**(First post here, btw, so hello all, and backstory)**
My guanciale cure has (so far) been very successful.
I’ve broken into a few pieces a bit early, and the flavour is exactly what I was looking for.
We’re nearing the 6 month mark of aging, after nitrating and curing, in a temperature controlled environment. I’m now using heavily salinated cheesecloth to maintain a slightly more humid microclimate, since RH values in the curing environment have plummeted during local winter temperatures… I’m already at my target mass (water) reduction, and I wanted to slow the process a bit.
Nonetheless, we’re looking at nearly 10lbs of finished product in the next 2 months. I need to store at least half of it. Possibly 75% of it. *For up to 2 years!*
I’ve worked as charcutère of a tapas restaurant in the past, but we always sold product so quickly (to the point of having a waiting list!), that long term storage was never an issue. Therefore:
**My question:**
What’s the best way to store 5-7lbs of cured, dried, nitrated pork jowl for up to 2 years? Vacuum bags? Bags in a neutral atmosphere (I have access to food grade argon), an oxygen environment (I have access to food grade oxygen) or a general atmosphere of hepa filtered air? Fridge temperature (<4c)? I’d like to avoid freezing if possible, but will do so if necessary.
Any thoughts are welcome.
And happy curing!
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Edit:
Tried to upload photos directly, but they failed, so [linking you to imgur instead.](https://imgur.com/a/3iIFyXj)
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by Appropriate-Skill-60
4 Comments
I’ve found that vacuum sealing is the way to go for me. It also has the benefit of evening out the whole piece moisture-wise
Six months is long for guanciale, isn’t it?
Vac & freeze, I’d say. I vac seal a lot but to deal with case hardening, and often mold keeps growing; it’s not a problem for me but it’s a change in the product
Vac and freeze. Works great.