1st Tasso smoke!

Shozzy · March 19, 2011, 04:01:05 PM

I recently saw an episode of Diners, drive ins and dives and they cured the top inch of a pork loin to make tasso ham. I had never heard of this before, i decided i was going to cure a pork belly for maple bacon & a loin for Canadian bacon but the loin was huge so i thought what the hell, I'll give tasso a try (I've never tasted it before). So here is my first attempt at tasso! I used the top inch of the loin as i figure I'm going to cut it into strips and i could use the bottom half of the monster for my Canadian bacon. Did a basic dry cure of salt, sugar and cure #1 let it sit in the fridge for just over 24 hours, then used a dry rub i got off of this lovely forum!

Here it is rubbed and ready to hit the smoker!

It is in the smoker as I type! more photos to come and I'll get some of the bacon when its out of the fridge and ready for smoking too!

Tenpoint5 · March 19, 2011, 04:15:29 PM

Looks and sounds like you got a good plan in the making along with some good eats!!

wyoduke · March 19, 2011, 07:35:21 PM

I would love to see the end results :o

SouthernSmoked · March 19, 2011, 07:46:20 PM

Quote from: wyoduke on March 19, 2011, 07:35:21 PM
I would love to see the end results :o

Same here...any updates?

Shozzy · March 20, 2011, 02:01:07 PM

Well first tasso smoke was a success. I have never tried tasso before and noticed most people on here were saying they dont like it by itself but i could have eaten it all! Delicious! I'm thinking i will try throwing some in split pea soup and keep some for sandwiches. Will definitely be doing this again!!

Here's the results!

wyoduke · March 20, 2011, 02:46:24 PM

That looks great ;D ;D

OU812 · March 21, 2011, 09:22:00 AM

Outstanding!

Dice some of that bad boy up, it makes for a great omelet.

Ka Honu · March 21, 2011, 10:27:04 AM

Quote from: Shozzy on March 20, 2011, 02:01:07 PM... most people on here were saying they dont like it by itself but i could have eaten it all!

It's not that we don't like it by itself. It's because "traditional" tasso is made from sliced pork shoulder (where a ton of rub is worked into pretty much every nook and cranny). You pretty much get a full mouthful of rub with every bite. The result is usually too spicy to eat by itself; that's why it's generally used to flavor other dishes.

You made what I would call a tasso-flavored pork loin; the denser texture and larger cut of the loin gives you a lower spice-to-meat ratio than with a slice of shoulder. It looks like you've invented a "keeper."