Pork Loin - Candian Bacon Recipe & Q-View Gallore!

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thoseguys26

Master of the Pit
Original poster
Jan 4, 2012
1,341
60
Aspen Valley
I decided to work my way threw the meat chain and give a try to CB! It was all SMF's fault! I couldn't look at another mouth watering slice of CB on this website anymore, I had to have my own. Now it's my turn!

I am not 100% sure who to give credit to because I tried a little bit of a few different recipes on here and tweaked them to my liking. ShooterRick's recipe was my starting point and helped out greatly. *Thanks!

Here's a few links that not only helped get a general idea of how to make CB but also had some salivating motivation. I'm sure I'm missing some others but 'thanks' to all!

ShooterRick   - Awesome recipe to tweak for yourself!

BearCarvers Post 1    Post 2    -great overall info

Spicot in MS    -  Temp trial & error info

Craig Chamberlain - Inspired me to try a few extra seasonings

I had about a 5lb loin, cut in half for the curing process and quarters for the smoking process.

Trim loose fat

This is for a 2.5 lb pork loin.

2.5 TB Mortons TQ (1/2 oz per lb of meat)

1 TB Brown Sugar (1 tsp per lb of meat)

1 tsp Basil (crushed)

1 TB Onion Powder

1 TB Garlic Powder

1 tsp Sweet (Hungarian) Paprika

1.5 TB Black Pepper

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Mix all spices. One bowl of spice mix per chunk of meat, meaning, make the above mixture in two separate batches. Don't try to mix a double batch of spices in one bowl and hope you will rub each chunk of meat with equal amount of spices.

Cover and refrigerate for 8 days. I split bear's general rule (and rounded up) of 1 day per 1/2'' of the thickest measurement of your loin AND  1 day per 1/4'' of the thickest measurement. 2 1/2'' was the thickest part of my loin so 1/2'' a day would equal 5 days and 1/4'' a day would equal 10 days. 10 - 5 = 5   5 / 2 = 2.5  I took bearcarvers rule and added the difference, 7.5 - rounded up to 8 days total. (It's really not as complicated as it appears typed out..)

Rinsed off, fry test, put in fridge for 5 hours to allow pellicle to form. Rubbed a little pure maple syrup on the outside and smoked it until IT was 160°   I used the AMNS with hickory for 2 hrs and cherry for the rest (about 2.5 hrs)

2 hr smoke @ 150° 

230° until IT is 160°

If you have a good pellicle on your meat it will retain moisture and become much more tender when smoked!

Day 8 uncovered

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Day 8 - rinsed clean, did a fry test.

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I thought it was a little salty so I quartered it and basically massaged the meat in water, changed the water and repeated four times.

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In the smoker they go. Nice pellicle then I rubbed some pure maple syrup on them before going into the smoker.

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Done!!

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Here's a few pics your tastebuds!

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Cooled them overnight...  well.. all but one :)

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That night, fry test. Excellent. You SMF people were right, you can't get this stuff at the store.

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Time for slicing and vacuum sealing.

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Sorry * No money shot because I pretty much ate my egg sandwich without chewing it this morning it was so good.. which means I didn't get a chance for a photo of that sweet smokey CB with melted cheddar, crispy egg white and creamy yolk all cuddling between some lightly toasted Italian bread.  Maybe I can update a money shot tomorrow morning. Thanks for reading.
 
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Here's a grilled cheese & CB w/yellow mustard! Dang, CB is great and I'll be doing it myself from now on.

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Thanks for the tutorial and the Qview.  looks delicious.  I may have to give this a try never done Canadian Bacon before and there is nothing like Cheese and CB on an English Muffin for breakfast!
 
Looks great!  Ya done good!

For the TQ cure, I use the two days per inch of thickness on these less thick cuts.  Then I add a couple of days for safety in case my fridge runs a little cold.  Which it does.

Another recipe I use is:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/74611/requested-cb-recipe

From ShooterRick.  I have made a couple of changes to our own taste, but the recipe is pretty much spot on as is.  I do slather on a little pure maple syrup in the hot smoking process.  The longer I cold smoke these before I apply heat, it seems the more I like it?

We like ours fully cooked in hot smoke so we can slice thin, vacupack, freeze, and always have hors d'oeurve makings on hand. (cleaned up spelling right there?)  This is a family forum. 
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Yours look so good, I bet you can't wait to do them again?

Good luck and good smoking.
 
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Venture - Thank you - that is the one recipe I couldn't find after I accidentally closed my browser. That was my starting point recipe from ShooterRick - I updated my post to reflect that link, etc. Thanks again, I always give credit when due and ShooterRick made my breakfast AWESOME this morning! :) 

I figured I could cut down the smoke time a bit if I quartered them, plus, it gives you more 'crust' area (if you're into that sort of thing) around each piece. I will definitely play with some different spices next time around.
 
Al you have got to try this stuff! It's the reason hubby got me a smoker! 
If you're like me and grew up on "egg sandwiches' for breakfast than listen to SmokinHusker and try CB on your egg sammie instead of bacon! I want to make a spicy version to slice thin for pizza!
 
The CB looks great, it's certainly a big favorite around here. Next time you may want to pull it out at 145 IT. That's the new safe temp for pork from the USDA. It's a little juicier at the lower temp.
 
The CB looks great, it's certainly a big favorite around here. Next time you may want to pull it out at 145 IT. That's the new safe temp for pork from the USDA. It's a little juicier at the lower temp.


I wasn't sure what to do on the IT. So 145° is safe even if you're not heating it up afterwards?
 
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Alright, alright  I'm going to give it a try when pork loin goes on sale.  I do love my bacon though?
 
Alright, alright  I'm going to give it a try when pork loin goes on sale.  I do love my bacon though?
You won't be sorry and you can still love bacon! Hubby is a HUGE Bacon fan...until I made CB, now he loves it with a fried egg (which I scramble and add smoked cheese to it) on a grilled English muffin, bagel or toasted white bread. Don't get me wrong though, he still loves his bacon but I make (at 3 AM) a sausage, egg and cheese, CB, egg and cheese and bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches when he leaves on Monday mornings.  He's gone all week so he's set!
 
You won't be sorry and you can still love bacon! ... fried egg (which I scramble and add smoked cheese to it) on a grilled English muffin, bagel or toasted white bread.
That's a tough breakfast to beat. Bacon is still King but it's hard to compare the two because they are so different but goood!

Sometimes I'll make some biscuits too for CB egg cheese biscuit = CBeCB!
Thanks for all the comments! I only did a small batch because it was my first time but man do I wish I quadrupled it!
I wrote everything down exactly so we'll see how the next batch comes out. It'll be a big batch too!
 
Can Never have enough Q-view!!!!
Got a belly in brine now.
Pick up a loin yesterday. Going in brine Saturday
Hope it turns out as good as yours did .
 
I agree Ed! Good luck, I'm sure you'll be impressed with how easy CB is. When you do your fry test, make sure it's not a bit salty because after you smoke it the salt really comes through more than the fry test. I had really good luck by massaging it under water and refreshing the water once it was discolored about 4-6 times. Some may say I probably squeezed out some of my other spice flavors but if there's one thing that can ruin a good smoke product is too much salt.
 
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