Steve Lamb in his book 'The River Cottage Cookbook' mentions a recipe for pancetta where he removes the skin of the pork belly and then cures the belly in salt. He does not replace the cure and after a while, the salt removes the water from the meat and it becomes a wet cure.
I understand that when you roll the pancetta you don't want to roll it with the rind, but I want to know if you make unrolled pancetta can you cure it with this hybrid dry / wet cure with the skin ON.
Best Answer
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "not replace the water". Pancetta is cured using a dry cure process. This does result in water/liquid leaching from the belly. It does, of course, become part of the cure, but it is a dry cure, as opposed to a brine cure. In any case, skin on or skin off should not matter. I prefer the flat pancetta (and leave the skin on) to the rolled when home curing. Add your salt/spice mixture. I usually use the "salt box method". I place mine in a ziplock bag. I like to place a pan with a pound or two of weight on top, this keeps it flat. Flip the bag every day until the belly is firm. Rinse, pat dry, and proceed with drying. I find it one of the easiest, most reliable, home cures to do.