# Canadian Bacon  using bearcarvers method



## smokerjim (Mar 10, 2020)

I usually use pop's brine for my bacon's, this time decided to use bear's  step by step Canadian bacon, forgot to get pics of the brining process but I started with a 3.75lb bnls loin, used 3 1/2 tablespoons tq. 7 teaspoons of brown sugar. spread it over the loin and into a ziploc bag. I was shooting for a 10-11 day brine but work schedule changed so ended up doing 13 days. took out on day 13 rinsed and did a fry test, tasted good to me so i didn't soak at all. so into the fridge uncovered overnight. next day smoked it following bears step by steps.  so this is the finished loin. after a overnight rest in the fridge.  
	

		
			
		

		
	







All sliced up





of course i had to try a piece! so my thoughts are as much as i like pop's brine i got to say bear's method has a bit of a deeper bacon flavor "if that makes since" don't know how else to describe it. so along with pop's brine i will definitely use bears method again. i did brine another loin using diggingdogs calculator to compare it side by side with bear's method but something went wrong with curing process ( I probably screwed something up) so after a quick chat with chefjimmy i tossed it.                                                                                                           Thanks for looking   Jim


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## creek bottom (Mar 10, 2020)

Looks good from here! Nicely done!


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## sawhorseray (Mar 10, 2020)

Sure looks like it cured out nice to me, Like. RAY


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## pc farmer (Mar 10, 2020)

Looks good.  I use digging dogs mostly.  What happened?


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## Brokenhandle (Mar 10, 2020)

Looks good to me also. Only way to find out what you like best is to try different comparisons. 

Ryan


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## smokerjim (Mar 10, 2020)

creek bottom said:


> Looks good from here! Nicely done!


thanks Joe,  thanks for the like


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## smokerjim (Mar 10, 2020)

sawhorseray said:


> Sure looks like it cured out nice to me, Like. RAY


thanks Ray, yeah I was pretty happy with the way it cured. was thinking it was going to be a little salty after 13 days but  flavor was excellent.  thanks for the like.   Jim


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## Bearcarver (Mar 10, 2020)

Looks Beautiful !!!
Not your typical Coal Cracker Food---Lock your doors!!
Nice Job Jim!!
Like.

Bear


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## smokerjim (Mar 10, 2020)

pc farmer said:


> Looks good.  I use digging dogs mostly.  What happened?


thank you sir, not sure what happened, when I took it out of the bag it was a bit slimy and had a bit of a sour smell to it, so I rinsed it and put in fridge over night uncovered but still had that off smell to it the next day. not sure if I messed up with cure amount or something else went wrong.


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## crazymoon (Mar 10, 2020)

SJ, Awesome looking CB ! like


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## pc farmer (Mar 10, 2020)

smokerjim said:


> thank you sir, not sure what happened, when I took it out of the bag it was a bit slimy and had a bit of a sour smell to it, so I rinsed it and put in fridge over night uncovered but still had that off smell to it the next day. not sure if I messed up with cure amount or something else went wrong.




Ok.   Sucks tossing meat but the nose knows.  I triple check measurements and calculations.


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## smokerjim (Mar 10, 2020)

pc farmer said:


> Ok.   Sucks tossing meat but the nose knows.  I triple check measurements and calculations.


yeah I know what mean, I remember a old carpenter telling me once when I was kid, measure twice and cut once. guess I should've listened to him.


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## pc farmer (Mar 10, 2020)

smokerjim said:


> yeah I know what mean, I remember a old carpenter telling me once when I was kid, measure twice and cut once. guess I should've listened to him.




I hate working with wood.  I like metal.  I make a mistake I can weld it back.   HA


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## Steve H (Mar 10, 2020)

Looks damn good Jim!


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## smokerjim (Mar 10, 2020)

pc farmer said:


> I hate working with wood.  I like metal.  I make a mistake I can weld it back.   HA


yeah I didn't like wood much either maybe that's why I became a butcher, I can grind my mistakes


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## smokerjim (Mar 10, 2020)

Brokenhandle said:


> Looks good to me also. Only way to find out what you like best is to try different comparisons.
> 
> Ryan


thanks Ryan, yeah I like to dry different ways. got to say though never had bad results from recipes from smf, unless of coarse I screwed them up myself. thanks for the like  Jim


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## Sowsage (Mar 10, 2020)

That looks awesome Jim! Sucks the other one didnt turn out for you. Id be making me some nice breakfast sammys with some of that!


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## redneck5236 (Mar 10, 2020)

I have only made Canadian bacon once and used bears method except for before smoking rubbed down with brown sugar and maple extract ! Some with just brown sugar and some with coarse black pepper ! All three were awesome ! Speacialy the maple ! Pork loins on sale this week $1.48 lb ! Getting at least 2 all for Canadian bacon ! Getting 5 turkey breast also they are .98 lb ! The smoker is hungry !


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## Fueling Around (Mar 10, 2020)

Yours looks perfect
Great minds must think alike?
I just put a 2# sirloin end of a loin in wet cure last night.


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## xray (Mar 11, 2020)

Great looking CB Jim! Looks like you’re set for a while.

Sorry to hear about the other loin.


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## daveomak (Mar 11, 2020)

Smoker Jim, morning....   have you checked your fridge temps ???   Maybe the fridge is a bit warm...

Dave


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## pushok2018 (Mar 11, 2020)

Your CB looks fantastic! ...and yummy too!  Nicely done.


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## daveomak (Mar 11, 2020)

Smoker Jim, FWIW, brown sugar is impure and can add stuff that bacteria thrives on....  
Processed white sugar is pure and does NOT add stuff that bacteria can survive on.....


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## smokerjim (Mar 11, 2020)

Bearcarver said:


> Looks Beautiful !!!
> Not your typical Coal Cracker Food---Lock your doors!!
> Nice Job Jim!!
> Like.
> ...


thanks for the compliment  bear, I do think if those coal crackers get a whiff I might have a problem. guns are loaded! thanks for the like


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## smokerjim (Mar 11, 2020)

crazymoon said:


> SJ, Awesome looking CB ! like


thank you  and thanks for the like  Jim


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## smokerjim (Mar 11, 2020)

Steve H said:


> Looks damn good Jim!


Thanks Steve, it is good, now I just need to make one of those breakfast sammies.


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## smokerjim (Mar 11, 2020)

Sowsage said:


> That looks awesome Jim! Sucks the other one didnt turn out for you. Id be making me some nice breakfast sammys with some of that!


thanks Travis, luckily it was only 1 piece since I was experimenting, yeah I think a sammie is in the near future.


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## smokerjim (Mar 11, 2020)

redneck5236 said:


> I have only made Canadian bacon once and used bears method except for before smoking rubbed down with brown sugar and maple extract ! Some with just brown sugar and some with coarse black pepper ! All three were awesome ! Speacialy the maple ! Pork loins on sale this week $1.48 lb ! Getting at least 2 all for Canadian bacon ! Getting 5 turkey breast also they are .98 lb ! The smoker is hungry !


yeah a full smoker is a happy smoker, sounds like you're going to be busy.


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## smokerjim (Mar 11, 2020)

Fueling Around said:


> Yours looks perfect
> Great minds must think alike?
> I just put a 2# sirloin end of a loin in wet cure last night.


thank you, not sure if I have a great mind but ya should have some good eats in a week or 2


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## smokerjim (Mar 11, 2020)

xray said:


> Great looking CB Jim! Looks like you’re set for a while.
> 
> Sorry to hear about the other loin.


thanks, I don't think it will last long going to get some brining this weekend. thanks for the like


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## smokerjim (Mar 11, 2020)

daveomak said:


> Smoker Jim, morning....   have you checked your fridge temps ???   Maybe the fridge is a bit warm...
> 
> Dave


hi Dave, yeah the temps are good 37 degrees.


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## smokerjim (Mar 11, 2020)

pushok2018 said:


> Your CB looks fantastic! ...and yummy too!  Nicely done.


thank you for the compliment , yeah it does taste good.


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## smokerjim (Mar 11, 2020)

daveomak said:


> Smoker Jim, FWIW, brown sugar is impure and can add stuff that bacteria thrives on....
> Processed white sugar is pure and does NOT add stuff that bacteria can survive on.....


thanks Dave good to know, but if I used the same sugar with bears method should've that gone bad to, I really don't know just asking.


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## Bearcarver (Mar 11, 2020)

smokerjim said:


> hi Dave, yeah the temps are good 37 degrees.




Perfect---37° is my recommended curing Temp.
Dead center between 34° and 40°.

Bear


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## Fueling Around (Mar 11, 2020)

Sucks about loosing a loin.  Been lucky so far.


daveomak said:


> Smoker Jim, FWIW, brown sugar is impure and can add stuff that bacteria thrives on....
> Processed white sugar is pure and does NOT add stuff that bacteria can survive on.....


You are a wealth of information that I appreciate reading and learning.
I've never heard about brown sugar problems in curing meat.  How does the other trendy sugars such as Turbinado  (sugar in the raw) compare?  How about adding molasses to processed white sugar?
A moot point for me as I don't add any sugars or sweetener to my cures.


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## daveomak (Mar 12, 2020)

smokerjim said:


> thanks Dave good to know, but if I used the same sugar with bears method should've that gone bad to, I really don't know just asking.



Could be bags of sugar are different ???  Maybe some brown sugar bags  are OK...   

Turbinado is a "less processed" sugar...  It has "some" of the molasses  in it...

Maybe the one container wasn't perfectly clean and the other one was..    

When you pull 2 eggs from the carton, and one is perfect and the other makes you puke ????  You may start crackin' eggs in a  bowl first...  
There are soooo many possibilities, difficult to track them all down...    All I know is what Forest Gump noted.....   "S4!t happens"...  You cure 10 hams side by side and one gets bone sour ....  Wasn't your fault that pig was being chased at 30 MPH 5 minutes before she/he was dispatched...  Hot meat is a nightmare...  it sours and rots...


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