*Before the recipe, cure your guanciale for 6 days in salt and spice mix, after the 6 days, wash it off then recoat it with a fresh spice mix, proceed to cold smoke it for 1 hour then cure it for another 20 days until weight loss of 35%.*

After 20 days, remove the sealed bag from the baking dish.

Use a sharp paring knife to cut a hole in one corner of the jowl about 1 inch from the edge. Thread a length of kitchen twine through the hole and knot it where it meets the pork. Tie the ends together very tightly in order to create a long loop for hanging. Alternatively, if you have a sterilized meat hook, this can be used in place of the twine.

Weigh the meat and note the weight. If using a meat hook, note the weight of it as well.

If you have a curing space, hang the guanciale in it. This is ideally a dark space that’s 41 to 43°F (5 to 6°C). Weigh the guanciale every 7 to 10 days until it’s lost 20 to 30 percent of its weight, which could take anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks. If you don’t have a separate curing space, place the guanciale on a rack set inside a shallow pan in the refrigerator and let it cure, uncovered, until it’s lost 20 to 30 percent of its weight, which could take anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks. Turn the guanciale over every few days to ensure that all sides are exposed to air.

Once it's done, you can dig into your guanciale, enjoy!

Recipe by: Chef Michael Demagistris