I picked up a half pork loin this morning for CB. Was happy to find a sale for $1.79lb. Didn't really pay attention to reading it until I got home...when I read it "was up to 12% enhanced". Now my question is, will it make to salty of CB? I've never had enhanced pork loins. Should I just make chops and a roast out of this? I usually do the dry cure method.
(http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x465/SiFumar/2012-03-03_14-04-11_24.jpg)
Hmmm, looks like it has already taken on a lot of red color. Wish I new more but I think you may have to wait for Habs to come along. He is usually on line about 2AM :)
Should say whats in the enhancement. Does it contain cure? salt? What else does it have
What is the solution it is injected with? I'm seeing more and more meat products being injected with just water.
If it is enhanced I will not buy it. In my area the local markets and supermarket advertise that the pork they sell is not enhanced. I feel enhanced pork is way too salty, and if they add sodium phosphate that adds a metallic taste. I'm beginning to see pork with seasoning added and they call it marinated, but often sodium phosphate is on the label.
Whether it is just salt or sodium phosphate, they act the same when it comes to brining or curing. As for myself I would not attempt to cure it. Unless you know the percentage of salt or sodium phosphate that is in the solution, the curing process will be either extremely slow or not occur at all. If you place it in a cure solution with a lower salinity then the meat, reverse osmosis may occur. If the cure is of a higher salinity, osmosis will be very slow (if it occurs at all).
You could experiment to see if it will cure. Prepare it as you would normally cure Canadian Bacon, but if it does cure, I feel it would be way too salty. If it doesn't cure, you can handle it as fresh pork loin, but again I feel it would be way too salty.
Keymaster;
I don't get up that early. :) I log on at around 4AM; I have seen that sometimes when it is posted there is often 3 hours difference; Pacific Time. My local time is set correctly, so I may send Brian a PM. I also just learned my "insert quote" doesn't work. The time seems to be posting right at this time.
Quote from: Habanero Smoker on March 04, 2012, 02:35:59 AM
Keymaster;
I don't get up that early. :) I log on at around 4AM; I have seen that sometimes when it is posted there is often 3 hours difference; Pacific Time. My local time is set correctly, so I may send Brian a PM. I also just learned my "insert quote" doesn't work. The time seems to be posting right at this time.
Ok I see how it works now, I went to "look and layout " in my profile and put a 3 hour time difference in and it changed the time that you posted above from something like 2:39 to 5:39AM So basically were up about the same time :)
Thanks guys! It is "enhanced" with water and salt. I normally read every pkg I pick up...but was in a hurry. And it surprised me to find pork enhanced. So I will just make a couple of small roasts out of it for smoking. Why bother trying it for CB when more than likely it will be to salty. Lesson learned. Thanks again!
A good deal of pork loin, tender loin, and ribs are enhanced; especially the Tyson brand.
Good to know Hab...never bought Tyson before!
I think if I should get one I'd try it. Actually I have one in the freezer and I don't know if it's enhanced or not. I will have to look and try an experiment if I do. Maybe cut salt by percentage of enhancement.
You know Viper I was thinking of that...but it says "up to 12%" so can't say for sure the percentage to cut on the salt. Maybe I'll sacrifice a 1 1/2lb to experiment. It wasn't to pricey.
I assume that's not 12% salt but mix. Id think cutting salt in brine by 8-10 % can always poke a knife in and turn to see if cure is all the way thru. Maybe Hab would would know better. But I like experimenting when I can eat my failures. Lol
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I use those all of the time...you won't have an issue for Canadian bacon...honest...I follow Habs recipe and I am rather salt intolerant...I like it but try to stay away from it...after all...all bacon is salty anyway...I cut it up into three pieces and do asian with one, bacon with the second and boneless chops with the third...going to make some ground pork balls coated in sushi rice this weekend...steamed...
Going to try some Asian tea eggs too...sounds interesting to me...
La Quinta
With it already being enhanced, I wasn't sure if osmosis would occur. It would be like brining an already enhanced chicken. It is the action of osmosis that helps carries the cure through the meat. So if the loin has a high salinity, it would be difficult for the cure to work it's way through the cell walls.
But as I mentioned above, it depends on the salinity of the solution it was injected with. When it say 12%, that is the weight of the solution being injected, not the concentration of salt. Therefore if Tyson uses a brine that has a low degree of salt, then as from your experience it will cure.
Viper;
Without knowing the salinity of the brine the meat was injected with, lowering the salt in a dry or wet brine cure, would most likely make the curing process slower, or not happen at all. But again, with this type of cut, you can experiment at a low cost, and without any safety issues.
But again, I avoid enhance pork. Not only because of it's altered taste, but I like to know what I am working with when curing.
Well I realize the brine isnt just salt. But thought that physically checking you could keep an eye on the curing process if it needed less or more time. Also being loin if it didn't brine it would still be good just not bacon. Like you said it was a cheaper cut. Just thinking some day the way its going we will have to learn how if we buy store bought meat. As it seems they are all doing it these days. I don 't know but that's the lines i was thing along.
Si,
I wouldn't hesitate one second to use that pork loin for CB. I can certainly appreciate individual's logic, reasoning and concern for not using it but I have made a fair amount of CB and am reasonably certain that some of the loins were enhanced. I just don't pay that much attention to it. I think sometimes we over analyze things instead of just enjoying what we do. I'm not aiming that at anyone as I too am guilty of over analyzing lots of things.
I don't think I over analyzing anything. I enjoy know how things work. :) I just answering a question, based on how the curing reaction works.
And in this case, as I have stated earlier I do encourage people to experiment.
This is what I decided to do. Cut a 1lb hunk off. Rinsed it off and soaked in cold water for 1 hr changing the water once. Patted dry. Used 1TBS basic cure, 1/2tsp gran garlic, 3TBS light brown sugar, 1tsp ground black pepper. Rubbed good, placed in bag for 5 days. Will be turning and massaging every day. All I can do is a little experiment, and it's only a lb. Will let y'all know how it goes.
The exact wording on pkg is, Contains up to 12%solution,and Ingredients: Pork Loin Roast, water, salt.
Thanks for all the comments....I sure didn't know what I was getting into with this. The rest of pork will just go into plain roasts and a few chops....can't go wrong there.
Well after reading Hab's post. And the man definitely knows his stuff on curing. I would of probably added equal amount salt and sugar If that cure is pink salt. If its Morton's tender quick probably not. But either way, I like experiments. LOL Lots of pics would help too!
SiFumar,
Glad to see you are trying this. It's going to be a pretty thin cut of meat, so it should cure, and the soaking definately will help.
Since the brine does not contain any sodium phosphate and La Quinta has cured them, I may try to cure one one of these days; if I can find a smaller one.
Try one Habs...just give a pound a whirl...I will be interested to see what you think...after all I use your recipe with them and send people home after breakfast with a chunk... so...I think it works?
A cut as small as a pound may not determine anything; because that cut will be on the thin side. So I will be looking for a cut 3 - 4 pounds and at least, at least 2.5-inches thick.
I don't like enhance pork to begin with, whether or not it has sodium phophate. This will be experimental only, and if it works to my satisfaction, I will definately be sending people home with it. :)
Hab you can always have my address if you need to get rid of your experiments! :)
I have too many relatives. So that places you pretty far down the list, and plus I wouldn't have to pay postage. :)
:-\ :-\ :-\ Hmmmm well you can't blame a man for trying. I also bet you don't have to twist their arms either. LOL ;)
The piece of loin I cut was 2"thick 5"long. What I didn't like about it, was the meat felt kinda mushy to start with. After the soak it did feel firmer. Took picture of it after 1 day of curing and there is a bit of liquid, 2nd day is a bit more and it feels firmer. Will up date again.
(http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x465/SiFumar/2012-03-06_07-37-22_914.jpg) (http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x465/SiFumar/2012-03-07_15-06-10_601.jpg)
Still watching! ::)
It will work fine...
Here is the finished "enhanced" CB. All I did was rinse off, pat dry, put in smoker to dry while heating up, 2hrs hickory
(http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x465/SiFumar/2012-03-10_14-15-57_181.jpg)
After overnight in fridge.
(http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x465/SiFumar/2012-03-11_12-52-20_735.jpg)
It seemed to shrink a bit more than un-enhanced. Flavor was good, texture off. Was not salty. I would not go out of my way to use enhanced again. It was worth trying.
Did you cure and add spices to this. If so how much if you dont mind me asking.
Used 1TBS basic cure(Hab's), 1/2tsp gran garlic, 3TBS light brown sugar, 1tsp ground black pepper. That's what I usually use for CB. Well except I usually use only 1 Tbs brown sugar per pound, but added the extra to see how it would be. Made a more sticky hammy crust.
May I ask what texture you were looking for with a home smoked "back bacon"? Seriously...I am not being a smart a$$ on this question...
SiFumar;
Thanks for the feed back.
LQ, I should have said more about the texture...you're right. It was dry and rubbery. (and in the pic you can see small cracks) I took it to an IT of 140* like I do all my BB. All others I have made turned out moist...this didn't. You might have luck with "enhanced" pork, I didn't. And I just won't bother using it again. If you have a picture how yours turns out, it would be nice to see a successful one. Thanks!
When I can I prefer fresh to store bought. Some times wondered about it. But maybe some of it is the fact they are brining with who knows what these days. Looks good,plenty ok to eat. But i'm with you,only if I had no other choice. The shrinking stands to reason since it was blown up with that enhancement. You just dried a lot of the water back out. Good job and thanks for sharing the results.
Interesting because I have never had that experience....but I live in California so who knows how enhanced our meat is...everything is against the law out here....