Guanciale is a salumi that really deserves more attention. This charcuterie utilizes the pork cheek (jowl) that’s been cured and air dried. Guanciale looks a lot like bacon but trust me when I tell you that it isn’t even close. The fat in guanciale is more firm and the flavor is porkier (I hope that makes sense). Guanciale is used to make traditional Roman Carbonara but can be added to all sorts of food to elevate your dish.
In this project we wrapped our pork cheeks in a collagen casing. These casings are perfect for a project like this because they will form a skin like barrier on your muscle which will keep it from drying out to fast. The more control you have over how fast your guanciale dries the better it will turn out.
Our guanciale is going to be drying in a modified refrigerator that’s set to 55F and 80% humidity for roughly 4-6 weeks. If you want to see how we built that chamber you can check out our latest post on building a drying chamber for charcuterie.
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Guanciale
Ingredients
- 500 g pork cheek
- 12.5 g kosher salt 2.5%
- 1.25 g Insta Cure #2 .25%
- 3.75 g cracked black pepper .75%
- 1.25 g red pepper flakes .25%
- 8.75 g light brown sugar 1.75%
- 2.5 g fennel seed .5%
- 1 small sprig of fresh rosemary for every 500g
- a few juniper berries for every 500g
- a few bay leaves for every 500g
Instructions
Curing the Pork Cheek
- start by rinsing your pork cheek. If you can get it with the skin still on that would be ideal. Weigh your pork cheek and input that weight into the "Servings" field of this recipe. It will automatically calculate the ingredients for you.
- combine all of the ingredients together and rub them all over your pork cheek. Place into a vac bag or a ziplock bag. Be sure to add 100% of all the spices into the bag. Remove as much air as possible.
- Place into the refrigerator for 1 week. Massage daily and flip the bag over every other day.
Drying the Pork Cheek
- Remove the cured cheek from the refrigerator and rinse clean. Wrap in a collagen sheet and truss it up. Weigh the pork cheek and record the weight.
- Place the cured pork cheek into a drying chamber set to 55F and 80% humidity for 4-6 weeks. I try to target a 15% – 20% weight loss for this charcuterie (depending on how fatty it is).
- After 4-6 weeks remove the guanciale from your drying chamber, remove the casing and the skin. Enjoy pan fried over just about anything you want…
The Carbonara recipe was adapted from Vincenzo’s Plate (vincenzosplate.com)
Pasta Carbonara
Ingredients
- 450 g spaghetti pasta
- 225 g guanciale
- 6 ea eggs
- 300 g grated pecorino cheese
- 2 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1 cup hot pasta water plus a little more if the carbonara is on the dry side
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, cheese, and black pepper. Set to the side
- Begin by cooking your pasta in salted water till al dente.
- On a medium heat cook your guanciale. Stir to keep the guanciale from burning.
- As soon as the guanciale begins to take on some color and starts to get crispy take your freshly cooked pasta and add it to the skillet (with your guanciale). Reduce the heat to low.
- Take a cup of hot pasta water and slowly being to add it to your egg/cheese mixture. Whisk this well
- pour your egg sauce over the pasta (make sure it's on the lowest setting) and stir often. if you notice that your sauce is a little dry then add a little bit of pasta water to thin it out. As soon as your sauce has thickened you Carbonara is ready!! Enjoy
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I’m new to the drying process and read a lot about it. In this recipe there is no use of Mold 600?
Hey Mike, Welcome to the rabbit hole. The mold is optional. Once you have a curing/drying chamber and you start to apply mold to your charcuterie you’ll notice that everything in your chamber will eventually get covered in the beneficial p. Nalgiovense (Mold 600). With that being said adding mold albeit optional is recommended because whether you add mold or not to your guanciale mold will eventually start to grow on it. By adding the right mold you reduce the chance of the bad mold from growing.. So even though I didn’t add mold to the guanciale, as soon as I put it in the chamber the good beneficial mold started to grow on it. Hope that helps..
If I can’t find collagen sheets locally, is there any alternatives?
You can use rice paper😉. Just wet the rice paper in a little warm water then apply 2 sheets on the guanciale
Can I use caul lining instead of collagen sheets
You would have to wrap it several times in order for it to do well.
The video and recipe says pork cheek, but I usually see guanciale described as jowl. At the butcher I was presented with both and froze! Which should I use, or does it matter?
either one it doesn’t matter. The cheek is a little leaner than the jowl but both work for this recipe. Jowl is most commonly used..
I followed your recipe to a t and it was amazing! The flavour profile is exactly what I was after. Guanciale is so hard to get in my area I had to give it a try after a few years of making home cured bacon. I used a small wine cooler without built in or added humidity controls. One jowl took 5 weeks and the other 7 to get to a 20% weight loss.
Thank you so much for your post and advice!
You are welcome!! Glad you liked it
Hi, I don’t have a drying chamber or even know what it is, particularly as you seem to be able to control the humidity??
How would drying of pork cheeks have been done traditionally?
I have a boiler room where the temperature is constant, but I won’t be able to control the humidity – I live in the UK, where it is humid most of the time, so I expect the cheeks to grow mould.
I am encouraged by what I read – it seems that mould on the cheeks does not necessarily mean that the process has failed. How do I check that the mould is ‘good mould’?
Thank you,
typically, this was done in cellars. Where the temp was 13c and the humidity was high. 70% – 80%. As far as mold goes, I can’t answer that question. If you are concerned about mold, you can always buy a mold (from a cheese making supply house or sausage supply house) and apply that to your meat while it’s hanging. That way you would at least know what type of mold you would be growing.
Hi guys!
This is such an awesome recipe I keep on returning to regularly. But I do have a pretty silly question about curing time in general. I put a vacuum-sealed piece of pork belly in my fridge with all the spices, curing salt and all, massaging and turning it daily for 7 days. But then I completely forgot about it and right now it’s been sitting in the bottom drawer for about 2 months. The meat looks fine though. Should I dump it, or try to continue with dry aging?
I wish you all the best in the holiday season all the way from Poland. Your recipes for Polish sausages and meats are absolutely spot-on and authentic.
did you use cure #1 or cure #2? Also is the meat a little slimy when you open it from the bag or does it feel like a freshly cured piece of meat?
Super impressed by the finished product you posted. I pretty much replicated the same, but after drying the guanciale to 25-30% the finished product looks less plump and sumptuous. The meat part is not red/pink and darker purple. The taste was excellent. Just curious if all Guanciale is aged and what would cause a difrent coloration to meat. I used collagen sheets but also tried naked.
A lot depends on the pork, freshness, breed, fat content. Usually guanciale is aged but it’s up to you for how long. Sometimes oxidation can cause a discoloration
Hi Eric,
Do you think a dry aging bag would work after the curing step has taken place?
Thank you!
yes
hi Eric,
after drying how long will these stay good vacuumed packed and in the fridge since we are drying to only 20% weight loss?
it will stay good for at least 6 months if not longer
Hi,
You didn’t put garlic in the recipe, but you have it in the video?
You can go either way.
Hi Eric,
Can this recipe work in a regular fridge with a cover of an UMAI dry bag (like the Spanish Lomo recipe)?
Thanks!
Yes
Will laying on a rack pose any issues for the drying as opposed to hanging?
Nope, you can do either,
Hi Eric:
I followed your recipe exactly and just at mixing the ingredients, I was already totally sold (how can such a smell go anywhere but into the product)? Since I’m in Manila (Philippines), I couldn’t find any collagen sheets. However, since I am using a dedicated cooler–with a big sign saying DO NOT OPEN. LOW FUNGAL & BACTERIAL ENVIRONMENT–which I maintained at 6-8C (because that was the highest temp I could keep it stable, without shutting off) that automatically kept the humidity at 60-70%–I just did away with wrapping the meats (both the guanciales and the coppas). I’ve vac-packed my 2nd batch of guanciales, in 450-500g packs of 2pcs each, and they look gorgeous! My batches are about 3Kg of jowls, which when trimmed become 6pcs totalling about 2.8Kg. I’m aging them now before cooking Amatriciana and Carbonara. I have a bunch of friends all waiting hungrily for the first trial cook and eat! I really enjoy your channel. I’ve been doing sausages since last year, based on your channel. You’re the best! I was a chemist professor before I became a priest, so you can understand why I like doing things your way.
– Fr Jim
Oh How fun. I so love the science/chemistry behind the process. Congrats on your charcuterie success!! Thanks for sharing.
Dear Eric:
I forgot to mention that I’m already on my 6th iteration of guanciales, and 3rd of coppas. Just stocking up for the Christmas season!
– Fr Jim
WOW!!! Very nice😉
when i was in Italy visiting several places that produce guanicale never once did they use brown sugar in their brine/rub. curious as to why or how you can to the decision to use brown sugar in your brine. Just curious, thanks for the great writeup and video.
the cure is always a personal preference. I find that it helps balance the spices and adds a nice depth of flavor. You can omit it if you choose