Some results are in from our Big Pig Day.  My guanciale, tessa (flat pancetta), and lardo are all done, and all turned out excellently.  I let a few things sit in the cure for longer than called for (I forgot about things), but nothing appears to be overly salted or otherwise problematic.  I'll post some more tasting notes as I and my willing friends and family move through the product. 

 

I only had a very small lardo piece, so I let that cure in the fridge for 6 days, and then rinsed off the cure and let it hang in my chamber (in the cheesecloth bag in the photo) for 18 days.  I let the tessa and guanciale cure in the fridge for 17 days, and then rinsed and hung for another 10 days.  On March 26, I pulled them all from the chamber and cleaned off the mold for final consumption and storage.  As you'll see, the tessa got some nice, white mold from ambient conditions (they were not innoculated).  The photos showing the mold are after 8 days of hanging.  The guanciale got almost no mold and the lardo had none.

 

Conditions in the chamber were maintained at the high 50s for temp and high 60s and low 70s for humidity.  Made for a nice firm product, without being hard or dry.

 

All in all, a great success for every product.  I was, and remain, a bit ambivalent about leaving the skin on the guanciale and tessa.  I think it probably makes for a more uneven cure and uneven drying.  But, it looks and feels so damn awesome at the end that it's hard to pass up.  And, it probably adds a nice protective layer (though probably not essential since I will keep extra product in the fridge or freezer, tightly wrapped in plastic).

 

Keep your eyes peeled for the next posting on my lonzino, which has hosted more gnarly growths of mold than you can imagine ....