Shortcut Guanciale

Recipe from Marc Vetri

Adapted by Ian Fisher

Shortcut Guanciale
Daniel Krieger for The New York Times
Total Time
3 hours 15 minutes, plus 3 days refrigeration
Rating
4(239)
Notes
Read community notes

There is an edge of obsessiveness to carbonara — and I gave in to it completely by starting to make my own guanciale, the cured pig cheek central to most Italian versions of the dish. There’s no real need to; it’s available online, but I was inspired after eating a wonderful meal at Vetri Ristorante in Philadelphia, and buying a cookbook, “Rustic Italian Food,” by its owner, Marc Vetri. He made it sound easy — and it is. It’s also satisfying. Guanciale is generally cured for a week, then hung to dry for about three weeks, which is how I usually make it. A fireplace is perfect. But Mr. Vetri has a version that cures for only three days, then is baked. If you order raw cheeks, they need to be trimmed. You want to end up with a neat, flat slab, roughly an inch and a half thick. The key is to cut off the glands, down to the first level of meat, and all excess fat. Here is Mr. Vetri’s recipe: —Ian Fisher

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Ingredients

  • 1pork jowl (about 1 pound)
  • 2tablespoons and 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2teaspoons dextrose powder or 1½ teaspoons superfine sugar (I use the latter)
  • ½teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1teaspoon curing salt No. 1 (available at Amazon.com)
  • 1teaspoon crushed garlic
  • 1tablespoon chopped rosemary
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

187 calories; 11 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 18 grams protein; 273 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Rinse pork jowl and pat dry. Combine other ingredients in a bowl.

  2. Step 2

    Rub the curing mix on the jowl, then place jowl in a gallon Ziploc bag with the cure evenly spread on top and bottom. Refrigerate for 3 days.

  3. Step 3

    Rinse the jowl and dry it. Roast at 275 degrees for 2½ to 3 hours.

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4 out of 5
239 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Nice Jewish Boy

I don't understand the roasting of the meat! It might be quick but it's roast pork, NOT guanciale. Take your time, after salting and patting dry, find a COOL, preferably damp spot, and let it hang out to dry for about 2 weeks. Slice and freeze. You might also want to add juniper to the pepper/rosemary mix.

Csamora

Also, I would recommend using cure#2, as opposed to Cure #1. It is designed to keep pathogens at bay over a longer air cure, and will be safer overall, in my opinion.

Marcello Roma

I learned to make guanciale in Italy. It's very easy with lots of room for error. Now I make at least 80 of them each year.

There are many rigs you can fashion for a curing chamber. Most people use an old fridge fitted with humidifier (Dayton 1UHG3) and temp controls (Johnson Controls A19AAT-2C) to keep temp 60 to 65 and humidity 60% to 70%.

When mine are done curing I place them in vacuum sealed bags up to three months in the fridge and freeze the excess inventory.

Do not cook to cure!

Erik

"Shortcut" being the key word.

Marcello Roma

I make at least 80 guanciales each year. Guanciale is very easy to make with lots of room for error.

You MUST trim away excess fat and cut away lymph nodes. Apply liberal amounts of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper getting it into the cracks. Place in one gallon zip lock. Add fresh thyme stalks to the bag. Let sit for one week in fridge. Remove, wash with brush and pat dry. and hang on hook for three weeks minimum (longer is better - up to three months).

You don't need nitrites.

twwren

I've been making this recipe for several years but I DO NOT roast it. Instead, I cure it for 7-10 days (instead of 3 days) and keep it tightly wrapped in Fridge until used. Never had a problem and we cook with it a lot.

Tom

Not if you credit the author and I'm sure Mr. Vetri is not opposed to a NYT article recommending his book

SonomaGal

What is the maximum temperature and minimum humidity you would recommend for the 3 week-3 month curing?

Karen

Is it safe to just hang it in a cool garage to dry in a California winter? How do you check if it’s done drying? The jowl meat I was able to find in an Asian market are only 1/2” thick. Thanks

greg

trying to avoid roasting it, but at the same time, I don't want to have to procure an old fridge. Some folks here say they didn't roast but don't give details of what they did.

PriscillaM

What about hanging over a dehumidifier for 2 weeks? Would that work?

gabe h

Hi there. First time curing anything or in this case shortcut cure. I messed up and didn’t read the recipe closely and I didn’t trim the jowl before I applied the rub and refrigerated. It’s been in the fridge for 3 days. What’s my best solution here? Can I trim it now before I roast? I’m guessing I would lose flavor doing that. Should I just not trim it? Or should I trim it and then reapply the cure and refrigerate a couple more days? Or something else? Thanks!

LynnG

What would happen if I used port loin cut to proper dimensions?

Tom

It would be more like pork jerky than guanciale

Cure#2 ?

Cure#2 is not used for short cures, that more for salami .

Michael Bucari

Do you have permission from Marc Vetri to post his recipe? If not, this is piracy...

Tom

Not if you credit the author and I'm sure Mr. Vetri is not opposed to a NYT article recommending his book

Stef

It is not supposed to be cooked. However cure 1 is for hot cure and cure 2 is for cold cure. You can also add cold smoke time to give it a nice deep flavor before air drying. However the only true flavor the sudden sweetness, earthy funky Ness is only accomplished by hanging time. The little ger the meat ripens, the deeper the flavor

Marcello Roma

I make at least 80 guanciales each year. Guanciale is very easy to make with lots of room for error.

You MUST trim away excess fat and cut away lymph nodes. Apply liberal amounts of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper getting it into the cracks. Place in one gallon zip lock. Add fresh thyme stalks to the bag. Let sit for one week in fridge. Remove, wash with brush and pat dry. and hang on hook for three weeks minimum (longer is better - up to three months).

You don't need nitrites.

SonomaGal

What is the maximum temperature and minimum humidity you would recommend for the 3 week-3 month curing?

Marcello Roma

I learned to make guanciale in Italy. It's very easy with lots of room for error. Now I make at least 80 of them each year.

There are many rigs you can fashion for a curing chamber. Most people use an old fridge fitted with humidifier (Dayton 1UHG3) and temp controls (Johnson Controls A19AAT-2C) to keep temp 60 to 65 and humidity 60% to 70%.

When mine are done curing I place them in vacuum sealed bags up to three months in the fridge and freeze the excess inventory.

Do not cook to cure!

R Faulkner

Casamora recommends using “cure#2 as opposed to Cure #1”
What or where is “cure #2 ?”

R Faulkner

I figured it out. From items sold on Amazon, the #2 cure has Sodium nitrate. #1 does not.
#1 cure: salt & 5.6% Sodium nitrite
#2 cure: salt & 5.6% Sodium nitrite & 3.63 Sodium nitrate

Fitzhugh Taylor

So if done the more patient method - do you cure with the salt mixture for a week in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, then rinse and dry off the jowls, before hanging for 3 weeks?

David Look

From Ian: Yes, be sure to rinse well and pat dry before hanging.

Abyssinian Cowboy

I have two jowls in the freezer from a pig I had slaughtered. Can I use them or do they have to be fresh?

Tim Murtaugh

My half-informed guess would be that it's probably worth a shot!

Nice Jewish Boy

I don't understand the roasting of the meat! It might be quick but it's roast pork, NOT guanciale. Take your time, after salting and patting dry, find a COOL, preferably damp spot, and let it hang out to dry for about 2 weeks. Slice and freeze. You might also want to add juniper to the pepper/rosemary mix.

Erik

"Shortcut" being the key word.

Csamora

Also, I would recommend using cure#2, as opposed to Cure #1. It is designed to keep pathogens at bay over a longer air cure, and will be safer overall, in my opinion.

David from Tucson

I agree with you - but I live in the desert. Do you think if I kept it in the fridge for two weeks it would be too cold? I could place it on a rack in one of the vegetable drawers, meant to keep some humidity. I would love your thoughts.

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Credits

Adapted from “Rustic Italian Food” by Marc Vetri

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