# Back (Canadian) Bacon



## disco (Oct 28, 2017)

First, for all the 'mericans on the forums, Canadians do not call Canadian bacon Canadian Bacon. We call it Back Bacon.

I was going to visit my brother, niece and their families in Edmonton. Apparently, they are fond of my bacon. There is no accounting for tastes.

The local supermarket had a great deal on a whole pork loin so they were getting back bacon this time. I do love them but I am cheap.

I cut the bacon into 3 piece that would fit in a vacuum bag.

I weighed one piece and used my formula for making a dry cure. For each kilogram of meat, I add:

3 grams (2 ml) Prague Powder #1
40 ml brown sugar
15 ml kosher salt
For you who are metrically challenged, the equivalent per pound is:

0.05 ounce (1/5 teaspoon) Prague Powder #1
4 teaspoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt








I put the meat on a plate and rubbed the dry cure over the piece of pork. I put the pork in a vacuum bag and made sure I got all the rub that fell onto the plate into the bag.







I sealed the bag but did not do a vacuum seal. I wanted to be able to massage the pork as it cured.







I repeated the process with the other two pieces of pork and put them in the fridge. I let them cure for 10 days, turning the bags and massaging daily.

I took the pork out of the bags and rinsed them well under cold running water. I soaked them in cold water for 40 minutes, changing the water once.







I dried the pieces with paper towel and put them, uncovered in the fridge overnight to dry and develop a nice pellicle.

I left one piece plain. I rubbed one down with Cajun spices and the last with coarse ground pepper. Not too much as my relatives aren't into very spicy.







I put the pork in my Weber Genesis grill but did not turn it on. I put hickory pellets in my A-Maze-N tube smoker and lit it up. I cold smoked the bacon for just under six hours when the tube smoker ran out.







I wrapped the bacon in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge overnight.

The next day, I fired my pellet smoker up to 180 F.







I put the bacon on and smoked the bacon to an internal temperature of 140 F.












I wrapped them and put them in the fridge overnight.

I sliced the bacon up.












Of course you have to try a few slices to make sure it is worthy of your relatives!






The Verdict.

This is the way I like my back bacon. It isn't too salty and has a nice sweet hit. The Cajun adds just a touch of heat at the back of your tongue and the Pepper was just enough to kick up the flavour a bit.

Disco


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## gmc2003 (Oct 28, 2017)

Disco, looks like a fine batch of Canadian Bacon, oops I mean back bacon - No Canadian bacon since I'm merican. You have some very lucky relatives. Points to you.


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## motocrash (Oct 28, 2017)

Magnifique! Wunderbar! Magnifico! Yum!  BTW - We're still gonna call it Canadian bacon. :D


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## disco (Oct 28, 2017)

gmc2003 said:


> Disco, looks like a fine batch of Canadian Bacon, oops I mean back bacon - No Canadian bacon since I'm merican. You have some very lucky relatives. Points to you.


Har! I don't know if the relatives are lucky or not. They may get bacon but they have to put up with me. Thanks for the point.


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## disco (Oct 28, 2017)

motocrash said:


> Magnifique! Wunderbar! Magnifico! Yum!  BTW - We're still gonna call it Canadian bacon. :D


Har! I am used to being ignored. I am married.


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## griz400 (Oct 28, 2017)

Yes disco .. real nice .. points to you .. just bought a container today to marinate 3 nice sized loins to make Canadian bacon  as well  .....


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## pc farmer (Oct 28, 2017)

Yup sorry, its cb to me.  BUT that looks amazing.  I am out and need to buy a case of loins for this, deli ham, chops, ect ect.

Points/ like for this one


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## disco (Oct 28, 2017)

griz400 said:


> Yes disco .. real nice .. points to you .. just bought a container today to marinate 3 nice sized loins to make Canadian bacon  as well  .....


Har! I had hoped to convert you guys to back bacon! Thanks for the point.


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## disco (Oct 28, 2017)

c farmer said:


> Yup sorry, its cb to me.  BUT that looks amazing.  I am out and need to buy a case of loins for this, deli ham, chops, ect ect.
> 
> Points/ like for this one


Very kind for the point but I will keep trying to wear you guys down on the Canadian bacon. Adam.


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## chopsaw (Oct 28, 2017)

Looks great . I love the stuff what ever it's called . I put mine in roll netting , looks like small ham. Nice job .


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## noboundaries (Oct 28, 2017)

Ah, Cabackian Bacon.  I have 4 lbs curing in the fridge right now I started on the 25th.  I've been using pork sirloins lately. Just a hint more internal fat.  We only have one cured hunk left in the freezer.  Time for more!


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## disco (Oct 28, 2017)

chopsaw said:


> Looks great . I love the stuff what ever it's called . I put mine in roll netting , looks like small ham. Nice job .


Great idea!


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## disco (Oct 28, 2017)

noboundaries said:


> Ah, Cabackian Bacon.  I have 4 lbs curing in the fridge right now I started on the 25th.  I've been using pork sirloins lately. Just a hint more internal fat.  We only have one cured hunk left in the freezer.  Time for more!


I actually prefer buckboard bacon made from a but for the additional fat but I have been informed by a higher power it is bad for me.


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## lovethemeats (Oct 28, 2017)

If its bad for you then that is why you go hide and eat it. Keep mints in your shirt pocket for when the higher power gets too close to you. And explain that you have really bad gas and you don't want them getting close to you. They will gladly heed your warning and then you are safe. :D


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## smokie1 (Oct 29, 2017)

That looks great!


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## stovebolt (Oct 29, 2017)

Another fine post. I Know it's back bacon, but if I call it that nobody knows what I'm talking about.
 Point!

Chuck


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## SmokinAl (Oct 29, 2017)

Great looking CB, Disco!
It looks & sounds delicious!
Al


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## disco (Oct 29, 2017)

lovethemeats said:


> If its bad for you then that is why you go hide and eat it. Keep mints in your shirt pocket for when the higher power gets too close to you. And explain that you have really bad gas and you don't want them getting close to you. They will gladly heed your warning and then you are safe. :D


Har! Too much work! I will just take the beatings.


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## disco (Oct 29, 2017)

smokie1 said:


> That looks great!


Thanks, Smokie!


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## disco (Oct 29, 2017)

stovebolt said:


> Another fine post. I Know it's back bacon, but if I call it that nobody knows what I'm talking about.
> Point!
> 
> Chuck


Thanks, Chuck. I am used to people not knowing what I'm talking about! Thanks for the point.


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## disco (Oct 29, 2017)

smokinal said:


> Great looking CB, Disco!
> It looks & sounds delicious!
> Al


Thanks, Al! The slices I tasted were good enough I thought about not taking it to the family but the beautiful woman behind me persuaded me to.


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## griz400 (Oct 29, 2017)

Hey disco, I got this recipe I might use and I am wondering about the mixture 
*Makes.* 3 pounds of bacon

*Takes.* 10 to 14 days to cure

*Ingredients*
3 pounds of pork loin, you can leave the fat cap on if you wish

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup of kosher salt

2 teaspoons Prague Powder #1

1 tablespoon powdered garlic

1 gallon distilled water

... But, i bought a nice plastic container that will hold probably 2 nice probably 4 lb pieces of loin, and was wondering would you mix up this mixture and pour it on and if not enough, make another batch and cover it all ???


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## tropics (Oct 29, 2017)

That looks like I would eat it! No matter what you call it.
Richie Likes


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## Rings Я Us (Oct 29, 2017)

My dad would love that bacon.. Me too.. I need to try it once. looks pretty easy. 

Nice stuff! 
Johnny  B


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## disco (Oct 29, 2017)

griz400 said:


> Hey disco, I got this recipe I might use and I am wondering about the mixture
> *Makes.* 3 pounds of bacon
> 
> *Takes.* 10 to 14 days to cure
> ...


I have made bacon with a brine and like it fine. I still use a brine mixture to make loin hams. Many of the recipes don't account on the combined weight of the water and the meat. You need 1 teaspoon of prague powder #1 for each 5 pounds. This has one gallon of water (8 pounds) plus 3 pounds of meat for a total of 11 pounds so 2 teaspoons would be in the ball park but I would go to 2.2 teaspoons to be sure. If you did 4 pounds of meat with 2 gallons of water (16 pounds) you would have 20 pounds of both and would need 4 teaspoons prague powder.

The sugar and salt amounts are largely up to your tastes and I suspect they would be fine.

As for how long to cure, it depends on the thickness of your pork piece. 10 days would be fine for 2 inches and I would go 14 days for 3 inches.

Pops is the real expert on brining bacon and you might want to check with him.


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## disco (Oct 29, 2017)

griz400 said:


> Hey disco, I got this recipe I might use and I am wondering about the mixture
> *Makes.* 3 pounds of bacon
> 
> *Takes.* 10 to 14 days to cure
> ...


I think I might of misread what you were saying. If you were doing two 4 pound loins in 2 gallons of water, you would have 8 pound of meat and 16 gallons of water. This would be a total of 24 pounds and would need 2.8 teaspoons of prague powder.


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## disco (Oct 29, 2017)

tropics said:


> That looks like I would eat it! No matter what you call it.
> Richie Likes


Thanks, Richie!


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## disco (Oct 29, 2017)

Rings Я Us said:


> My dad would love that bacon.. Me too.. I need to try it once. looks pretty easy.
> 
> Nice stuff!
> Johnny  B
> View attachment 342487


Thanks, Johnny! I appreciate the point!


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## ab canuck (Oct 29, 2017)

Good looking back bacon Disco....


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## disco (Oct 29, 2017)

ab canuck said:


> Good looking back bacon Disco....


Whew! Another Canadian! Thanks!


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## Bearcarver (Oct 29, 2017)

Nice Looking CB you got there, Disco!!:)

Very Nice!!  "Like"

Bear


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## GaryHibbert (Oct 29, 2017)

Hey Disco.  That BACK bacon looks great.  Love the stuff.
You're about a good week ahead of me--i have a full loin cut into 4 pieces curing in the fridge right now.
POINT
Gary


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## disco (Oct 29, 2017)

bearcarver said:


> Nice Looking CB you got there, Disco!!:)
> 
> Very Nice!!  "Like"
> 
> Bear


Thanks, Bear. As with many of my efforts, they are your fault. Point back at you!


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## disco (Oct 29, 2017)

garyhibbert said:


> Hey Disco.  That BACK bacon looks great.  Love the stuff.
> You're about a good week ahead of me--i have a full loin cut into 4 pieces curing in the fridge right now.
> POINT
> Gary


Thanks, Gary. We'll educate those 'mericans yet! I look forward to your bacon post!


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## lovethemeats (Oct 29, 2017)

I guess you could say it would like going to Ireland and asking for Irish stew. They'd  probably  smack ya.


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## disco (Oct 30, 2017)

lovethemeats said:


> I guess you could say it would like going to Ireland and asking for Irish stew. They'd  probably  smack ya.


Being an Irish Canadian who has been to Ireland, no smacking. They will just smile and serve you more stew!


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## rca dog (Oct 31, 2017)

Have some back bacon curing right now, probably smoking this weekend.  I used TQ for the cure, since I don't mind the saltiness, and I'm also doing some of Bear's extra smoky belly bacon at the same time.


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## disco (Oct 31, 2017)

rca dog said:


> Have some back bacon curing right now, probably smoking this weekend.  I used TQ for the cure, since I don't mind the saltiness, and I'm also doing some of Bear's extra smoky belly bacon at the same time.


Excellent choice. It was Bear who got me into all this!


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## Rings Я Us (Oct 31, 2017)

Nice stuff!


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## Rings Я Us (Oct 31, 2017)

I could get some pork butts at .99¢ lb. and do that country bacon .  That looks good.


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## disco (Oct 31, 2017)

Rings Я Us said:


> I could get some pork butts at .99¢ lb. and do that country bacon .  That looks good.


Thanks for the kind words. If you haven't tried buckboard (butt) bacon you really should. It is great!


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## Rings Я Us (Oct 31, 2017)

Yes Buckboard.. lol thanks!

Not sure how much or long to use chunks on charcoal for smoke while doing buckboard.


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## disco (Oct 31, 2017)

I would recommend going as low a temperature as possible to get smoke on it as long as possible. Do a minion and keep it around 160 to 180 F if possible. You want a long smoke. It is even better if you can cold smoke for few hours if you have an AMazeN product. However, I have used my mini with a minion smoke and got it to 170. I smoked to an internal temperature of 140 F which took about 5 hours and it turned out great.


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## Rings Я Us (Oct 31, 2017)

disco said:


> I would recommend going as low a temperature as possible to get smoke on it as long as possible. Do a minion and keep it around 160 to 180 F if possible. You want a long smoke. It is even better if you can cold smoke for few hours if you have an AMazeN product. However, I have used my mini with a minion smoke and got it to 170. I smoked to an internal temperature of 140 F which took about 5 hours and it turned out great.



I can smoke with charcoal all day at 50 or 40 degrees on my ECB this time of year.. it's just a matter of 5 or 6 charcoal briquetes and a chunk of wood every hour .


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## Rings Я Us (Oct 31, 2017)

Good recipe .. easy. that's a nice grill..


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## disco (Oct 31, 2017)

Cool! Give it about 4 hours at low temperature and then kick it up to 180 F and cook to an internal temp of 130 to 140 F however long it takes.


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## disco (Oct 31, 2017)

Thanks. I used my Bradley Electric and mini charcoal smoker for a couple of years and then got lazy.


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## Rings Я Us (Oct 31, 2017)

disco said:


> Cool! Give it about 4 hours at low temperature and then kick it up to 180 F and cook to an internal temp of 130 to 140 F however long it takes.



Sounds good.. I will go over a Bearcarver post also before I do it too.. I'm not sure if he uses the Tender Quick , but I think he does..

Go Verlander!  X Tiger..


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## mdboatbum (Nov 1, 2017)

Looks delicious as always!! I see you have a TV show now!! That's really cool!!


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## browneyesvictim (Nov 1, 2017)

Sorry I'm late to you CB party Disco! Looks fabulous! I will call it CB because BB is already "Buckboard" not "Back" bacon.
(wouldn't want to confuse anybody...). LIKE!


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## idahopz (Nov 1, 2017)

Nice work Disco!


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## disco (Nov 1, 2017)

Rings Я Us said:


> I could get some pork butts at .99¢ lb. and do that country bacon .  That looks good.


Go for it. It is great!


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## disco (Nov 1, 2017)

Rings Я Us said:


> Sounds good.. I will go over a Bearcarver post also before I do it too.. I'm not sure if he uses the Tender Quick , but I think he does..
> 
> Go Verlander!  X Tiger..


He does. I stopped using it because it isn't available locally. It works great.


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## disco (Nov 1, 2017)

mdboatbum said:


> Looks delicious as always!! I see you have a TV show now!! That's really cool!!


Thanks! The 10 people who watch it seem to like it!


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## disco (Nov 1, 2017)

browneyesvictim said:


> Sorry I'm late to you CB party Disco! Looks fabulous! I will call it CB because BB is already "Buckboard" not "Back" bacon.
> (wouldn't want to confuse anybody...). LIKE!


Har! I will have to live with that! Thanks for the point!


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## disco (Nov 1, 2017)

idahopz said:


> Nice work Disco!


Thanks!


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## driedstick (Nov 15, 2017)

Looking good disco,,, looking good,,,, One question, why did you fry some up when it was already smoked to temp?? just to warm it up??


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## Rings Я Us (Nov 15, 2017)

I decided to cold smoke mine for a couple days.


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## disco (Nov 15, 2017)

driedstick said:


> Looking good disco,,, looking good,,,, One question, why did you fry some up when it was already smoked to temp?? just to warm it up??


Thanks, DS! First, I don't considered 140 smoked to temp. If I want to be able to eat it cold, I would take it to 150 F. The reason I cook it to between 120 and 140 is it is so much easier to slice. I have done cold smoke and then sliced. When I cook them up, I don't notice much difference between the cold smoke and the ones I finish with a hot smoke so I go for the easier slicing. As for cooking it, either way, frying it crisps the fat parts which I love!


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## disco (Nov 15, 2017)

Rings Я Us said:


> I decided to cold smoke mine for a couple days.


Good choice!


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## Rings Я Us (Nov 15, 2017)

disco said:


> Good choice!



I just thought since it was cold here I would try it.. 
I know commercial bacon is done cold smoked.. Will see what happens.. 
You did what people say is like a "warm" smoke. People say it gets better color and doesn't take as long to get Smokey.. Right? 
It's all good..lol


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## disco (Nov 15, 2017)

Rings Я Us said:


> I just thought since it was cold here I would try it..
> I know commercial bacon is done cold smoked.. Will see what happens..
> You did what people say is like a "warm" smoke. People say it gets better color and doesn't take as long to get Smokey.. Right?
> It's all good..lol


The following is just my experience. A long cold smoke gives a great colour and taste. It is a little softer and harder to slice but only marginally. A hot smoke, gives less smoke flavour but is marginally easier to slice. I have chosen to combine the two and cold smoke for six hours, an overnight rest and then a hot smoke. I think it gives the best of both worlds. 

However, I have cold smoked and loved it. I have hot smoked and loved it. I have double smoked and loved it. The differences between all three are marginal and preference varies per person. It is like the difference between wet and dry brining. Both are great but there are slight differences. If you had a slice of each you would be raving about both but would likely have a preference for one or the other.

None of the methods is right or wrong and all work great. Keep trying things and you'll find the one you like. In the meantime, you will be eating a lot of great bacon!


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## Rings Я Us (Nov 15, 2017)




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## Rings Я Us (Dec 16, 2017)

Inspired by everyone doing Canadian Bacon. Lol


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## disco (Dec 18, 2017)

Rings Я Us said:


> View attachment 347721
> 
> 
> Inspired by everyone doing Canadian Bacon. Lol


Looking good!


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