Bradley cure question

[oguard]

Hope someone can answer this question. I have a pork loin curing right now with the Bradley maple cure. I used the dry method and I am getting little or no liquid in the bag. Is this normal or has something gone wrong?

Hope someone can help

Mike

[Tenpoint5]

Would Love to help Mike but I haven't used the Bradley cures as of yet.

[pensrock]

I have not used the Bradley cure but when using MTQ on pork loin I do not see a ton of liquid. It does get wet but only a little moisture in the plastic bag if I remember correctly. I think if you used to correct amount of cure per pound of pork, you should be fine.

[oguard]

Thanks Pens I will let it go for the required time.

Mike

[KevinG]

I haven't used the cure either, but suspect you won't see a lot of liquid unless you pack the meat in salt. I'm not saying you need to pack it in salt, just that if you do, it will draw out the moisture.

[Habanero Smoker]

First how long has been curing?

I'm not familiar with the Bradley cures, or how you applied it. When I cure loins sometimes there is only a small amount of liquid, other times there is a significant amount of liquid. I generally find that more liquid is produced from the sirloin (thicker) end, even when the sirloin end and rib end sections weight the same; but that is not a sure indicator of how much liquid will be produced.

[oguard]

I applied the cure by rubbing it on the meat. The directions say 1 week per inch of thickness. The loin is 2" thick so it will cure for one more week and then I will smoke it per instructions. What should the I.T. be at the end of the smoking process? The instruction just give the temp of the smoker.

Mike

[Habanero Smoker]

I smoke my loins at 225°F, and apply about 1:40 - 2:00 hours of smoke. I am comfortable with an internal temperature of 142°F, but 145°F is also good. Others will take theirs to 150°F. The higher temperature really dries out the meat.

[oakville smoker]

Finally something I have experience with !  LOL

I just wrapped up a batch of bacon, used Bradley Maple on 1 and Bradley Sugar on the other.
Went on the slicer last night and was vac pac'd.  Now in the freezer waiting for its final destiny, my belly.
I did commit a cardinal sin, no pictures.  I was exhausted at the end of  the day and just trying to get er done.
I used a dry rub and vac sealed during the curing process.  I cured for 5 and half days, could have probably went less.
The vac pac does seem to accelerate the cure process.

There was not as much moisture in the vac pac as there usually is with MTQ.  No idea why. 
The results are pretty similar to an MTQ cure although I was a little disappointed that the cure did not impart
as much flavor as I would have liked.  I even used some maple concentrate with the maple cure.

All in all it was something I needed to do. I will use up the rest of my Bradley cures over time but will probably stick with
MTQ and my own flavour enhancers after that.

The loins seemed to firm up at about the same rate as with MTQ.  The loins were fully cured when removed from the vac pac.

[canadiansmoker]

I have used the Bradley maple cures on pork loin a few times, when making back bacon. I did end up with some liquid in each bag (maybe 1/2 - 1 cup) each tme I have done it.

[oguard]

Thanks for the temps Hab. I will try to post some pics when I get to the smoking stage.

Mike

[oguard]

Here is an update folks. The Canadian bacon turned out pretty good, I took the internal temp a little high
But it still turned out nice. Can't wait for pork to go on sale again and this time I will load the smoker up ;D

Mike