# Canadian Bacon--Back Bacon to us Canuks



## GaryHibbert (Nov 22, 2017)

*Canadian Back Bacon*​
I’ve always wanted to make some Back Bacon—that’s Canadian Bacon to all you folks south of the border—so when I bought a pig I figured to use the loin from that.  My plans changed when Miss Linda asked to have the loin sliced for pork chops.  OK, no big deal.  I just headed down to Wally World and picked up one of their pork loins.

After trimming the loin, I cut it into 4 pieces.  One for my neighbor, who suffers from terrible food allergies and can’t eat store bought bacon; one for Miss Linda’s daughter and her fiancé; one for my mechanic; and one for us.  I should have bought two loins.  One doesn’t go very far when it’s divided among four families.  Oh well, next time I’ll know better.

Since my mamma didn’t raise no fools, the first thing I did was find and follow  

 Bearcarver
  John’s Step-by-Step for Canadian Bacon.  I weighed each piece, and then weighed out the correct amount of Cure #1 for each.  To the dishes of cure I added brown sugar (1 Tbsp per pound) and salt (1/2 tsp per pound), mixed everything up, and spread it evenly over all exposed sides of the appropriate piece of loin.  Then each piece—and all the seasoning and cure that had fallen off—went into individual bags and heat sealed without vacuum so there was air left in each bag.  Then it was into the fridge, to be flipped and massaged daily for the properly calculated period of time.  As it turned out, life interfered and the meat sat curing for about an extra week.

Finally, the day arrived to fire up the smoker.  I took the cured loin out of the fridge, rinsed it very well, and patted it dry with paper towels.  Then each piece (except for my neighbor Heidi’s) was liberally sprinkled with ground garlic and fresh cracked black pepper.  Since Heidi’s system can tolerate dried onion flakes, that’s what went onto her piece.  After cutting two slices for the fry test, the meat then sat on a grill rack in front of the fan for about 3 hours to develop that oh so necessary pellicle.  The fry test proved excellent!  We’re good to go.

While the meat was drying, I thoroughly cleaned my sand filled water dish and main, bottom drip pan.  Once spotless, they both received new tinfoil wraps before going into the MES 30 which was preheating to 170*.  I filled the AMNPS with Todd’s Amazen Hickory Pellets, got it smoking beautifully and put it in the mailbox.  Time for the loin to go in and start becoming bacon.

That’s when my problem showed up.  No smoke.  The hickory pellets had gone out.  So I repeated my time proven routine and got the pellets smoking again.  For about 10 minutes.  Then the smoke disappeared again.  Four times I relit the pellets.  Four times they went out.  Finally, in frustration, I dumped the full tray of Todd’s pellets in the garbage and refilled the AMNPS with BBQers Delight hickory pellets.  Once I had them lit and smoking, I never had another problem.  I have no idea why Todd’s pellets refused to burn.  This was something new—I’ve never had that problem with his pellets.  I’m doing some testing right now and will post the results.

So…..back to the bacon.  After 5 ½ hours, according to my mew Thermoworks Smoke Thermometer, the meat had reached an IT of 135*, so I upped the temp in the MES to 190* for another 2 hours.  The IT of the bacon was at 145* so I turned off the MES and opened the door to drop the cook chamber temperature to below 120*.  I then closed the door and let the smoke roll for another 2 hours (to more than make up for time lost due to no smoke).

Sitting in an unheated smoker had helped cool the bacon, so it didn’t take too long to reach room temp once I moved it into the kitchen.  At that point, I wrapped each piece in plastic wrap and left it in the fridge for 48 hour.

Two days later—almost to the hour (no, I wasn’t an eager beaver LOL) I put all the bacon in the freezer for 4 hours.  As it turned out, our freezer must be a lot colder than Bear’s.  I had to leave it all sitting on the counter to thaw enough to slice.

I fired up my brand new “bought it for a fantastic sale price” meat slicer.  Well it didn’t take long to figure out why the price was so low.  It sliced beautifully half way through and then the meat slice started tapering off to nothing.  Hmmmm…..  Oh well, that’s life in the cheap lane.  There was nothing I could do about it, so I simply kept on slicing.  As I sliced each party’s quarter of the loin, I vac/sealed it into meal sized portions, keeping each person’s share separate.

Final review:  Everyone I give smoked meat to knows that I want an honest evaluation—that’s the only way I can alter ingredients and time/temp/smoke and improve my finished product.  Everyone had nothing but good things to say about my first Back Bacon.  They all loved it.  And more importantly, Miss Linda said it was downright delicious!!!!  Thank you Lord.

Now, I just have to make some more because this batch is unlikely to last very long.  And, I’ll be checking out slicers in the very near future.

Now it’s time for some Q-view:


Ready to develop a Pellicle:







All cleaned up and new clothes:






Fresh out of the MES:






Sliced and ready for Vac/Sealing:






Thanks you John   

 Bearcarver
  for the great Step-by-Step.  As always it was perfect!!
Thanks for looking.
Gary


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## Bearcarver (Nov 22, 2017)

Looks Great Gary!!:)
Tasty Stuff!!
Did you use the one where I cut 58 Pork Chops & 90 slices of Canadian Bacon?
I only sliced my Pork Chops at 1/2", but you could slice them however thick Your Miss Linda wants.
My Miss Linda likes them sliced at 1/2".
BTW: I keep both of my Freezers between Zero & Minus 3.

This is the one where I cut both Pork Chops & CB:
*Boneless Cured & Smoked Pork Chops and Canadian Bacon*

BTW: I Like,
Bear


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## GaryHibbert (Nov 23, 2017)

bearcarver said:


> Looks Great Gary!!:)
> Tasty Stuff!!
> Did you use the one where I cut 58 Pork Chops & 90 slices of Canadian Bacon?
> I only sliced my Pork Chops at 1/2", but you could slice them however thick Your Miss Linda wants.
> ...



Thanks John.  It turned out fantastic.  As it happened, Miss Linda & I went out for breakfast this week at a place renowned for its breakfasts.  Their bacon wasn't even in the same league. 
This is the Step by Step that i used:
Canadian Bacon Dry Cured(Step by Step)
I just took a look at your other one and next time--when I do 2 loins--I'm definitely going to slice one up for cured chops!!
BTW I just checked our freezer and it's set at minus 19 C.  So pretty much the same thing.  This morning I'm gonna check that temp with my new Smoke.  I'm guessing it's a lot cilder than that.
Gary


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## griz400 (Nov 23, 2017)

very nice .. this is gonna be one of my next projects as well points to you :cool:


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## noboundaries (Nov 23, 2017)

You're hooked now, Gary!  Looks wonderful. 

Back bacon makes a great Christmas gift when it can be hand delivered.


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## GaryHibbert (Nov 23, 2017)

griz400 said:


> very nice .. this is gonna be one of my next projects as well points to you :cool:



Thanks.  You'll love it.  There's absolutely no commercial bacon near as good.
Gary


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## GaryHibbert (Nov 23, 2017)

noboundaries said:


> You're hooked now, Gary!  Looks wonderful.
> 
> Back bacon makes a great Christmas gift when it can be hand delivered.



Hooked is right.  It's soooo good I'm going to be doing 2 loins next time.  After sharing it out there's none left for Christmas.
Gary


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## Rings Я Us (Nov 23, 2017)

Good stuff!


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## griz400 (Nov 23, 2017)

garyhibbert said:


> *Canadian Back Bacon*​
> I’ve always wanted to make some Back Bacon—that’s Canadian Bacon to all you folks south of the border—so when I bought a pig I figured to use the loin from that.  My plans changed when Miss Linda asked to have the loin sliced for pork chops.  OK, no big deal.  I just headed down to Wally World and picked up one of their pork loins.
> 
> After trimming the loin, I cut it into 4 pieces.  One for my neighbor, who suffers from terrible food allergies and can’t eat store bought bacon; one for Miss Linda’s daughter and her fiancé; one for my mechanic; and one for us.  I should have bought two loins.  One doesn’t go very far when it’s divided among four families.  Oh well, next time I’ll know better.
> ...


Looks so good gary .. When I make mine ... I want to do it with a wet brine .. just have to drum up a perfect recipe .. I want to do probably at least 2 -- 5-6 lb loins and make a nice big batch ... yours looks so good I can taste it .. show some on plate with eggs over easy and toast ... lol


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## ab canuck (Nov 23, 2017)

Looks really good Gary, Too bad about the pellets though. Point on that for sure....


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## GaryHibbert (Nov 24, 2017)

Rings Я Us said:


> Good stuff!



Thanks Johnny.  It really is delicious 
Gary


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## pc farmer (Nov 24, 2017)

Looks great Gary.

This reminds me I am out.

Cant beat Bears method for this.


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## GaryHibbert (Nov 24, 2017)

griz400 said:


> Looks so good gary .. When I make mine ... I want to do it with a wet brine .. just have to drum up a perfect recipe .. I want to do probably at least 2 -- 5-6 lb loins and make a nice big batch ... yours looks so good I can taste it .. show some on plate with eggs over easy and toast ... lol



Ha!!  You'll definitely want to do 2 loins.  Out of a 5.25 pound loin I only managed to keep enough for 4 breakfasts 
Gary


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## GaryHibbert (Nov 24, 2017)

ab canuck said:


> Looks really good Gary, Too bad about the pellets though. Point on that for sure....



Thanks Charlie.  I'm still trying to figure out  solution to the pellets.
Gary


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## Bearcarver (Nov 24, 2017)

garyhibbert said:


> Ha!!  You'll definitely want to do 2 loins.  Out of a 5.25 pound loin I only managed to keep enough for 4 breakfasts
> Gary



Never had any bad ones from Todd.
I would think they must have sucked up some humidity along the way.

Bear


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## GaryHibbert (Nov 24, 2017)

c farmer said:


> Looks great Gary.
> 
> This reminds me I am out.
> 
> Cant beat Bears method for this.



Haha.  I'm out now too Adam.
John's SBS have NEVER let me down.
Gary


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## tropics (Nov 24, 2017)

Gary That looks great color is spot on Points
Richie


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## GaryHibbert (Nov 24, 2017)

bearcarver said:


> Never had any bad ones from Todd.
> I would think they must have sucked up some humidity along the way.
> 
> Bear



Yeah I can't figure it out John.  The pellets looked OK but that really means nothing.  I nuked them on high for a total of 4 minutes to dry them just like always.  I might just try oven drying a batch for a couple of hours to see what that will do.  
This is the first time I've ever had a problem with Todd's pellets.
Miss Linda had to go into Edmonton this week so I had her pick up 5 pounds of BBQers Delight hickory ($45) so if all else fails I'll mix them in with Todd's.   10 pounds of pellets should keep me going for a while.  LOL
Gary


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## GaryHibbert (Nov 24, 2017)

tropics said:


> Gary That looks great color is spot on Points
> Richie



Thanks Richie.   I'm real pleased with my first bacon.  Now I gotta make more so I have some too.
Gary


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## Bearcarver (Nov 24, 2017)

garyhibbert said:


> Yeah I can't figure it out John.  The pellets looked OK but that really means nothing.  I nuked them on high for a total of 4 minutes to dry them just like always.  I might just try oven drying a batch for a couple of hours to see what that will do.
> This is the first time I've ever had a problem with Todd's pellets.
> Miss Linda had to go into Edmonton this week so I had her pick up 5 pounds of BBQers Delight hickory ($45) so if all else fails I'll mix them in with Todd's.   10 pounds of pellets should keep me going for a while.  LOL
> Gary




Wow!!
Is that just because you're in Canada?
I see Amazon has 20 pounds of BBQ Delight for $35.
I never looked before, because I get all mine from Todd.

Bear


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## GaryHibbert (Nov 24, 2017)

bearcarver said:


> Wow!!
> Is that just because you're in Canada?
> I see Amazon has 20 pounds of BBQ Delight for $35.
> I never looked before, because I get all mine from Todd.
> ...



Yeah $9 a pound up here.  Never thought to check Amazon.
Gary


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