# Canadian Bacon using Pop's Brine 2nd try



## woodcutter

I made another 2 loins into Canadian Bacon using Pop's Brine. The first batch was a little salty and I wanted to get the recipe the way I want it while it is still fresh in my memory. I did everything the same except reduced the salt to 3/4 cup from 1 cup. In the brine for 12 days.

Last fall I cut some cherry wood into 1 1/4 pieces on my table saw and stored them to dry. I haven't tried cherry yet but a lot of posts were favorable so it was time. I use a lot of red oak and apple and will now be using a lot of cherry.

Recipe

1 gallon of water

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup of kosher salt

1 cup brown sugar

1 Tbs cure #1

1 Tbs garlic powder

1 Tbs onion powder

1 Tbs molasses (mild flavor)

I started my smoker at 130 the slowly raised the temp to 190. It took about 6 hours to get the internal temp of the bacon to 145. It took 7 hours for my first batch, I might have raised the smoker temp faster this time or weather or whatever.













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__ woodcutter
__ Feb 23, 2013






Here is some cherry wood.













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__ Feb 23, 2013






Finished view.













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__ Feb 23, 2013






I didn't use the slicer on the first batch and have decided to not slice this batch. For some reason I like having my little hunk of ham whole in the fridge and I enjoy slicing for the frying pan or snacking.













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__ woodcutter
__ Feb 23, 2013
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I'm very happy with how this turned out and this will be how I make CB going forward.

Thanks for looking!


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## diggingdogfarm

Looks great, Todd!


~Martin


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## snorkelinggirl

Your CB looks great!  I may unabashedly swipe your recipe when I try my hand at making CB for the first time.  So in your recipe above you used 3/4 cup salt?  It says that in your explanation, but salt isn't listed in your actual recipe.

Beautiful color on these too.  Great job!


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## woodcutter

SnorkelingGirl said:


> Your CB looks great!  I may unabashedly swipe your recipe when I try my hand at making CB for the first time.  So in your recipe above you used 3/4 cup salt?  It says that in your explanation, but salt isn't listed in your actual recipe.
> 
> Beautiful color on these too.  Great job!


Thanks, I was sleep deprived last night when I posted this. I had the sugar wrong also. It is now edited the way it should be.


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## bear55

It looks great, how many pounds of loin did you start with?

Bear


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## woodcutter

Bear55 said:


> It looks great, how many pounds of loin did you start with?
> 
> Bear


Thanks, 16 lbs total, 2 whole loins. Everything fits in an old coleman cooler which fits in my fridge.


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## woodcutter

DiggingDogFarm said:


> Looks great, Todd!
> 
> 
> ~Martin


Thanks, Martin!


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## jp61

You have some great looking CB there Todd! Job well done!


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## mountainhawg

This looked so good, I decided to get a small loin soaking myself. A friend has some cut cherry wood waiting for me to pick it up so I'm all set. Went with a 1/2C of SS just to keep the intake down.

Wife is on a low salt diet.


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## woodcutter

MountainHawg said:


> This looked so good, I decided to get a small loin soaking myself. A friend has some cut cherry wood waiting for me to pick it up so I'm all set. Went with a 1/2C of SS just to keep the intake down.
> 
> Wife is on a low salt diet.


I've been eating Canadian bacon for 3 weeks, I think you will enjoy it. I really liked the cherry, had it drying for almost 5 months. I have been reading a lot of members have been commenting on how lean the pork butts have been lately. I would like to go to Sam's Club and try brining a 2 pack of lean butts.


JP61 said:


> You have some great looking CB there Todd! Job well done!


Thanks JP!


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## chef jimmyj

That is some great color for 6 hours. I have heard that Cherry adds the best color in the shortest time, I'm convinced...JJ


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## venture

Fine lookin stuff there!

We like a cherry maple blend.

Looks like the cherry did you well!

Good luck and good smoking.


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## travisb

Looking good. How long did you have them in the brine?


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## woodcutter

They were in the brine for 12 days.


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## pops6927

Looks great!  How was the sweetness?  Too much?  I've been playing around with ½ cups vs. full cups of the sugars, did a couple chickens that way and they were good too!


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## woodcutter

Pops6927 said:


> Looks great!  How was the sweetness?  Too much?  I've been playing around with ½ cups vs. full cups of the sugars, did a couple chickens that way and they were good too!


It wasn't too sweet, it was good that way. I like it at this level (3/4 cup salt). I'm very happy with how it turned out. Thank you for your family brine!


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## zahlgren




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## mountainhawg

Todd,

I am pretty sure you didn't, but did you inject any of the brine? My guess is that since the loins are not that thick, and with the soak 12 days it wasn't necessary.


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## fpnmf

Looks great!!

  Craig


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## kathrynn

Looks awesome! :drool


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## tennsmoker

Todd,

you did a great job on your CB, 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






al


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## shoneyboy




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## woodcutter

Thanks for the compliments everyone! All this attention and I ended up with the bacon to boot.


MountainHawg said:


> Todd,
> 
> I am pretty sure you didn't, but did you inject any of the brine? My guess is that since the loins are not that thick, and with the soak 12 days it wasn't necessary.


The loins were much rounder when they were raw so I did inject them.


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## hitechredneck

This is definitely my next project.  I have some more cheese and jerky to do this weekend before we go on a big spring break backpacking trip, but when I get back, I'm gonna get to smokin some canadian bacon.  I will probably let it sit in the fridge while I'm gone, so I don't have to have the 'watched pot' syndrome.

One question though...  Did you seal the container with the loin and brine, or leave it open?  If open, do you have to add liquid or anything during the brine process?  I am worried about leaving and coming back to find my loin barely covered due to evaporation.


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## woodcutter

HiTechRedNeck said:


> This is definitely my next project.  I have some more cheese and jerky to do this weekend before we go on a big spring break backpacking trip, but when I get back, I'm gonna get to smokin some canadian bacon.  I will probably let it sit in the fridge while I'm gone, so I don't have to have the 'watched pot' syndrome.
> 
> One question though...  Did you seal the container with the loin and brine, or leave it open?  If open, do you have to add liquid or anything during the brine process?  I am worried about leaving and coming back to find my loin barely covered due to evaporation.


I had a quart zip lock bag full of water to weight it all down and had the cooler cover on. I did  not have to add anything to the brine. I didn't touch it from start to finish while in the brine.


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## bear55

Can you explain the injection process please?  How much, how often, where etc.

Thanks


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## hitechredneck

Woodcutter said:


> I had a quart zip lock bag full of water to weight it all down and had the cooler cover on. I did  not have to add anything to the brine. I didn't touch it from start to finish while in the brine.


Thanks.  I have a couple of regular red bricks I use to weigh things down when I brine for overnight.  I have each in their own ziplock :)

My brining is usually done in a large open tub, so I'll likely just cover it with plastic wrap after weighing the loin down.

Thanks for the quick response!


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## woodcutter

Bear55 said:


> Can you explain the injection process please?  How much, how often, where etc.
> 
> Thanks


I cut each loin into 4 pieces and injected each piece every inch. I have a cheap syringe from Walmart that has holes up and down the needle. I injected the brine until it was coming out other holes in the loin.


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## noshrimp

Beautiful color and delicious looking, Todd. Very inspiring!

Noshrimp


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## paul catt

Wow they looked great  that was some really nice color ...I just made my 1st batch of C-Bacon ..and some how its all gone  lol Im getting ready to start brining some more


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## driedstick

That Looks Great - Great job,,, never have done CB but would like to thanks for the info.


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## woodcutter

Paul Catt said:


> Wow they looked great  that was some really nice color ...I just made my 1st batch of C-Bacon ..and some how its all gone  lol Im getting ready to start brining some more


Thanks Paul! I'm glad they are hot smoked so I can keep grabbing out of the refrigerator, it goes fast.


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## mountainhawg

Woodcutter said:


> Thanks for the compliments everyone! All this attention and I ended up with the bacon to boot.
> 
> The loins were much rounder when they were raw so I did inject them.


Ahhh! Glad I asked. My little loin is in for a treat tomorrow. Thanks for clearing that up Todd.

Gil


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## jtnf

Well, I'm in! I have two little pieces of loin probably five or six inches in length, marinating in half a gallon of brine... The recipe at the beginning of this tread was cut in half.

Day two, I injected the brine all over the place and put it back in the fridge.


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## woodcutter

I don't think you will regret it. Let me know how it turns out........Thanks!


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## mountainhawg

My little roast (not a loin) is ready for the grill/smoker tomorrow. Followed your recipe but decided to add cracked juniper and black pepper for a topping after a slather of mustard. Will cook

till done. I, like you, like just to reach in the fridge, slice a cut of meat and have a sammy.  













CB (1 of 1).jpg



__ mountainhawg
__ Mar 8, 2013


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## woodcutter

Good luck with your smoke tomorrow! Looks great.


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## mountainhawg

Woodcutter said:


> Good luck with your smoke tomorrow! Looks great.


Thanks! 5 hours into it, going low and slow. Just reached 100f IT and boosted heat for a rush to the finish. Smoked with cherry through hour 4. I am going to let it sit and settle out for 24 to 48 hours before I cut into it if I can hold off that long. 

Added; I took it to 160 IT so it would be cut and eat, it took 9 hrs 45 min. (fingers crossed that the cure made all throughout the roast. 12 days brine + 6 injections)













CB (2 of 1).jpg



__ mountainhawg
__ Mar 9, 2013


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## mountainhawg

Well I didn't even make the 24 hours self imposed wait. Dusted off the juniper and cracked black from the top. The taste is a tiny bit on the salty side and a tiny bit dry from the low cook at the high temp. The pepper and juniper on the outside give it a nice zip to the pallet. Similar to ham but not ham, quite good.













CB (3 of 1).jpg



__ mountainhawg
__ Mar 10, 2013


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## woodcutter

MountainHawg said:


> Well I didn't even make the 24 hours self imposed wait. Dusted off the juniper and cracked black from the top. The taste is a tiny bit on the salty side and a tiny bit dry from the low cook at the high temp. The pepper and juniper on the outside give it a nice zip to the pallet. Similar to ham but not ham, quite good.
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> __ mountainhawg
> __ Mar 10, 2013


Looks like Canadian bacon to me! Loins are starting to dry out @ 155, @145 they are juicy. I think when the loin starts to dry out a little the salt taste becomes stronger. Nice work!


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## mountainhawg

Woodcutter said:


> Looks like Canadian bacon to me! Loins are starting to dry out @ 155, @145 they are juicy. I think when the loin starts to dry out a little the salt taste becomes stronger. Nice work!


Thanks to you it was a good recipe. Thanks for the info on the loins but thankfully it's not too dry, just semi-arid. My wife is quite impressed with the taste and flavor. She had been dubious about me curing meats even though I have been head chef though out our long marriage. To be truthful, I feel more comfortable about curing after this success.


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## bad santa

Congrats to both of y'alls smokes, both sets of pics look real good.


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## jtnf

jtnf said:


> Well, I'm in! I have two little pieces of loin probably five or six inches in length, marinating in half a gallon of brine... The recipe at the beginning of this tread was cut in half.
> 
> Day two, I injected the brine all over the place and put it back in the fridge.


Twelve days in the brine, washed in filtered water and soaked in filtered water for a few hours, washed again and trimmed up, and waiting... drying on a rack in the frige unwrapped.

Going to cold smoke for a few hours tomorrow AM then bring it up to 140*/145*

On of the two will get some sweet treatment.. or maybe sweet-n-nasty. Honey habenero anyone?


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## woodcutter

jtnf said:


> jtnf said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well, I'm in! I have two little pieces of loin probably five or six inches in length, marinating in half a gallon of brine... The recipe at the beginning of this tread was cut in half.
> 
> Day two, I injected the brine all over the place and put it back in the fridge.
> 
> 
> 
> Twelve days in the brine, washed in filtered water and soaked in filtered water for a few hours, washed again and trimmed up, and waiting... drying on a rack in the frige unwrapped.
> 
> Going to cold smoke for a few hours tomorrow AM then bring it up to 140*/145*
> 
> On of the two will get some sweet treatment.. or maybe sweet-n-nasty. Honey habenero anyone?
Click to expand...

Good luck with your smoke!


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## jtnf

Woodcutter said:


> Good luck with your smoke!


Rather than continue to threadjack here, I started a thread of my own


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## woodcutter

Yesterdays breakfast in my flax seasoned frying pan:













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__ woodcutter
__ Mar 23, 2013
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bacon-making



















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__ woodcutter
__ Mar 23, 2013
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bacon-making


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## jtnf

Yum... Makes me wish I'd made more.

There needs to be another; I think I'll pick up a loin on the way home ;)


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## pops6927

Y'all makin' some great bacon!  Just looks absolutely delicious!


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## woodcutter

Pops6927 said:


> Y'all makin' some great bacon!  Just looks absolutely delicious!


Thanks to you and your brine!!


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## woodcutter

jtnf said:


> Yum... Makes me wish I'd made more.
> 
> There needs to be another; I think I'll pick up a loin on the way home ;)


I know the feeling! I'm on my last hunk and nothing brining. I can't decide to make more ham or bacon.


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## bluto

Looks awesome!  Putting this on the ToDoSoon list.  Question though, with a 12 day brine, is injecting really necessary?


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## woodcutter

Bluto said:


> Looks awesome! Putting this on the ToDoSoon list. Question though, with a 12 day brine, is injecting really necessary?


I inject anything over 2" thick. I think you are right that the brine would probably make it to the center of the loin but there is time and effort put into it so I want a good final result.


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## bluto

Woodcutter said:


> I inject anything over 2" thick. I think you are right that the brine would probably make it to the center of the loin but there is time and effort put into it so I want a good final result.



Thanks Woodcutter.  I  finally trying my own, just put it in the brine a little bit ago. I didn't have any molasses so I used some Vermont Maple Surple (as my Dad always called it).
I figure if the cure penetrates at 1/4" per 24 hours, a 3" thick piece being completely submerged technically should only need 6 days if being absorbed from both sides.  I'm no expert by any means, but seems to make sense to me, I will however leave it in for the full 12 days as you did, just not injecting.  It is only 3.5 lbs for this first experiment, so we'll see.  Thanks for the insight, I'll follow up when it is ready.


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## woodcutter

Bluto said:


> Woodcutter said:
> 
> 
> 
> I inject anything over 2" thick. I think you are right that the brine would probably make it to the center of the loin but there is time and effort put into it so I want a good final result.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks Woodcutter. I finally trying my own, just put it in the brine a little bit ago. I didn't have any molasses so I used some Vermont Maple Surple (as my Dad always called it).
> I figure if the cure penetrates at 1/4" per 24 hours, a 3" thick piece being completely submerged technically should only need 6 days if being absorbed from both sides. I'm no expert by any means, but seems to make sense to me, I will however leave it in for the full 12 days as you did, just not injecting. It is only 3.5 lbs for this first experiment, so we'll see. Thanks for the insight, I'll follow up when it is ready.
Click to expand...

The last 6 months I've been steadily brining loins for ham or CB and pork butts into ham. I've finally have the different brines the way I like them but often thought about Maple Syrup and just haven't got around to it. I think it will be excellent. Good luck and let me know how it turns out for you.


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## bluto

Woodcutter said:


> The last 6 months I've been steadily brining loins for ham or CB and pork butts into ham. I've finally have the different brines the way I like them but often thought about Maple Syrup and just haven't got around to it. I think it will be excellent. Good luck and let me know how it turns out for you.



Hey Todd, at the end of the brining period, do you rinse, soak/desalinate, let it air dry for any amount of time, etc before smoking?  And since you took it to 145 IT, it's pretty much safe to eat at that point, right?  Also, I see you have smoked these with both cherry and apple, have you found you prefer one over the other?


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## pops6927

Bluto said:


> Thanks Woodcutter. I finally trying my own, just put it in the brine a little bit ago. I didn't have any molasses so I used some Vermont Maple Surple (as my Dad always called it).
> I figure if the cure penetrates at 1/4" per 24 hours, a 3" thick piece being completely submerged technically should only need 6 days if being absorbed from both sides. I'm no expert by any means, but seems to make sense to me, I will however leave it in for the full 12 days as you did, just not injecting. It is only 3.5 lbs for this first experiment, so we'll see. Thanks for the insight, I'll follow up when it is ready.


A better solution is to use maple extract as it is pure maple flavoring with no added sugar; the excess sugar may turn your brine ropy or yeasty.


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## woodcutter

Bluto said:


> Woodcutter said:
> 
> 
> 
> The last 6 months I've been steadily brining loins for ham or CB and pork butts into ham. I've finally have the different brines the way I like them but often thought about Maple Syrup and just haven't got around to it. I think it will be excellent. Good luck and let me know how it turns out for you.
> 
> 
> 
> Hey Todd, at the end of the brining period, do you rinse, soak/desalinate, let it air dry for any amount of time, etc before smoking? And since you took it to 145 IT, it's pretty much safe to eat at that point, right? Also, I see you have smoked these with both cherry and apple, have you found you prefer one over the other?
Click to expand...

I rinse the hams off in the sink and cut a few small slices and test fry. When tasting the test fry fry the garlic and onion will seem a little strong but I'm looking for salt level. If it too salty then soak for an hour or 2 and retest. The garlic and onion flavor will seem a little strong at first when you are done smoking but after a it cools in the fridge and the ham sets up it will be perfect. I have not needed to soak, the salt is just the way I like it. 145 is safe for pork.

I like apple and cherry about the same. I have a lot more cherry right now. I like red oak as well.


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## bluto

Pops6927 said:


> A better solution is to use maple extract as it is pure maple flavoring with no added sugar; the excess sugar may turn your brine ropy or yeasty.



Thanks Pops, good to know.  I guess we'll see in a week and a half, hopefully since it was only a tablespoon of syrup it will be okay.  (fingers crossed)


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## bluto

Bluto said:


> Thanks Pops, good to know.  I guess we'll see in a week and a half, hopefully since it was only a tablespoon of syrup it will be okay.  (fingers crossed)



Well it turned out great!  Well received by all and finished in a day.  :-) 
Now in have 3 people asking me to make them some, so off to the store I go.  I will make sure I have sea salt and molasses this time though, will be interested to taste the difference.
Thx Pop's and Todd!

Here is my post of it if you want to see:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/147383/first-canadian-bacon-success#post_1043549


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## rugerlab

Might be a stupid question but If I am going to use only 8 pounds of pork loin would I still use the same amount of brine??  I am planning on doing this next weekend


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## woodcutter

Not a stupid question. Mix up 1 gallon of the brine and put the meat in it. You can add enough meat to 1 gallon of brine so the meat stays submerged and fits loosely in the bucket. Put a ziplock bag full of water on top to keep the meat submerged.


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## rugerlab

Thanks Woodcutter!!!!


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## shotgunsal

never fails with you does it. Wow it looks so good


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## tom lippert

Woodcutter said:


> They were in the brine for 12 days.


Set up to brine 10 days.  Many of the cooks are recommending 4 days max. I am using Meatheads recipe and he recommends 2 weeks.  Any idea what is correct?  Does 10 days make it too salty?


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## ab canuck

Follow the simple rule, 1/2 " thickness is 1 day, 3" =6 days + 2 days ( for safety). Then pull it and cut a piece out of the center and end. fry and taste. If it is not penetrated to center or salty enough put it back in the brine. Some people will go as long as 2 weeks.


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## wild west

Tom Lippert said:


> Set up to brine 10 days.  Many of the cooks are recommending 4 days max. I am using Meatheads recipe and he recommends 2 weeks.  Any idea what is correct?  Does 10 days make it too salty?


I'm not familiar with meat heads recipe but if the recipe says 2 weeks I would follow that the first time if you are looking to achieve results similar to his. Do a taste test before you smoke it.If it's too salty you can soak it in water for a couple hours changing the water a few times to reduce a bit of the salt then smoke. I smoked some back bacon a couple weeks ago that I dry brined for 2 weeks and it wasn't too salty.


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## jimmy1957

woodcutter said:


> I made another 2 loins into Canadian Bacon using Pop's Brine. The first batch was a little salty and I wanted to get the recipe the way I want it while it is still fresh in my memory. I did everything the same except reduced the salt to 3/4 cup from 1 cup. In the brine for 12 days.
> 
> Last fall I cut some cherry wood into 1 1/4 pieces on my table saw and stored them to dry. I haven't tried cherry yet but a lot of posts were favorable so it was time. I use a lot of red oak and apple and will now be using a lot of cherry.
> 
> Recipe
> 
> 1 gallon of water
> 
> 1 cup granulated sugar
> 
> 3/4 cup of kosher salt
> 
> 1 cup brown sugar
> 
> 1 Tbs cure #1
> 
> 1 Tbs garlic powder
> 
> 1 Tbs onion powder
> 
> 1 Tbs molasses (mild flavor)
> 
> I started my smoker at 130 the slowly raised the temp to 190. It took about 6 hours to get the internal temp of the bacon to 145. It took 7 hours for my first batch, I might have raised the smoker temp faster this time or weather or whatever.
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> __ Feb 23, 2013
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> __ Feb 23, 2013
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> __ woodcutter
> __ Feb 23, 2013
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> I'm very happy with how this turned out and this will be how I make CB going forward.
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> Thanks for looking!


 was that brine recipe for  1 or 2  loins  and I assume you used a whole loin which is about 4-5 pounds.


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