In a cheeky mood...

[cbrace]

Hi y'all,

I realize this is a Sausage Forum, so I beg your indulgence while I get up to speed first with some whole muscle cures. I promise to start grinding soon.

I had excellent results with duck prosciutto and was up for a fresh challenge. From an artisan butcher I discovered at a local farmer's market I was able to obtain a pork jowl to make Guanciale. Weighing in at 2 kilos, I shutter to think of the size of the mighty Berkshire from which this came. Following the recipe of Michael Ruhlman, last night prepared a cure (salt, maple syrup, white pepper, garlic, fresh thyme, allspice), rubbed it in, and it is now chilling out in a Ziploc bag in the fridge. (Sorry, forgot to take photo )

Ruhlman cures his 1 kilo jowl for 4-6 days. Since mine might well be twice as thick, I am thinking at least twice that. However, according to this page http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/sausage-making/curing one should calcuate one week per inch of thickness. This jowl is wedge-shaped and at its thickest end it is a good 10 or 11 cms, which would suggest a cure of four weeks. But would the thin end of the jowl get over-seasoned? (Ruhlman's recipe called for 7% salt.) Your thoughts please.

[Baconologist]

Almost all of the recipes in that book are Brian Polcyn's.
You can either follow the recipe as written or not, there's more than one way to do it.
Personally, I wouldn't use 7% salt as suggested, I'd use a specific appropriate and safe percentage of salt and cure for a bit longer, that way it's almost impossible to under or over cure.
The guanciale recipe in their new book "Salumi" (be very careful with the book it's contains questionable and potentially dangerous information) is much different, they call for just 3% salt.

[cbrace]

Almost all of the recipes in that book are Brian Polcyn's.

I stand corrected, thanks.

The reviews of Salumi on Amazon are decidedly mixed.