploc bag. I try to flip the bag daily just to redistribute the cure and seasonings to both sides of the belly. The only benefit to not having skin is better absorption of the cure on the side that would normally have the skin.
 

 Once this process is complete, the belly needs to be rinsed off in cold water to remove all of the cure. Next pat the belly dry and from here there are multiple options.

  If the belly is being smoked, which I am going to do, place it in the fridge on a rack overnight to form a pellicle, which is a skin that forms on the surface of a protein that allows smoke to better adhere to that protein.


The other option is just to put it straight into the oven on a rack, this does not require a pellicle. Either way, the bacon needs to be smoked/cooked at 200* until the internal temperature in the thickest part reaches 150*F, which takes up to two hours.  Cold smoking is another option, which is when the meat is smoked at <100*F. Cold smoking takes anywhere from 6-10 hours, depending on the amount of smoke flavor that is wanted. I decided to try it this attempt for 6 hours, using a mix of hickory and applewood.



 Now that the bacon is cooked, it is time to let it firm up before slicing it.  Usually at this point I would remove the skin, but that was already done by the butcher. I found the easiest way to do this is to cut about an inch of the skin off and that is usually enough to let you just pull the rest off in a single piece, as long as it is hot. So after that is done, put it in the fridge for a couple hours, or overnight if you can wait that long. Now that the bacon is cold and firm, it is easier to slice.  

  I am lucky enough to already own a meat slicer, which makes this job so much easier, otherwise, I would have to be patient with a knife to make lots of uniform slices. The bacon can now be vacuum packed for long term storage in the freezer. I would suggest making packets sized without about as much bacon that would be used in 1-2 weeks time, so it stays fresh while in the fridge.

  That is about all there is to making bacon. The process is not hard at all, just requires good product, a few special ingredients, and time.

Curing Chamber

  One of the first things needed to start curing most types of meat is some form of a curing chamber. There are a few exceptions to this, such as having an area where humidity and temperature stay somewhat stable at around 55-60*F and 70% RH. Temperature is important because if is too hot, there is a greater chance of mold and the meat could cure too fast. There is not necessarily that big of a problem with it being too cold (to an extent) since it will only slow down the cure, which can increase the flavor. Humidity is similar, if it is too humid, there could be mold growth or the meat could get wet while curing, but if it is dry and the meat is in a casing, it could dry out and crack.  

  I decided to buy a wine cooler off of Craiglist since it requires minimal space and is already designed to run in the 50-65* temperature range, which is perfect for red and white wines. Another option is to buy a full sized fridge and modify it to run in the correct temperature range, but this takes up a lot more space and requires $200+ worth of parts. There is a guide to this which can be found here.

  Since I went the wine cooler route, the only thing I had to worry about was stabilizing the humidity in the chamber. One of the easiest ways to do this was to put in a tray of wet salt. The salt should be mixed with water until it will not absorb any more and there is no excess water on the surface, which could lead to mold. A wet salt solution should hold a RH of 75%, releasing moisture or absorbing excess out of the air, depending on the RH in the chamber. 

  The next item which is required is a hygrometer. The easiest way is to buy one that will display both the temperature and humidity, so that they can both be verified. I purchased one for under $10 off of Amazon.com Hygrometer.

  The only other thing I use, which is not totally necessary, is a 12v computer fan which I spliced onto a 12v cell phone charger (make sure the amperage is similar or the fan could overheat). This will help move the air around, since there can be a temperature variance between the top and bottom of the chamber.

 Once this is all complete and the curing chamber is stabilized to around 55-60*F and 70% RH, the only thing left to do is decide which type of meat to cure first.