Last night I decided to start prepping pork loins by trimming off all the fat to begin the process for canadian bacon. After having gotten about halfway into the trimming, I noticed a potential problem I need your thoughts on. I purchased the loins last Saturday afternoon. The store's label said sell or freeze by 1/23/08. On the reverse side of the cryovac bag they were packaged in had stamped on it "Use or Freeze by JAN 08 08". They smell fine, there is no obvious discoloration. I was going to begin the curing process tomorrow so I could smoke them on Sunday.
Is this something I should be overly concerned about or do you think I'm OK?
Habs, you're the canadian bacon king as far as I am concerned, what do you think?
KyNola
I'm only guessing here, but possibly the store or their distributor had them in the freezer for a while, thus the later "Use by" date on their lable. As long as they look and smell okay, they should be fine, as long as the rest of your handling process is safe.
I agree with Tiny Tim. It was frozen by Jan 08 08, and later thawed to be sold by the store.
Thanks guys. Just don't want to ruin that much canadian bacon! Put it in the cure tonight. Will remove the cure Saturday night and smoke it Sunday.
Can't wait!
KyNola
NyNola
I just got thinking about the amount of time in the cure. Tonite till Saturday is only 4 days. The bacon I've done I have stuck to the 6 days in Habs recipe. I'm just curious if this is an issue.
Mike
Good question Walleye. The TQ meat curing guide recipe calls for 3-5 days and Habs calls for 6 days. The first time I made canadian bacon I cured it for 3 days. It was fully cured as evident by the nice pink color throughout. I am curing this batch in vac sealed bags so I'm hoping 4 days in a vac sealed bag will help to "increase" the cure time. Other posts say it does but by how much is the question. Certainly not 33%.
I'll be interested to see how it turns out. Will post and let you know if interested.
KyNola
I'm absolutely interested KyNola!
Keep us posted for sure. Any new info/knowledge is good! ;)
Mike
Walleye,
Less than 12 hours in the curing process and it's already generating a fairly good amount of liquid. So far I'm encouraged. Doesn't take much to encourage me though when it comes to smoking food. I just like doing it. :D
KyNola
Smoke on KyNola...SMOKE ON. Keep us informed.
Will do MW. I know you and Habs are pretty much the bacon kings around here so I'm a little nervous with you two peering over my shoulder. But then again, it's pork, it's seasoned and it's smoked. I'm not too sure you can screw that combination up no matter what you do to it! :D
KyNola
UPDATE! For those of you interested, two days in the cure process in the vac sealed bags and the meat is firming up nicely. I'm pretty happy with the results thus far. Between Mallard Wacker, Habs and Walleye actually posting on my original post, I'm getting pretty nervous about this whole deal. I'm using Habs recipe so I know I'm good to go there but I'm a new guy on the block.
Really looking forward to Sunday when I roll the smoke! So are a bunch of my friends. They know I'm making canadian bacon again.
Keep your fingers crossed,
KyNola
KyNola... We have absolute confidence in you! 8)
My bet is it will be perfect! ;)
Mike
Walleye,
That's what I appreciate about this forum. It 's all about the support. I've done canadian bacon before. Not with the vac bag curing process and not this long so I'm pretty excited about seeing how it goes. When guys like you, Mallard Wacker and Habs actually say let us know what's going on, I promise you it means a lot to me and I'm sure all the newer guys here. Thanks.
KyNola
KyNola
I couldn't agree more with you about the forum. It really is a great place with a wealth of great people and information. A person is never done learning.
Knowledge is a wonderful thing...
What makes it truely wonderful is when it's shared.
Mike
Walleye,
Here's a twist for you. Tonight when I was checking the pork loins my wife walked in and wanted to know if it was going as expected.. She said and I quote " I really enjoyed helping you with that the other night". While I was weighing the pieces of loin and mixing the cure, she was applying the cure to the meat. I'm thinking I have A.) created a monster and/or B) drawn a bye for whatever I need to purchase to further our smoking needs.
What do you think?
KyNola
Your In! ;)
Order the grinder & stuffer! ;D
Just kidding! It is really nice that your wife takes an interest in it. 8)
It really is alot of fun seeing what you can create. And the "eats" aren't bad either!
Mike
I didn't realize it but I was already in! Went to Gander Mountain to buy a small grinder/stuffer. My wife said "we can make sausage?" and was all excited about buying a FoodSaver vac and seal. I am so lucky. If I was her I would have gotten rid of my butt years ago.
Walleye, go to the digital forum and look for new smoker by "GatorMike". I gave him some info on pulled pork but I'm sure he could use your expertise more than mine.
Larry
I'd go with "B" KyNola...better safe then have her read you "created a monster"!! Just one chick's opinion!!! :)
LQ,
I understand and truly appreciate your female outlook but I meant it as a compliment. We really are from Mars aren't we? ;)
BTW, thanks for the PM. Glad to know you're doing well and you made the right choice it sounds like.
Larry
Yeah...I know it was a compliment!!:) Just messin with ya Ky!! :) Can't help it...I'm from Florida...it's inbred in us down there!!
As far as the PM...was nice to "chat" with somebody "in the biz"...so to speak!
Quote from: KyNola on January 17, 2008, 07:28:21 PM
Walleye,
Here's a twist for you.....Tonight when I was checking the loins.....my wife walked in and wanted to know if it was going as expected.... She said and I quote " I really enjoyed helping you with that the other night". .......she was applying the cure to the meat..... I'm thinking I have A.) created a monster and.......
What do you think?
KyNola
What do I think...? Gosh I am laughing...kind of re-read your post.
KyNola....I am going to warn you.....
I know you are a bit of young'n around here...but there was guy around here "that shall remain nameless" would of had a bunch of fun with this post. I met up with this guy a time or two on my posts. Not everyone has their head in the gutter or has lacked female attention....but it just caught me funny.
When I read that post I recalled the post that Manxman posted about carrying a whole loin from the market to his house, and how he was greeted by his girl friend. I never laughed so hard in my life. I tried to find the post but didn't have much luck.
MW & Habs,
I have to admit I feared some type of backlash as soon as I hit the post button! I have so many things I could say right now but it will only dig the hole deeper. :D
As for the canadian bacon curing process, about 3.5 days in and I'm really happy with the progress. I think I really like the vac seal bag process.
KyNola
I'm going to have to try the vacuum seal curing. I do have a food saver, but I just got a Reynolds Handi-Vac. It's so convenient to use, that it may be perfect for vacuum curing Canadian bacon.
Removed the loins last night after 4 days in the vac bag curing. I'm pleased with the outcome. They are in the smoker for 2 hours worth of smoke and an IT of 150 degrees. Will most likely take approximately 3 hours total. When I started this morning the air temp was 16 degrees. Now it's a balmy 23!
KyNola