Storing Guanciale

[doctortim]

Having read a lot about guanciale (cured pork jowl), yesterday I finally bought some. There's one cheek, currently sitting in the fridge, vacuum sealed as it came. I'm planning to crack it open tomorrow night for carbonara, but I'll have a fair bit left over. Any suggestions on how best to store it, and for how long?

[Pierogi]

I would think (and I have no experience, but its just from what I'd call good judgement.....) that if you treated it similar to fresh bacon/ham, you'd be OK. I'd wrap it securely in plastic, and keep for up to a week. Longer, I'd freeze, wrapped in plastic wrap first, then aluminum foil. It's cured, so it won't spoil overnight, but longer than a week in the fridge after it's open would be dicey, IMO. Longer than that, freeze the puppy. Use the old smell test to be sure if its in the fridge.....

[joesan]

I think that you comfortably have it a month in the fridge as it has been cured. 6-8 weeks if you re-vacuum it and refrigerate it. 4-6 months in the freezer.

I most often freeze mine as it is so handy and it doesn't seem to suffer texturally.

To be honest I have had some excellent stuff that I brought back from Italy and was still using from the freezer for nearly a year later - but that's pushing it a bit.

[jmolinari]

If the guanciale is cured, it will keep almost indefinitely in the fridge wrapped in plastic wrap and in a zip top bag.

That said, the flavor my not be as good after a long storage, but i've had pancetta in my fridge for well over 6 months and it is still delicious.

This is all assuming it is cured properly. If it looks like a thin version of pancetta, then you should be fine.

[Maureen B. Fant]

I keep a guanciale all winter in the fridge in a plastic bag with a clip, but you don't even need that. Just wrap it up. Another thing you can do is cut it into carbonara-size pieces and freeze them.

[emsny]

I vote for freezing it. It can go rancid even in the fridge - and even before it goes rancid it will lose some of its zip. I freeze it in a single piece, then when I need some I put it in the microwave for 8 or 10 seconds - just enough so that a sharp knife can go through it if you have reasonably strong wrists - and slice off what I need.