If I lived in Italy this blog would have been named “Mr. Pancettapants”. That’s because pancetta, what most people call Italian bacon, and American bacon are just about the same thing. The only difference is how they’re made.
Bacon is made from pork belly that is brined and then smoked. The belly than can be sliced to various thicknesses. It’s traditional to serve bacon in the morning for breakfast.
Pancetta is also from pork bellies but they just season it with salt and pepper. Then it’s curled in to a tight roll and wrapped in a casing to hold the shape. Its then left to dried out for a few months. It’s usually served during lunch or dinner.
So as you can see the only real difference is, one is smoke and the other is just cured. This brings me to a very interesting question: Is it the pork belly that makes it bacon or is it the smoking?
Let me know what your thoughts are on this. Can pancetta share the same claim that bacon does? I might have to make a Pancetta Explosion and find out myself.
Jason Mosley (aka Mr. Baconpants) is the king of all bacon. He started this blog in 2004 to share his love of bacon and beer. 
Sean Brett (aka Bacon Knight) is the amazing co-host of Bacon Live, the weekly audio/video podcast about bacon and more.
Beth Mosley (aka Mrs. Baconpants) is a lover of good food and beer. She enjoys cooking and trying new recipes (with bacon).
It’s definitely the smoking. Basically what the Italians make is pork biltong. It’s chewy and dry, delicious in its way, but nothing compared to the crispy, tasty, succulence of a good piece of dry cured streaky.
Thanks for you feed back. I have a feeling your right about the smoke making the bacon. I only had pancetta a few times so I can’t remember if it was chewy or dry.
I don’t think I’ve ever had pancetta, but I think curing would make a lot of difference vs smoking.
Mr. Pancettapants just doesn’t have the same ring to it as Mr. Baconpants. Also, if you lived in Italy, Bacon Live would be in Italian and since I don’t speak Italian, that would be a problem. Of course, if you lived in Italy, the whole world would be topsy turvy, so maybe the rest of us would live there too.
the smoking is what makes the bacon that i know and love. pancetta is good, but it just doesn’t have the same cumulative eating experience as perfectly cooked bacon
to answer the title question though, no. pancetta makes everything except bacon better.