# Store bought bacon.



## pawoodswalker (Jul 12, 2012)

I'm able to buy whole slab bacon at a local market for $2.99 lb.Says product of Canada on it. It tastes cured But not smoked,I would like to smoke it , Should I cold or hot smoke.Locally bellies are going for $4.00.so $2.99 is a great price.


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## Dutch (Jul 12, 2012)

Cured but not smoked isn't bacon, it's salt pork-it doesn't become bacon until it has been smoked.

As to the question of cold or hot smoked really comes down to how it was cured. If it's been cured with cure #1, I'd do a cold smoke-check the label on the package or check with the butcher. If you're not sure how it was cured I'd do a hot smoke-you'll lose some fat.

Hopefully one of the real bacon experts will jump in here and set us both straight.


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## smokinhusker (Jul 12, 2012)

Definitely not a bacon expert, but sounds like Dutch has it right.


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## brican (Jul 12, 2012)

Dutch said:


> Cured but not smoked isn't bacon, it's salt pork-it doesn't become bacon until it has been smoked.


I beg to differ, 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






 if it is cured and not smoked it is bacon the common terminology is (were I originate from  UK ) green bacon. I do some for my customers but mainly do cold smoked







But as you say 'It might be salt pork


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## daveomak (Jul 12, 2012)

Brican, afternoon...... Over here in the US, it is salt pork until it is smoked...... Smoking is what make it bacon... 

The picture you have shown is something I have never seen here....  I guess the cuts of meat and the terminology are different in several respects from the east and west side of the Atlantic....

PS, You won't catch me saying Dutch don't know what he's talking about .  LOL


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## Dutch (Jul 12, 2012)

Dave-

The picture that Brican posted is boneless pork loin with a bit of the belly left on it.  It is used to make peameal bacon. . .what us Yanks refer to a Canadian Bacon. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





We had some customers that were Canadians whos company sent them to Utah to manage one of their U,S, offices for several years. They came in to our shop wanting to know if we could make them up some peameal bacon. Dad was alway willing to learn new things to make his customers happy and when he learned, we learned too. Dad really knew what Customer Service was all about and this was over 20 years ago!

The cure used is sweet-pickle cure (sweeter and less salty than what we use here in the U.S.). After the bacon is cured, it is rolled in cornmeal; the peameal bacon is then sliced by the consumer (usually into 1/4 inch slices) and then panfried (grilled) until the fat and peameal is crispy. Peameal bacon isn't smoked like U.S. bacon is.


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## brican (Jul 12, 2012)

DaveOmak said:


> Brican, afternoon......
> 
> Afternoon Dave
> 
> ...


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## brican (Jul 12, 2012)

Dutch said:


> Dave-
> 
> The picture that Brican posted is boneless pork loin with a bit of the belly left on it.  It is used to make peameal bacon. . .what us Yanks refer to a Canadian Bacon.


What is shown there is what we call Short back, there is a long back which has a 5 - 6 inch tail (belly) on it There is also the Middle back which is the loin and belly. As for peameal bacon it is usually just the eye without the fat covering and silverskin removed.

I still have to define what is Canadian bacon as all that the commercial folks up this way do is more or less the same as American bacon -- using the bellies


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## Dutch (Jul 12, 2012)

Brican,

Canadian Bacon is the eye portion of the loin that has been cured and smoked. If you're down here in the lower 48 and order a "Ham and pineapple" pizza the 'ham' is Canadian bacon.


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## brican (Jul 12, 2012)

Dutch said:


> Brican,
> 
> Canadian Bacon is the eye portion of the loin that has been cured and smoked. If you're down here in the lower 48 and order a "Ham and pineapple" pizza the 'ham' is Canadian bacon.


Thanks’ for the clarification, as we do not produce (upper 48[sup]th[/sup]) a Canadian bacon as you describe I had visions of you calling the peameal bacon Canadian bacon


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## brican (Jul 12, 2012)

DaveOmak said:


> Brican, afternoon...... Over here in the US, it is salt pork until it is smoked...... Smoking is what make it bacon...


With Dave posting this the question that I cannot get my head around by any definition anything that is cured but not smoked is salt pork and would not constitute being bacon until its smoked.

That being said what I know as salt pork is a piece of pork that is cured with salt and cure (I use curing salt, salt and cure mixed together), on the other hand the following by any definition is bacon in fact it is Ayrshire bacon done the traditional way cured but not smoked, defiantly not by any means salt pork.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Granted this being a US based forum is one thing but with the attraction of a very wide base of International folks that some know that bacon dose not have to be smoked to be called bacon, please understand I am not trying to be a horse's ar*e far from it


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## smokinhusker (Jul 12, 2012)

Interesting thread and even better looking meat!!!! Learning lots here.


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## Dutch (Jul 12, 2012)

Well Brican, SMF may be a US based website, but with the way we have grown with members from from all over the world we have become quite an international group.

What we may call salt pork (pork belly cured with a salt based brine of cure #1, water, you call green bacon and that is what is great about this forum, we have the opportunity to learn the names and methodology of how things are done elsewhere. All one needs is an open mind and a willingness to learn new things.


> Thanks’ for the clarification, as we do not produce (upper 48[sup]th[/sup]) a Canadian bacon as you describe I had visions of you calling the peameal bacon Canadian bacon


 Remember that Canadian couple I mentioned earlier? Well when they were describing peameal bacon, my then brother-in-law said "Oh, you want Canadian bacon?" The look that the Mrs. gave him was enough to make MY blood run cold. So when I learn the correct terminology I tend to file the information away for future use.


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## brican (Jul 13, 2012)

SmokinHusker said:


> Interesting thread and even better looking meat!!!! Learning lots here.


Glad you like the meat, as for learning it is I who is learning it feels like I need to walk a fine line as there are a lot of knowledgeable folks around. Bacon, sausage (both fresh and dry cured) along with hams and Charcuterie are my fortay


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## brican (Jul 13, 2012)

Dutch said:


> Well Brican, SMF may be a US based website, but with the way we have grown with members from from all over the world we have become quite an international group.
> 
> What we may call salt pork (pork belly cured with a salt based brine of cure #1, water, you call green bacon and that is what is great about this forum, we have the opportunity to learn the names and methodology of how things are done elsewhere. All one needs is an open mind and a willingness to learn new things.
> 
> ...


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## pawoodswalker (Jul 13, 2012)

I'll get a picture of my next one. Didnt mean to cause such a debate lol. Think I'll just ask the butcher.


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## Dutch (Jul 13, 2012)

If I recall, there was a bacon shortage in England and the English turned to Canada to fill the void and large batches of cure loins were packed in peameal to preserve the meat during shipping.

Peameal bacon wasn't widely popular in Canada until the English began immigrating to Canada and began asking for it.

I'm not sure who the individual was that created peameal bacon but I do know that it is good stuff.


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## Dutch (Jul 13, 2012)

pawoodswalker- no worries, in fact I ought to thank you for asking your original question.  I've been enjoying this discussion with Brican and I think we both have learned something new and different.

Enjoy!


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## pawoodswalker (Jul 13, 2012)

I have enjoyed it also, it has been a good discussion. I'm never to old to learn. I believe it is or salt bacon or green bacon "which ever " lol. I'm just going to eat this batch the way it is and the next time I buy I'll ask the butcher. Thanks for all the reply's

.


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## baja traveler (Jul 13, 2012)

You say that salt pork doesn't become bacon until it's smoked -

I say that dousing it in liquid smoke is not the same as smoked...

saw this just yesterday on "How it's Made":


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## daveomak (Jul 13, 2012)

Baja Traveler said:


> You say that salt pork doesn't become bacon until it's smoked -
> 
> I say that dousing it in liquid smoke is not the same as smoked...
> 
> saw this just yesterday on "How it's Made":



Great video....  _Speed Bacon_....  I prefer the methods I have learned, on the forum, to that method.... Dave


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## pawoodswalker (Jul 13, 2012)

Just called the Market and talked to the Meat Manager He says its already cured. I think when I get my next one I'm going to hot smoke it just to be safe. I'll have to keep stopping at different meat markets and find some cheaper bellies and make my own.


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## brican (Jul 13, 2012)

pawoodswalker said:


> I'll get a picture of my next one. Didnt mean to cause such a debate lol.
> 
> There was times that I had thought of just bowing out cuz of having my hands raped for no apparent reason on another forum
> 
> ...


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## brican (Jul 13, 2012)

Dutch said:


> If I recall, there was a bacon shortage in England and the English turned to Canada to fill the void and large batches of cure loins were packed in peameal to preserve the meat during shipping.
> 
> Yes there was a shortage of bacon in England during the second world war and we looked to Canada to help (?) fill this need although my data dose not lend towards being packed in peameal, my papers show the cuts and curing process as well as shipping data to be followed as set down by the UK government I will try to remember to give my associate a call next week
> 
> ...


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## brican (Jul 13, 2012)

Dutch said:


> pawoodswalker- no worries, in fact I ought to thank you for asking your original question.  I've been enjoying this discussion with Brican and I think we both have learned something new and different.
> 
> Enjoy!


Thanks for that as I had visions that I had over stepped the boundary's and still do


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## pops6927 (Jul 14, 2012)

I thought of that video at the beginning of this discussion, lol... "today's bacon" is as far from what we old-timers understand as real bacon as can be!  It goes from raw bellies to finished product in 1 day.  And, tastes like it too.

Nice job, Brican, on the string-tied pork roll.  That, today, is a lost art; most butchers don't even know what a Butcher's knot is, lol.  I think I've got an instructional in my sig line on it. (My dad cut open many of my hand-tied roasts until I got it right!).


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## palladini (Jun 26, 2013)

Yes our Canadian Peameal Bacon is delicious to say the least.  Pork Loin, marinated in sweet brine, then rolled in Corn Meal, sliced up or pan fried, YUMMY. Up this way you can buy it pre sliced, in a chunk or on a sandwich in any restaurant.  Try it fried up, with a single medium thick slice of a tomato on a bun again YUMMY.  I have had many of those in my lifetime.













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*Peameal Bacon *
Comments:​Pea meal bacon is Canadian bacon which has been cured but not smoked. Rather, it is coated with yellow corn meal. Canadian bacon is cured and smoked pork loins.​The process is simple but takes a while and requires close attention to temperature. You may as well do about 25 lbs. as a minimum to make it worth your while.

Trim the boneless pork loins and cut them into 12-14" lengths and chill to 34 degrees in the center.

For 25 lbs. make a brine as follows:

   
	

		
			
		

		
	






	

		
			
		

		
	
 2 lbs non iodized salt
   
	

		
			
		

		
	






	

		
			
		

		
	
 1/2 lb. sugar
   
	

		
			
		

		
	






	

		
			
		

		
	
 1/2 oz. saltpeter (potassium nitrate)
   
	

		
			
		

		
	






	

		
			
		

		
	
 Dissolve in 3 pints of water

Place in a non reactive container large enough to contain the meat and 1 1/3 gallon of water --this includes the 3 pints above. The water should cover the meat by at least an inch.

The water must be no higher than 38 degrees F. Using 8 pounds of ice and 3 pints will produce the proper amount of water and temperature.

A sterile weight -- a ceramic/porcelain plate weighted with a gallon jug of water will work -- should be placed on top of the meat to hold it down. No part of the meat should be above the water.

Maintain the the temperature between 34 & 38 degrees for 3 weeks. On the 5th and 15th day, remove the loins and stir the brine real well. Return the loins oriented oppositely from their original position. After 3 weeks, remove, wash well under warm running water, then wipe dry. Store in a cool dry storage for 2-4 days. Then rub well with fresh yellow corn meal.

This can be eaten at once or stored at 34-40 degrees for weeks.


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