Guanciale (Cured Pork Cheek)

Name: Guanciale
Total time: P5W
Ingredients: 28 g Nitritpökelsalz (0,5% NaNO2); 5 g Schwarzer Pfeffer, grob gemahlen; 3 g Zucker; 1 g Rosmarin, getrocknet; 1 g Thymian, getrocknet

Curing MixPorkCold SmokingMedium5-7 weeks total15-18 °CBeech

Guanciale is the Italian cured pork cheek product, traditionally unsmoked, presented here in a lightly cold-smoked German interpretation. Cheek meat is particularly rich in fat and connective tissue, which gives guanciale an incomparably creamy texture when heated. It is the traditional ingredient for Pasta all'Amatriciana and Carbonara.

Ingredients(for 1 kg)

Curing salt (0.5% NaNO2)28 g

Black pepper, coarsely ground5 g

Sugar3 g

Dried rosemary1 g

Dried thyme1 g

Instructions

Dry Curing

5-7 days

Rub pork cheeks evenly on all sides with the curing mixture, vacuum-seal, and store at 4 °C. Turn daily. Calculate curing time based on the thickness of the cheek.

Equalization

24 hours

Rinse cheeks in cold water, pat dry thoroughly, and hang with a string at 10-15 °C. The surface must be completely dry before smoking.

Light Cold Smoking

1-2 smoking sessions of 6 hours each

Lightly smoke at max. 18 °C with pure beech wood. Smoking is optional and should only impart a delicate smoke aroma – not a strongly smoked product.

Air Maturation

4-6 weeks

Mature at 12-14 °C and 70-75% humidity until weight loss reaches at least 25-30%. The guanciale is ready when it is firm and aromatic, and feels slightly creamy when sliced.

Pro Tip

Fat quality is crucial for guanciale: only use cheeks from free-range pigs – the fat is softer, more aromatic, and matures significantly better than that from intensively reared pigs.

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