MORE Canadian Bacon

[Kevin A]

I picked up several large pork loins a few weeks ago and finally had a chance to prep some to make more canadian bacon.
First thing to was to cut up manageable sections on the long loin pieces, trim off some of the fat & silverskin.
About 8.5 lbs went into a brine containing salt, sugar, real maple syrup, black peppercorns, allspice and cure#1.

After nearly six days in the brine, it's time:


I drained the loin pieces several times; soaked in ice water for a hour or so, rinse & repeat. I sliced up a sample to fry & taste test. Good results! Nice balance of sweetness & saltiness.

Got the batch 'netted up' & hung overnight in the other fridge to help in the drying out process (pellicle formation). Bacon hangers come in handy...


Next day: Into the smoker.
Using hickory dust. I expect this will be an all-day affair. Started at 130°F & will gradually up the temps over the course of the day.


Eight hours in, with plenty of smoke over that time. I'l raise the temps to 180° & pull this batch when it hits the desired IT.


Well, it wound up taking about 11 hours for the bacon to finally hit the 152°F mark in the 175°F smoker. So late last night, I hung the bacon back in the fridge to firm up.

Bright & early this morning, it's finally BACON TIME.
My son and I both had an early morning breakfast (he works on the facility team at our church. 4:30 AM start time on Sunday). Some home-made waffles with some lightly-fried canadian bacon, real maple syrup = a GREAT start to the day!

The CB really came out nice! The loins are quite firm with a slightly dense outer skin; quite smokey (especially the end cut!) with a wonderful balance o' sweet & salty; hint of maple, too.
In hindsight, I could've spent some more time trimming some of the excess fat on the loins, but overall, I'm happy with the results.

Kevin

[KyNola]

Nicely done!

[squirtthecat]

DAYUM!

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

[classicrockgriller]

BOING!

That is just OFF the hook.

You always do great work.

Really nice.

[OldHickory]

That sure looks gooooood.

[SouthernSmoked]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!

[drano]

Maybe my next smoke should be CB.
That looks awesome!

[Waltz]

Looks great. I am down to my last pack of CB so this post has reminded me I need to make some more.

[4given]

Looks good! Guess I better make myself some more too!

[Kevin A]

Thanks, guys.

CB is one of those meats thats doesn't require TOO much effort to prepare (compared to some fermented or emulsified sausages), but the end results are always pleasing! Not everyone likes blood sausage, beer brats or braunschweiger, but I've discovered that CB sells to practically anyone!  :)

Kevin

[BAM1]

Nice job as usual Kevin

[OU812]

Shawang!

Good lookin back bacon!!

[Smoker John]

That looks great, nicely done

[jjmoney]

I'm just happy that someone called it back bacon  8)

Good work. Bacon is high on my list of next to-dos with the Bradley.

[SmokinSignals]

Next on the new things to do list.