Canadian Bacon

[asa]

Asa,

Let me ask you something...do you keep your "Dry Cure" in the fluid it gives off?  I been doing mine in ZipLok bags and do not drain them off which intern seems likes a "Wet Cure"...you see what I am saying.

I see your point. Actually, I just put 'em in bags for ~7 days, and did not pour off anything from the dry cure. But as I said, take it with a grain of (curing) salt, because it was just one comparison and I can't guarantee there weren't other variables that might make a difference. I was just wondering what others might have experienced over the long run. I take it that yours are never too dry for your taste? I am going to try that maple cure the next time.

Art

[MallardWacker]

Asa,

I can't say if has ever been dry, the only thing I did notice once that after curing for 30+ days the meat was really too tender.  Dang I love BACON.

[asa]

Thanks for the encouragement and instructions MW. I plan to get another whole loin soon and follow your recipe closely. I love it too, and even more important, the Ms. loves Canadian bacon even more than I do. It has helped her adapt to having the BS settled into its little home on the front porch.

Regards,

     Art

[blakeus]

I just got a loin from Sam's Club and was looking for a recipe.  This bacon looks perfect.  One question, though.  How will the cure be affected if I use the FoodSaver to bag up the meat for the cure in the refridgerator?  I'm concerned that it will pull too much moisture out if I leave it for the 3-5 period.

Thanks,
Blake

[Dougsts]

This past weekend i did three each 3 pound loins.  I prepared each of the three differently.  The first was following Habs recipe with the mortons TQ, Brown Sugar, Garlic Powder and Onion Powder.  The second one was cured using equal parts of MTQ and Brown Sugar.  Each of these dry cured loins were placed in zip lock bags and refigerated at 38 degrees F, for 8 days.  The third loin was brined in Butcher & Packers Candian Bacon Brine Mix for 5 days at he same refrigerator temp..  All three were rinsed well then soaked for about 2 hours, replacing the water twice.  I smoked with maple, following Mallard Wackers temp and timetable.  All three came out great!! Although the Brined Loin came out a bit salty,, maybe a couple days less in the brine, it is still good.  The resounding winner in the family blind taste test is the loin using Habs recipe. It is really good.  Already thinking of getting some more started, the kids seem to like to take the vacuum sealed bags of bacon home by the handful. Thanks for all the useful info folks!

[Habanero Smoker]

Dougsts;
Glad you liked the recipe. I have some loin curing now, which I should be able to smoke on Monday. This time I used maple sugar granules, and one piece I added 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper per pound to see how that would work. What I like about this recipe is that it makes it easy to make different flavors of Canadian bacon from the same piece of pork loin.

Blakeus;
I wouldn't have the slightest idea how vacuum sealing effects curing. I was hoping that Jaeger would see your post and respond. He is the only member of this board that I know of who is both very knowledgeable in vacuum sealing and curing.

To Our Canadian Friends;
I've been doing some research on Canadian bacon, and learned that this is not what is consider Canadian bacon in your country. "Real" Canadian bacon, is usuasly not smoked or precooked, and is rolled in cornmeal. The next time I will put aside a piece of pork loin and use one it to make some Peameal bacon.

I am having a problem (because of conflicting information). Some sources state just to roll it in corn meal wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate; another states to parbake it after rolling in cornmeal just long enought to firm up the corn meal; and another stated to bake it at 350°F for 1.5 hours (which would fully cook it). Is one method preferred over the others?

[Habanero Smoker]

Just got finished sampling the last batch of Canadian bacon, and it came out pretty good. Using the maple sugar granuals gives it a nice maple flavor. So if I have it, I will use maple sugar instead of the brown sugar. It seems that some of the maple sugar that was absorb in the meat, came to the surface in some areas, adding some "crust" here and there. The piece I added 1/2 teaspoon/lbs of cayenne pepper­; it wasn't enough pepper so I will try 1 tsp/lbs. I'm also going to reduce the internal meat temperature to 145°F, so I will be pulling it out of the smoker at ­143°F.

Before putting this batch in the smoker I cut off about a one pound piece to try my hand at making Peameal bacon. I didn't have any course ground cornmeal, so I used a fine ground and mixed in some ground black pepper and cayenne and rolled the uncooked piece in it; giving it a good coating. This morning I sliced a piece off, sprinkled more cornmeal on the top and bottom, and pan fried it. For not knowing what I was doing this came out real good. So for now own, when I make bacon from pork loin I am going to put a piece aside to make Peameal.

[asa]

Just thought I'd report on a successful smoke a couple of weeks ago.
My second attempt at making Canadian bacon turned out just about perfect - ie., it was definitely better than the first (above). This time, I used a combination of the recipes from MallardWacker and Habenero Smoker.

The general outline was as follows. I used a whole pork loin, cut in half (next time will cut it in thirds). I used a dry cure with equal amounts of brown sugar and the recommended amount of TenderQuick for the weight. Cured at 36-40 degrees. After 1 week, added maple syrup. At the end of 3 weeks, removed the loin pieces, rinsed them well (several changes of water, still in the plastic bags), and then added just maple syrup for several hours (could do overnight I think). Finally smoked with 7 maple pucks and then ~4 hickory (ran out of maple), then cooked to internal of 150-152. Wrapped tightly and refrigerated for a day before cutting.

The result is very good-tasting ham/CB, moderately smokey, and just very slightly sweet. I thought it was great - not at all dry this time. Next time will take the additional suggestion of garlic and onion powder. If anything, the smoking time could have been a little shorter - I don't think I'd want it any smokier. Thanks to both MallardWacker and Habenero Smoker for sharing their recipes and suggestions.

[MallardWacker]

Man I love it when a plan comes together...What you find out is that you probably didn't make enough and don't give any to your friends or they will be handing you 15.00 and saying throw one of those in for me next time.

I am thinking of my next batch...I going with Big Smoker's suggestion of Raspberry and some sort of Pepper.

[manxman]

I wouldn't have the slightest idea how vacuum sealing effects curing.

This "Guide to dry Curing Bacon" may be of help?

http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/bacon_cures.html

[whitetailfan]

To Our Canadian Friends;
I've been doing some research on Canadian bacon, and learned that this is not what is consider Canadian bacon in your country. "Real" Canadian bacon, is usuasly not smoked or precooked, and is rolled in cornmeal. The next time I will put aside a piece of pork loin and use one it to make some Peameal bacon.

Hab,
I forget where it was covered off (probably the curing topic) Canadian Bacon is what you made, it is slightly different from Peameal bacon, which carries its own name.  I consider them two different items.  The peameal is cured not smoked, the Canadian bacon should be cured and smoked.

Ah who knows, make what tastes better.  I am interested to know what the peameal bacon tastes like.  It is really big thing out East, but I've never seen it around the West.

[Habanero Smoker]

Asa;
What you did sounds great. I haven't had a chance to smoke anything in the last couple of weeks, so I may try what you did. I'm thinking about mixing some habanero jelly with the maple syrup or with the maple granules.

WTF;
Thanks for the information. I did make the Peameal, sliced it, sprinkled on some more cornmeal and pan fried it. It's good bacon.

[asa]

Man I love it when a plan comes together...What you find out is that you probably didn't make enough and don't give any to your friends or they will be handing you 15.00 and saying throw one of those in for me next time.

Yep. I gave most of this one away (carried in a cooler on my 2 plane trips I've written about elsewhere). Need to slice some for a party next week. Then look for the next half-price loin sale at the local market.

I am thinking of my next batch...I going with Big Smoker's suggestion of Raspberry and some sort of Pepper.

I love raspberry but don't know that I'd think of it in this context. Let us know how it turns out.

[asa]

Asa;
What you did sounds great. I haven't had a chance to smoke anything in the last couple of weeks, so I may try what you did. I'm thinking about mixing some habanero jelly with the maple syrup or with the maple granules.

Hab -
The first time I did CB I only let it cure for 1 week. I'm intrigued by MallardWacker's technique of letting it go for 3 weeks - certainly seems to have worked for me a couple of weeks ago. If you try letting it cure longer, let us know what difference you can see, if any. I only have two experiments so far, and the longer cure seems to have been far superior to the shorter one, although I readily admit that I might have messed something else up with the first batch. Also, the habenero jelly sounds very interesting. Is that something you make yourself or buy off the shelf?

[Habanero Smoker]

I may not cure for a longer period, but the addition of the maple syrup sounds good.

I don't make the habanero jelly, but a friend of mine does. She mainly makes a variety of jalapeno jellies, and a small batch of habanero jellies. She grows her own peppers. I haven't seen her in a while, and I need to restock. I only have one small jar left. I expected to see her at the annual Garlic Festival last weekend, but it was rainy and I didn't go. I'll try to locate her website address and post it. She used to make pickled green beans that were really good, but she stop making them because it was too time consuming.

Edited:
Asa
I found the website address, and she is no longer in business. If you google "Habanero Jelly" you will get several recipes, but she added something to her jelly that improve the flavor and I don't have any idea what it was. I may contact her and try to get her recipe(s).