Can you cure pork belly with skin and not replace the water?
Steve Lamb in his book 'The River Cottage Cookbook' mentions a recipe for pancetta where he removes the skin of the pork belly and then cures the belly in salt. He does not replace the cure and after a while, the salt removes the water from the meat and it becomes a wet cure.
I understand that when you roll the pancetta you don't want to roll it with the rind, but I want to know if you make unrolled pancetta can you cure it with this hybrid dry / wet cure with the skin ON.
Best Answer
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "not replace the water". Pancetta is cured using a dry cure process. This does result in water/liquid leaching from the belly. It does, of course, become part of the cure, but it is a dry cure, as opposed to a brine cure. In any case, skin on or skin off should not matter. I prefer the flat pancetta (and leave the skin on) to the rolled when home curing. Add your salt/spice mixture. I usually use the "salt box method". I place mine in a ziplock bag. I like to place a pan with a pound or two of weight on top, this keeps it flat. Flip the bag every day until the belly is firm. Rinse, pat dry, and proceed with drying. I find it one of the easiest, most reliable, home cures to do.
Pictures about "Can you cure pork belly with skin and not replace the water?"
Can you cure pork belly with the skin on?
You can leave the bacon skin on or off when you smoke the pork belly, depending on preference. It's easier to remove once the meat has been cured and smoked, but some experts prefer to trim off the skin beforehand and use it to make pork cracklings.Can you cure pork belly too long?
Two to three days of curing is usually enough, but is is no problem to keep the belly in the fridge for a week or more. So- to sum up- try the well- tested 3->4% rule, and see what you think.Can you dry cure pork belly?
Since the salt ratio is important, it's therefore also important to portion out the salt and sugar rub amongst all the pieces of pork belly you have. The pork belly is going to dry-cure for 7 days, sealed up in your refrigerator.How long can you let pork belly cure?
As a rule of thumb, about five days is considered a good average for thin pork belly, roughly an inch and a half thick. This is a good starting point to use when trying to decide exactly how long you should be curing your bacon, depending on how salty you want it and how thick the belly is.Cured Pork Belly
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