# 1st attempt at Canadian Bacon



## ballagh (Jan 4, 2007)

Cut a 3 pound chunk of pork loin today.  The most beautiful cut of pork I have ever seen from a loin.  I have it dry curing in the fridge right now with 1/2 sea salt + 1/2 brown sugar in a ziplock bag with a case of pop sitting on it.  Plan on draining the fluids each day at least once and adding more dry cure to it as needed.  I have read anywhere from 4-6 days for this process.  I am thinking on either sunday night, or waiting til next sat to smoke it to about 165 degrees, cool it over night then slice it the next day and enjoy.

I will post some pics soon.  Hopefully this turns out good, as I have two pork bellies and a whole hog on the way.


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## mrh (Jan 5, 2007)

I did a loin a while back using High Mountains Buckboard Bacon cure and it turned out really good.  Just had to rinse/soak  it a bunch before smoking so it was not too salty.

Mark


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## mdk (Jan 5, 2007)

Ballagh,

I used the Buckboard Bacon cure on a boneless pork butt and it was awesome.  Also MRH is being a bit modest about his loin.  It was awesome!  My pork butt was great too.  I cut it about 1" to 1 1/2" thick and I had my folks down for dinner.  It ended up tasting like the best smoked Iowa Chop I have ever tasted.  I have to do Easter dinner for my family now.
Good luck!!

MDK


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## joed617 (Jan 5, 2007)

Way to go Ballagh!! I use basicly the same curing method. <I'm not into nitrates>  I cure 1 1/2 days per pound of meet.  Would love to see some pics .. :) 
 oops I have a PS here:  When I lived in NH I use to tap maple trees and would boil the sap for 5 minutes, let it cool and used that as the liquid for a brine. 

Joe


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## ballagh (Jan 5, 2007)

Well I just pulled it out and drained the fluids.  Man o Man.  There was about 8 oz of fluid that was colected in the bottom of the bag, and the loin was getting stiff.  You could notice a slight color change too.  I went ahead and coated it again with the dry cure, and stuck it back in.  Hope this turns out!  LOL


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## cheech (Jan 5, 2007)

That looks like the recipe that I use but the one I use includes ground cloves. I like the cloves because it gives it a nice flavor, oh and I some times will include a little cure with it to keep the pink color


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## ballagh (Jan 5, 2007)

What do you mean by this?  a little cure with the rub, or ??? Just curious.  That is all I have on it in the fridge during right now.


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## cheech (Jan 5, 2007)

I order cure from The sausage maker 

Here is a quote from their web site

Insta Cure No.1, a basic cure used to cure all meats that require cooking, smoking, or canning. This includes poultry, fish, ham, bacon, luncheon meats, corned beef, pates and other products too numerous to mention. Formerly Prague Powder #1.


I have hear of others using Tender Quick too.

I used it on the Canadian Bacon not because I have to but rather so that the color is correct

Maybe some one else that understands this will share with use the chemistry of this


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## ballagh (Jan 6, 2007)

I am curious as to if I will have that nice pink coloring all the way through, or if it is going to be like the loins I smoke and get 1/2" to a 1" all the way around.  Time will tell I guess.  LOL


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## mrh (Jan 6, 2007)

The "cure" is sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite. I think one is the prague powder #1 and the other is Prague powder #2. Tender quick has both in it. I am pretty sure that it is to help keep out some of the nasty stuff if you smoke at low temperatures  to be re cooked at a later time, like bacon.  If I am wrong I am sure somebody else will correct me or add a better explanation.  It also gives that pink color to the meat all the way through, not just the edges.

MRH


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## ballagh (Jan 9, 2007)

Just put it on the smoker for a nice long slow smoke.

1 3 pound chunk of dry cured pork loin.
2 boneless loin chops
2 fatties, 1 maple, 1 bold country flavor to be used in ABT's this weekend.

I will get some after pics for ya too!

Wish me luck on the canadian bacon!  I think I am going to need it.


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## pigcicles (Jan 9, 2007)

ballagh, looks good. Keep the pics coming and wishing you the best of luck with the canadian bacon.

Keep Smokin


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## mrh (Jan 10, 2007)

Looks good so far :D  I did a pork loin with Buckboard bacon cure a while back that turned out good I will try to post a pic and see if it works.  I am pretty new to this smoking thing too, it is sure fun!

Mark


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## ballagh (Jan 10, 2007)

damn - that looks good!  Hopefully mine turns out that well.  Did your have kind of a goofy feel to it before you smoked it?  Mine was kind of hard, almost rubbery, and I could not get it to stay more circular, I kept going back to the same shape of it while it was curing cause I had a 12 pack of pop sitting on it.  LOL  Just check it and looks good so far.


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## mrh (Jan 10, 2007)

Yep mine felt that way too.  I used some string to pull the edges into a more round shape before smoking, that way it would cook more even.  No narrow edges.

Mark


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## ballagh (Jan 10, 2007)

that is good to hear.  Been stuck at 150 degrees for a hour now. URGH.  getting antsy, and going to turn up the heat a little.  Pics to come soon hopefully.  LOL  Pulled the chops off and ate those.  uuummmmmm.


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## cheech (Jan 11, 2007)

Mark I have not tied mine before but will do it the next time thanks for the idea


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## cheech (Jan 11, 2007)

Here is a picture of some that I recently smoked


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## Dutch (Jan 19, 2007)

Here is what I dug up on the differences between PP #1 & PP #2.

Prauge Powder #1 consists of 6.25% sodium nitrite and 93.75% of sodium chloride. PP #1 is used to cure meats and sausage that will be cooked before consumption.

16 ounces of Prauge Powder #2 consists of 1 ounce of sodium nitrite, 0.64 ounce of sodium nitrate and 14.36 ounces of sodium chloride. PP #2 is used for cured dry sausages-your "ready to eat' sausages (sometimes cold smoked to add the smoke flavoring).


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## alfakatzz (Jan 21, 2007)

We got a pig, had the bacon cut thick but didn't cure it.  Now I'm smoking it in a smoking joe type thing (new to this whole smoking scenario, can you tell?) with apple wood in the pan w/water and burning charcoal for heat.

Should I not use water? The bacon has no cure on it, I'm just smoking it.  We had some for breakfast this morning and it tasted smokey but kinda blah otherwise.

Am I going about this the right way?  We don't use nitrates or nitrites which is why we didn't have any of the pig cured and the local place won't smoke the meat without curing first.

Thanks for any suggestions.

alfakatzz


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## up in smoke (Jan 21, 2007)

Well Alfakatzz, If ya donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t use cure on it, it is probably going to taste like a fatty roast pork. The cure is what gives bacon and ham that flavor. Some guys try a salt rub or brine, maybe that would get ya what you want. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			





As far as the water pan, that basically helps you control the heat in your smoker.


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## alfakatzz (Jan 21, 2007)

Thanks, Carl.

Someone posted a cure of sea salt & brown sugar, which I will try.  But I'm not sure how to do it since the bacon is already cut into slices, not one 3 lb hunk.  Should I just put mix equal amounts of these two items and rub them onto the sliced bacon, put everything into a zip lock bag into the refrig for week and then smoke it?

I've read this site and blog for suggestions but am still a little fuzzy on procedure.

Thanks to all.


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## ballagh (Jan 24, 2007)

That is a toss up there.  Maybe give it a test run with a pound of it, but I think when you smoke it you are not going to have very good results since it is goign to cook quick and it would be hard to wash the cure off.  I have 4 bellies curing in the fridge right now.  I am using the Mortons Tender Quick cure Dry rub.  It has everything in the mix.  It is dry curing for two weeks in the fridge and will do a cold smoke on sat til it hits 140 degrees, then fridge over night and slice the next day then pan fry.


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