Canadian Bacon Brine Question - Cabelas Maple Cure and Brine Mix

[vikings8480]

I started brining a pork loin on Sunday night for my first shot at Canadian Bacon.  I had trouble getting ahold of any #1 cure over the weekend so I picked up the Maple Cure and Brine mix from Cabelas. 

Has anyone used Cabela's Cure and Brine mixes for Canadian Bacon?  If so, how long did you let it cure/brine?  I am going to shoot for 10 to 12 days, do you think that is long enough?

I have since bought some #1 cure to use in the future for Canadian Bacon, but now I'm concerned the batch I have brining in the Cabela's mix won't turn out!

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[daveomak]

Did you follow the directions on the package .... A loin is pretty thick for a 10-12 day cure.... maybe go longer.... hard to tell for sure...

What did the package directions say....

 

[vikings8480]

The directions gave an amount of water and brine mix to use for specific weight of the meat, but they said to leave in the fridge for 24 hours or longer.  They really didn't give a time frame for various weights of meat.

I did inject the heck out of the loin before I submerged it in the brine.

The lack of any time frame for curing/brining in the directions sort of makes me suspicious as to whether this will turn out or not.  The container does have a picture of a ham on it though!  So maybe it will turn out okay.

I was hoping someone on the forum has used this stuff before.

 

[daveomak]

If the mix had nitrite, and you followed the mix amount per weight of meat, and complete/thorough injecting of the brine was performed... I'm thinking 7-10 days in the refer will give you a great product.... Injecting cure significantly reduces the time required for curing, but, additional rest time for everything to come to equilibrium would be a good thing......

 

[vikings8480]

Awesome!  The Cure/Brine mix does contain Sodium Nitrite.  Thanks for the input!  I'm excited to see how this turns out!

 

[r26017]

How did this turnout?  I had the same quesion using the same brine

 

[vikings8480]

I ended up letting it go 12 days instead of 10.  It did a nice job of curing the meat, but it was a little off on the flavor.  I really couldn't detect any maple in the flavor.  My wife and daughter really liked it, but I was a little disappointed.  It wasn't bad by any means, and the meat was definitely cured.