After a week in my fridge, it is time to pull the jowl out of the cure and prep for drying. At this point, the jowl is slightly firm and has retained most of its original color. I rinsed all of the cure off and dried the jowl. In order to hang, I had to cut a hole and run some butcher twine through the hole and tie it off into a loop. I then weighed and measured the prepared jowl in order to track size and weight loss.
Jowl length: 9 inches
Jowl weight: 615 grams
Attaching the string to a metal hook, I then hung the jowl in the center of my chamber, placed a paper towel under the jowl, and closed the door. I then set the temperature to 60 degrees F. Check out the cool blue light!
The guanciale will be done when it is firm to the touch but not hard and has lost 30-35% of its weight. I also covered the chamber to avoid light entering. After an hour or so in the chamber, I checked the humidity gauge. It was running a little too humid (around 85%), but I am hopeful that the humidity will drop within 24 hours to the 70-80% range.
All I can do now is cross my fingers and hope for the best. I will do a weight check in a week and keep you posted.
Update: On Sunday, the humidity had stabilized at 75% once I decreased the temperature to 57 degrees. I was hoping that the running of the fridge to maintain the lower temp would dehumidify the chamber. If the fridge is not running, then the humidity builds. Once it turns on, the humidity then drops. Hope it works.
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