Michael Symon's Live to Cook_ Recipes and Techniques to Rock Your Kitchen - Michael Symon [34]
LOLA BACON AND LOLITA PANCETTA
When pork belly is cured and smoked it’s called bacon. When it’s cured and dried but not smoked, it’s called pancetta. Following are the recipes we use at the restaurants for both preparations. Bacon is by definition hot smoked, that is, smoked and cooked (we use an Alto-Shaam smoker), but there’s no reason you can’t use the bacon cure and then cook the belly in a 200°F oven until it reaches a temperature of 150°F, then cool and refrigerate it. This still results in delicious “bacon.”
Our bacon takes on a little bit of spice from dried chili; savory notes from paprika and cumin; and sweetness from brown sugar and honey. I prefer to use bellies from Duroc hogs, a heritage breed that’s coming back, for their high proportion of fat to meat, but any belly can be used. Just remember: the more fat, the more flavor!
If you don’t have the ability or inclination to smoke foods but you still want to cure your own bacon, you can try the dry-cured pancetta. It’s often rolled into a log to dry, but we dry it flat because it’s faster. For the pancetta, the cure takes ten to twelve days, and the drying takes about three weeks. No matter how you’re preparing the belly keep in mind that it must cure for at least seven days in the refrigerator; and if you plan to smoke it, you’ll need to let it dry for another two days.
LOLA BACON
Makes 3½ pounds
5 pounds pork belly, skin on
¼ cup kosher salt
2 teaspoons pink salt
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
¼ cup honey, preferably chestnut honey
2 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons smoked sweet paprika
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Rinse the pork belly and pat dry. Transfer to a 2-gallon resealable plastic bag.
Mix the kosher salt, pink salt, brown sugar, honey, red pepper flakes, paprika, and cumin. Coat the belly all over with the mixture. Close the bag and refrigerate for 7 to 10 days, flipping once a day, until the belly feels firm (7 days for a thin belly, about 1½ inches, longer for a belly that’s 2 to 3 inches thick).
Remove the belly from the bag, rinse thoroughly, and pat dry. Refrigerate the belly on a rack, uncovered, for 48 hours.
Set up your smoker according to the manufacturer’s instructions and using apple wood chips and set to 200°F. Smoke the belly for 3 hours, or until the bacon reaches an internal temperature of 150°F. Slice the rind off, leaving as much fat on the bacon as possible. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 week or freeze for up to 2 months.
LOLITA PANCETTA
Makes 3½ pounds
5 pounds pork belly, with skin cut off
¼ cup kosher salt
2 teaspoons pink salt
3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
4 bay leaves, crumbled
2 tablespoons cracked black pepper
Rinse the pork belly and pat dry. Transfer the belly to a 2-gallon resealable plastic bag.
Mix the kosher salt, pink salt, brown sugar, garlic, rosemary, red pepper flakes, bay leaves, and black pepper. Coat the belly all over with the mixture. Close the bag and refrigerate for 10 to 12 days, flipping once a day.
Remove the belly from the bag, rinse thoroughly, and pat dry. Weigh the cured belly and record the weight. Hang the belly (punch a hole in one end and thread butcher’s string through it) or set it on a rack and turn it every so often in a cool dark place (ideally at 55°F at 60 percent humidity) for 3 weeks.
Weigh the belly. The belly should have lost 30 percent of its weight. (If it hasn’t, let it hang until it does, testing every few days.) Wrap well in plastic and refrigerate until ready to use. It will keep this way for up to a month.
Don’t throw pig skin away! It’s loaded with collagen, which gives body to stocks and stews. Add it to a pot of beans for