Homemade Pancetta
Don't be daunted by the thought of making your own pancetta, it is really satisfying and utterly delicious. Ask your butcher for good quality pork belly, check where it comes from and make sure he has deboned & derinded it for you - unless you have some very sharp knives in your kitchen and are an aspiring butcher. Matt Wardman, our head chef at The Swan advises hanging it over a half-filled bucket of water to achieve the required humidity.
Ingredients:
3kg Pork Belly (Deboned and Derinded)
90g Salt
34g Demerara Sugar
12g Ground Black Pepper
13g Ground Juniper Berries
2g Ground Bay Leaves
3.5g Dried Thyme
5g Ground Nutmeg
12g Garlic Powder
Method:
Combine the dry spices, mixing them well.
Lay the pork belly out on a flat surface and rub the dry spice mixture onto all the exposed surfaces of the meat.
Roll up the belly and place into a large freezer bag or equivalent and seal. Place the bag into a fridge and store for 10 days, turning the bag every few days
After 10 days, take the belly out of the fridge and rinse the outside in cold water to remove any excess spice mixture. Don’t soak the belly in water!
Using a couple of meat hooks, hang the belly in a cool place for approximately 3 weeks (ideal conditions are 10 – 15 C and 60 – 70 % humidity).
