# Canadian Bacon - Success!



## cmix (Dec 27, 2012)

Took some pork loin and brined it in Pop's wet brine recipe doubling the brown sugar and leaving out the white sugar.  I put the loin in a vac seal bag and poured in the brine.  Put in vac sealer for a couple of seconds to remove air and sealed it.  

Brined it for 18 days.  Removed it and washed it with cold water.  Sliced off a piece and put in skillet for a taste test and it was very tender and seasoned good.  I cut the loin in to three pieces and seasoned with McCormicks 'Smoke House Maple' blend. 

Cold smoked it using AMAZN smoker for 4 hours.  Applied heat and brought temp up to 175f.  Pulled it out when internal temp hit 150f.

Let it rest at room temp for an hour or so.  

End result was fantastic.  Excellent flavor and very tender.  My wife said it was the best thing I have made besides our little boy.

Got some more brining right now!

Thanks for the folks on this forum for giving me the knowledge to pull this off.













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## dirtsailor2003 (Dec 27, 2012)

Nice job, looks great! Pop's brine makes it so simple!


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## jrod62 (Dec 27, 2012)

LOOKS GREAT !!!!!


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## bigtrain74 (Dec 27, 2012)

This is something I am going to give a shot soon. Cured meats are my weakness.


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## cmix (Dec 27, 2012)

Thanks y'all.  Can anyone suggest something to season my next ones with.  The Smoke House Maple blend is awesome.  Just want a variety for my next ones.


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## pearlheartgtr (Dec 28, 2012)

Looks great!

I recently did 10 lbs of CB (dry cured) and experimented with different flavors. The best (IMO) was the brown sugar/honey combo. Added the brown sugar and honey to the cure and rubbed the loin down with more honey the night before I smoked it.


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## tjohnson (Dec 28, 2012)

Oh My!

Awesome looking CB!!!

It's so easy, and very satisfying to make your own cured and smoked meats

TJ


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## smokinhusker (Dec 28, 2012)

Outstanding! Now I have to make some more!


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## jfsjazz (Dec 28, 2012)

cmix, my "go to" seasoning for cb is almost always a light coating of light amber maple syrup and a sprinkle coating of demerara sugar.  I also use these two ingredients in the curing process.  The result is a very slight hint of sweetness which really comes out when you heat the cb in a skillet.  

cheers!


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## dirtsailor2003 (Dec 28, 2012)

cmix said:


> Thanks y'all.  Can anyone suggest something to season my next ones with.  The Smoke House Maple blend is awesome.  Just want a variety for my next ones.


I like to mix it up. the last batch I did several different flavors. I cut the loin into four equal pieces. One was straight black pepper, one was black pepper and garlic, one was some commercial rub called Butt Rub, the last one was paprika & chipotle. We liked them all!


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## bullarcher (Dec 28, 2012)

The last batch I did which was excellent. I used Pop's wet cure with a few changes. 1/2 apple juice, 1/2 water. Also added garlic and black pepper. After cure, rinsed, paper towel dried, and added a rub of brown sugar, garlic, black pepper. I like the suggestion of coating with honey, I will give that a try on the next batch, which is currently in the brine.


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## pops6927 (Dec 28, 2012)

Congratulations on your successful cure and smoke!  So glad it worked for you!  Love curing meats!  And, the thing is, you can add all sorts of flavorings to your brines, like different extracts, Hawaiian, Teriyaki, Whiskey, Jack, Cloves, pickling spices, pinapple, orange juices, mango, basically anything you can dream up - coconut extract, almond, and so on!


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## cmix (Dec 28, 2012)

Woah Nelly!  Great ideas!  Just pulled some out of the brine. Washed and dried with paper towel.  Taste test was good.   On a drying rack in the fridge now.

Will smoke them tomorrow.  Gonna try the maple idea from jfsjazz and bull archers idea as well but will add the honey.

Thanks Pop's for the reply.  I was hesitant to add anything extra to the brine.  Didn't want to screw up a good thing.  Next time I will get more creative.  Definitely gonna try the apple juice!

Thanks Y'all.













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## artisanbeard (Dec 29, 2012)

Are the loins hanging from the smoke sticks wrapped in plastic?


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## cmix (Dec 29, 2012)

ArtisanBeard said:


> Are the loins hanging from the smoke sticks wrapped in plastic?


Those are plastic ham bags.  

Bags worked fine on these short pieces of loin.  Kept them in more of a circular form rather than flattening or ovaling out sitting on a rack.  I have used the bags on whole turkey breasts, turkey legs and turkey wings.  The bags also leave a nice looking pattern on the meat.  













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## archernut (Dec 29, 2012)

Good Job.

The pics made my mouth water.


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## artisanbeard (Dec 29, 2012)

That's cool. They looked like they were wrapped in saran wrap or something...I was just wondering how the smoke penetrated the plastic, but the ham bags make sense. Looks good!


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## smokin-jim (Dec 29, 2012)

That CB looks amazing. Is there a link for Pop's Brine? I have only tried the dry TQ method.


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## stovebolt (Dec 30, 2012)

Smokin-Jim said:


> That CB looks amazing. Is there a link for Pop's Brine? I have only tried the dry TQ method.


  Go to post 12 of this thread from Pops6927 and look at the links at the bottom of his post. Look for "Wet Curing Brine". That is your link.

Chuck


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## cmix (Dec 30, 2012)

Smokin-Jim said:


> That CB looks amazing. Is there a link for Pop's Brine? I have only tried the dry TQ method.


direct link:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/pops-wet-curing-brine


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## waucedah (Dec 31, 2012)

will try the brine


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## sweetfly (Jan 2, 2013)

I have mine in the brine for 5 days now :-) I hope they come out as good as yours CMIX! I hear that this is the second best thing you have ever made ;-)













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## cmix (Jan 2, 2013)

That is a nice looking loin Sweetfly.  Pop's brine does the trick.


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## smoker21 (Jan 11, 2013)

Looks great!  I'm definitely gonna have to try CB.
 

JD


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