Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Guanciale - Cured; off to dry

Whoops! I meant to leave the guanciale in the salt cure for about 7-9 days, instead I left it 16. I hope it doesn't come out too salty... I just totally forgot about it!

Anyhow, today I took the 2 pieces out of the plastic bag, rinsed one off well, and the other not as well ( to see if it has an effect), and hung them.
Not much to this post. Now we wait. Will let one cure at least 30 days before using, the other at least 2-6 months.

6 comments:

Ciambellina said...

Guanciale? You've got my attention now!

scott said...

Guess who. I just removed my guanciale from the frig. Looks fantastic. I tried a piece raw, tastes like pork sugar! I fried a piece up as well, terrific. One question, if I may, sir. In the thickest part of the jowel, the fat still looks a bit pink, so, I returned it to the frig. Was I correct in assuming it needed a couple more days?

Jasonmolinari said...

Scott, glad it came out well!
Quality pork fat often had a pink hue to the fat. It isn't because it wasn't cured enough, it's actually a desirable trait.

scott said...

Just wanted a professional consultation :). It is also just a tinge softer than the white, obviously cured fat. BTW, I'm just about done reading that epic thread at eGullet. What happened to the gentlemen who was selling the larger KA plates?

Jasonmolinari said...

The guy is still on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/12-5mm-Kitchenaid-Food-Grinder-Plate_W0QQitemZ170247616728QQcmdZViewItemQQptZSmall_Kitchen_Appliances_US?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

I recommend the plate. It's great.

scott said...

Purchased. Looks like I have to freeze all the meat that was going to get ground up tomorrow, I'm waiting for that plate. Thank you once again.