Pancetta Tesa (flat) & Arrotolata (rolled)

 Flat panacetta- weight 545g
35% dehydration- weight 354g
40% dehydration- weight 327g 

Rolled panacetta- weight 533g 
35% dehydration- weight 346g
40% dehydration- weight 320g
 
I'm happy with the pork I'm curing, but as its going to take ages to cure  and there is more room in the hanging box I thought I'd try doing a couple of other cures at the same time. I note in the Italian's fridge he had a few things on the go.
I'd do a salami but don't have the skins, so will look at other alternatives. 
I've been watching some more Pancetta videos, some flat and some rolled up.
As this is just pork belly I thought I'd get a couple and try both methods.
The salt content for curing seems important.

8th Jan

In Pak,n,Save pork Belly was 19$/kg, and in Countdown they have some frozen pork 18$/1.25kg = 14.40/kg so I got that instead. I note they have frozen pork ribs too, so I may try some of them sometime.
So 600g for each approx. They both need to be in the fridge for a while, not sure whether to salt and bag or dry and drain. The Salt and bag will stop smells going into other food in the Fridge, so I think I'll try that method.
One comment was on the curing, if mould is present, use red wine vinegar and spray to kill off mould, so I may need another spray bottle for that. A good idea.

Flat pancetta 

The video below is for the flat method:

Its pretty much the same as the first chap, cuoredicioccolato:

This one has you turning the meat in the fridge for 7 days, but a nice finish to it.

Rolled Pancetta

This one is good, by the River Cottage channel:

Its great hearing the spanish:

Process

 It was taking a while to thaw the frozen pork belly so I put it in lukewarm water and that sped up the thawing.
I decided I'd go with the videos that put the meat in bags as I didn't want meat smells in the fridge.
I skinned the Skin off of the meat, one side went well, the other side I was cutting too deep and a fine layer of meat and fat came off.
After de-skinning it weighed just over 1kg (started at 1.25kg). So I decided to cut that in half, one side was thicker than the other, so that will be the flat and the thinner can be rolled (it'll be easier to do).

At 500g each, 5% of weight is 25g of salt. I als had some bay leaves and peppercorns and corriander seeeds.
I put each piece of meat in a seperate bag and rubeed half the mixture over each side (the salt being finer was at the bottom, so I had to flip over a couple of times to make sure I distributed the salt evenly).
I heat sealed the bags so all the juices don't leak out and put them in the fridge. I also put the skin in a seperate bag, I havent decided what i'll do with that yet. 

14th Jan 

It has been a week in fridge curing so  I am taking from fridge, washing them both and put a rub on them and hang them overnight in Biltong box to get the loose fluid out of them. I decided I'd leave these in the fridge when I head up country and let them cure here.
The flat one I did first and followed the Italian Gentlemans rub mixture and rinced off in beer , in my case, Stout as that was all I had open.
The rub was approx
2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic pepper
2 tsp brown sugar (I think about 3)
1 tsp of chilli flakes
1/2 nutmeg ground on microplane
I also used the same rub for the rolled one too and washed in Beer.
Flat panacetta- weight 545g and then hung

 

Rolled panacetta weight 533g then hung

 

I initially had trouble doing a tight roll. The green/white string broke, so I went to builders line string. The idea is that no air inside ads that can hold bacteria. 

I put rub on inside and outside of the rolled meat. I then put it in the garlic plastic stocking, that made it easier to tie up. 

 I then hung all 3 meats in the biltong box for a bit of an airing & drip drying with containers under them.

 15th Jan

I need to move these meats to the fridge and hang them with a dish under whilst I'm away. As I wont have much fresh food in the fridge I'm not worried about meat smell getting into other foods.
The tags are sitting on top of the wood to say what they should weigh after 35 and 40% dehydration.

27th Feb

I was up with Zoe and Karl for about 6 weeks so the meats just hung in the fridge. On return I had to weigh them.

flat	rolled	shoulder
545	533	882
305	388	547
240	145	335
0.559633	0.727955	0.620181
0.440367	0.272045	0.379819
0.440367	0.272045	0.379819
44.0367	27.2045	37.98186

 Pork Shoulder

I found the Pork Shoulder had a bit of white mould on the outside, and sprayed it with vinegar, and when I sliced into it there where pockets of white mould.

If you tasted the Pork Shoulder  slices with the white mould it tasted mouldy, but if you cut out the mould it was a very nice cured meat. Quite delicious. 

It was hard to slice as it was very hard. So you ended up with either shavings or a thicker slice.

  Pancetta, flat and rolled

The flat pancetta dried a lot more than the others, as it was thin and flat it had a much bigger surface area, so dried faster.
The rolled pancetta I used a plastic stocking to hold it in shape, the plastic almost pealed off entirely but there were one or two patches where the plastic sock was embedded in the meat and I had to use a pair of tweesers to remove most of the plastic.
The rolled one also only got to 27% dryer so its still quite flexibel, I think the sock stopped it drying as much. I have it on a plate in the fridge at the moment.
I have yet to taste test either, but maybe the flat is a better way to go as it cures quicker

Tasting. 

They were both pretty good, and they've lasted for ages. The rolled one was a bit soft in the middle and even in the fridge all the time never hardened that much. They were both a bit salty, especially the flat one, but easy to use. I cut some off and shaved it and have it in the freezer.

Another recipe 29th April 2020

 This is another method, hopefully not as salty. I'm making 2 flat panacettas. I've just had them in the fridge for 7 days and am now hanging them.
 The last small $5 fan died, although it was running almost continuously for days and days. I've just ordered another online at the Warehouse, in level 3 so still cannot shop so I'm waiting for when I can pick it up, along with the Stand mixer.