Pork belly does not need a skillet or oven to become the finished dish. Reddit user u/gmontard turned a 1,350-gram piece into pancetta tesa, tracking its weight as it cured and dried in a wine fridge converted for charcuterie.
By the time he cut into it, the pork belly weighed 930 grams, a loss of about 31%. The first slice exposed dense cured meat, a band of fat through the center, and a dark exterior covered with the spices used during the process.
A Wine Fridge Became the Curing Chamber
u/gmontard had followed the r/Charcuterie community for years before trying his first project. For pancetta tesa, the pork belly stays flat during curing and drying rather than being rolled into the cylindrical form associated with pancetta arrotolata.
His spice mix included black pepper, fennel seed, coriander seed, smoked paprika, rosemary, and chile. He credited the fennel and smoked paprika as two flavors that came through in the finished pancetta.
Weight Tracked the Change
The pork belly started at 1,350 grams and entered the drying stage at 1,366 grams after curing. From there, the number fell as moisture left the meat.
It reached 1,145 grams on May 9, 1,040 grams on May 15, 980 grams on May 23, and 930 grams on May 29. At that point, u/gmontard ended the process at about 31% weight loss because he was leaving for vacation.
Cutting It Open Revealed the Result
The cross-section shows how much the pork belly changed during the process. The meat has a deep red cured color, while the fat remains pale and forms a broad stripe between the lean sections.
u/gmontard described the pancetta as firm without becoming too dry and said it could be sliced without trouble. One commenter also noted how lean the pork belly was and suggested cutting it thin for a charcuterie plate rather than using it for cooking.
He Wants to Take the Next Batch Further
Despite being his first pancetta tesa, u/gmontard said the result came out better than he expected. The 31% weight loss produced the texture shown in the cut slices, but he already has a different target for another batch.
Next time, he wants to see what happens closer to 40% weight loss. That would mean more time in the curing chamber and a firmer finished pancetta, giving him a direct comparison with the first batch rather than changing the whole process.
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