Cure time ? "Pop's Brine" / Pork loin

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one eyed jack

Master of the Pit
Original poster
Oct 11, 2014
3,132
921
Coastal NC
My first post other than an introductory thread I put up last night.  Hello to all of you from eastern NC.

I have got a pork loin that measures 3" X 41/2" X roughly 10 inches.  I am assuming that the length shouldn't matter in calculating cure time.? 

I have read that cure will penetrate at 1/4" per 24 hr's.  I figure that the loin should cure in 12 to 18 days without injecting.  I am figuring on injecting to the center of the loin @ every 2 inches of length and that should achieve cure in 6 to 9 days. 

I am planning to cold smoke as I did the belly bacon for 10 or 12 hours.

My end result is to be my first attempt at Canadian bacon.

Will leaving the fat cap, such as it is, on affect cure penetration and cure time?  I have thought to leave it on for whatever flavor it might add thinking that it could be trimmed after cooking to each eater's taste.

I am going to use "Pop's Brine" recipe,  Have used it for belly bacon and like it just fine.  (Thanks Pop).

Thanks a lot for your thought's and input.

John

My first go at belly bacon using Pop's brine.  It was like tasting bacon for the first time.  They need to rename what they sell in grocery stores something other than bacon, cause this is "real" bacon. 
icon_smile.gif


 
 
My first post other than an introductory thread I put up last night.  Hello to all of you from eastern NC.

I have got a pork loin that measures 3" X 41/2" X roughly 10 inches.  I am assuming that the length shouldn't matter in calculating cure time.? 

I have read that cure will penetrate at 1/4" per 24 hr's. It is curing from both sides so divide by 2 I figure that the loin should cure in 12 to 18 days without injecting 6 days plus 2 days for safty.  I am figuring on injecting to the center of the loin @ every 2 inches of length and that should achieve cure in 6 to 9 days. That is a variable that I would not try to calculate.

I am planning to cold smoke as I did the belly bacon for 10 or 12 hours.

My end result is to be my first attempt at Canadian bacon.

Will leaving the fat cap, such as it is, on affect cure penetration and cure time?  I have thought to leave it on for whatever flavor it might add thinking that it could be trimmed after cooking to each eater's taste.

I am going to use "Pop's Brine" recipe,  Have used it for belly bacon and like it just fine.  (Thanks Pop).

Thanks a lot for your thought's and input.

John

My first go at belly bacon using Pop's brine.  It was like tasting bacon for the first time.  They need to rename what they sell in grocery stores something other than bacon, cause this is "real" bacon. 
icon_smile.gif


Are you going to cold smoke it or low temp smoke it till IT of 145°? I prefer mine to be cooked while I smoke it.

Happy smoken.

David
 
 
Oh bacon looks good.

Happy smoken.

David
Hey David,

You are correct of coarse, about cutting the cure time in half.  I knew that and then forgot to carry my thoughts out to the final end.  Thanks for waking me up. 
head-wall.gif


Is there a possibility of hurting the results of the loin,  (Or a health concern in over curing if I inject and cure for seven days)? 

I have been thinking that I would cold smoke the loin, but am still on the fence about that.  There are benefits to hot smoking.
 
 
Hey David,

You are correct of coarse, about cutting the cure time in half.  I knew that and then forgot to carry my thoughts out to the final end.  Thanks for waking me up. 
head-wall.gif


Is there a possibility of hurting the results of the loin,  (Or a health concern in over curing if I inject and cure for seven days)? You not going to over cure it. You can leave it in a lot longer. Under curing is where you could make a mistake. With the injection I don't know how it is going to effect the time as I have no way of knowing how much cure is going to stay in the meat. I am guessing not very much. So I would go with no less than 8 days.

I have been thinking that I would cold smoke the loin, but am still on the fence about that.  There are benefits to hot smoking. If you are going to use as Canadian Bacon I would warm smoke it to a IT of 145° If you want to later cook them as cured chops I would cold smoke. When I cure for chops I slice the loin about 1 1/4" thick before I cure it then cold smoke.
cured chops



Smoked cured chops. Still raw. They were cold smoked.


Canadian Bacon smoke to 145° and ready to eat.


So you can go ether way. They are both good.

Happy smoken.

David
 
Thanks for the answer on my cure time question David. 

I checked out your link to your current CB project and it is looking good.  I defer to your experience and will smoke my CB to 145*

This is my first CB smoke and if it works out well I may experiment a bit on the next.

Thanks again for your answering my questions.  I appreciate it.
 
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