# First shot at Canadian Bacon



## unionguynw (Jan 14, 2013)

I have 4 chunks of loin curing in Pops Brine: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110799/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine

Today will be day 9 and I will pull it out and set it in my fridge to dry before smoking it tomorrow evening.













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__ unionguynw
__ Jan 14, 2013






I've read way to many CB threads and looking for some guidance on how to proceed with these smoke wise.  Following Martin- Diggingdogfarm's thought process of "only cook it once", I would like to cold smoke 2 of the chunks.  I can keep my fridge smoker as low as about 65 with my AMNPS with the temps as low as they are right now.  How long should I go or is it purely by preference of how much smoke I want?

For the 2 chunks I'm going to bring to 145 IT, I planned on cold smoking them for as long as I end up doing the other 2, pull the AMNPS and cold smoked chunks and slowly bump the temp up to 180 till they hit 145 IT. 

Thoughts?


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## dirtsailor2003 (Jan 14, 2013)

It really is a preference thing. I cold smoke my bacon over a three day period. I apply 6-8 hrs of smoke per day, with an overnight rest in the fridge. Total smoke time is usually 16-20 hours. After the third day I let it mellow in the fridge for 3-6 days before slicing and packing. The last batch of Canadian bacon I did a combination of a cold smoke and a hot smoke. I was giving it as gifts and wanted to make sure it was cooked. With that batch I cold smoked for 4 hours, then hot smoked until I hit the 145*. Well that was the plan. I fell asleep after a few too many beers and I awoke with that OH $#@! look. So it actually was pulled at 160*. A bit dry but salvageable.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/131123/the-bacon-trifecta-thats-a-wrap


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## unionguynw (Jan 14, 2013)

The evening of day 9 has arrived. I drained the brine and rinse  my 4 loin chunks. I left 3 to soak while I dried one and sliced off a piece for a fry test.

Ok, 2 pieces












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__ Jan 14, 2013






I was a bit nervous about the color in the center of the loin












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__ unionguynw
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Got on here and after a few searches and seeing that the middle of my pieces were a nice pink Canadian bacon color and tasted like Canadian bacon and not pork chop, I knew all was well. It tasted so good that it was hard not to slice and fry some more! 

We owe Pops a huge thanks for posting such an easy brine that produces excellent results!

After the fry test I decided the flavor was perfect and didn't need any more time soaking. I drained the loins, dried them with paper towels and set them on the rack to rest overnight. 












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__ unionguynw
__ Jan 14, 2013






More to come tomorrow!


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## smoking b (Jan 14, 2013)

Will stay tuned - looking good so far


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## dirtsailor2003 (Jan 14, 2013)

unionguynw said:


> The evening of day 9 has arrived. I drained the brine and rinse my 4 loin chunks. I left 3 to soak while I dried one and sliced off a piece for a fry test.
> 
> Ok, 2 pieces
> 
> ...


Just Curious did you inject the loins too? I now that Pops recommends injecting if the meat is more than 2" thick.


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## unionguynw (Jan 14, 2013)

dirtsailor2003 said:


> Just Curious did you inject the loins too? I now that Pops recommends injecting if the meat is more than 2" thick.



No I didn't inject them. The thickest one was just under 2 1/2 inches. The others were 2" or just under. I brined them for 9 days. For some reason I calculated the number of days based on 1 3/4. (Not sure why I thought half of 2 1/2 was 1 3/4. Must be beer math!) That's why I went 9 days, 1 day per 1/4" from center plus 2 added for safety. 

Do they not look right?


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## smoking b (Jan 14, 2013)

Pops recommends that you go 1 week per inch of thickness in his brine & injecting is optional till you get closer to 3 inches of thickness. 14 days is minimum to cure it. This is according to Pops & it's his brine so that's what I followed when I used it for my CB.


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## unionguynw (Jan 15, 2013)

Lots of reading last night after getting some info from Smoking B that  pointed to theses chunks of loin needing to be cured longer than 9 days. I found lots of recipes that called for 9 days or less but with a higher amount of cure in the brine.

They have been sitting on a rack in my garage, (it's 34) overnight. I decided to cut a 1/4" slice out of the center of one of the chunks and try another fry test.













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__ unionguynw
__ Jan 15, 2013


















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__ unionguynw
__ Jan 15, 2013






It sure seemed pink in the middle after cooking, especially the darker portion of the meat. It definitely tasted like ham as opposed to a pork chop. Based on these observations am I still ok cold smoking these?

Based on my limited curing knowledge I think if I did under cure the only drawback is I can't cold smoke and will have to get the IT to 140 in 4 hours or less. Correct?


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## smoking b (Jan 15, 2013)

If that is the center piece in the picture it looks cured to the center. Much different than that pic Pops had that I sent to you. The reason the brine of Pops takes longer is because as you noticed it has less cure #1 in it. The loin does appear to be cured throughout though.


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## smoking b (Jan 15, 2013)

Here is the info from Pops for anyone that might find it useful. It took me a while to find how long to cure with his brine when I was getting ready to try it so maybe it will help someone else.







Pops6927
Dec 10, 2012 at 5:09 am

It is not mandatory to inject; just make sure you cure it long enough. I go by 1" = 1 week. 2" 2 weeks, 3" 3 weeks and inject, 4 weeks 4" and inject. Canadian bacon pork loin is in the 2" category and optional on injecting. The main thing is to let it cure long enough so you don't get this:













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__ pops6927
__ Dec 10, 2012






That is Canadian bacon that was not cured long enough, so it never got cured fully in the center. 14 days is minimum to cure it (I think this was 7 days in the brine).


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## unionguynw (Jan 15, 2013)

Thanks Smoking B!  Also got a PM from Pops and he is thinking based on my observations and fry test that it cured ok.  So here we go!

AMNPS loaded with a mix of hickory and apple, top loin chucks- plain, middle- home grown honey and black pepper, bottom- maple syrup with black pepper and smoked jalapeno













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Into the fridge smoker for a long cold smoke













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Stay Tuned!


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## smoking b (Jan 15, 2013)

Will be watching. That smoked jalapeno has my interest!  Glad you got the go ahead from Pops


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## unionguynw (Jan 15, 2013)

Evening update: smoker temp was at 90 when I left this morning and I turned it off. 71 at 5pm with no heat and just the AMNPS and outside temps in the mid 30's. 

Getting some color












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__ unionguynw
__ Jan 15, 2013






AMNPS has not quite burned 2 rows after a little over 7 hours!












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__ unionguynw
__ Jan 15, 2013






Decided I'm going to do some partial cooked and some fully cooked. Time to start bumping up the heat.


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## smoking b (Jan 15, 2013)

unionguynw said:


> AMNPS has not quite burned 2 rows after a little over 7 hours!


Gotta love it


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## unionguynw (Jan 16, 2013)

Quick teaser update.  The AMNPS burned till about 9pm.  11 hours total.  I followed advice that I recieved from Pops.  I wanted to try some if it ready to eat and some that would have to be cooked.  I pulled the partially cooked one at an IT of 136.  The ready to eat chunks I pulled at an IT of 145.  Once it bumped the temp to 180 after cold smoking for 7 hours it took the partially cooked piece 6.5 hours.  The ready to eat chunks took from between 9-9.5 hours.  Didn't expect a stall while smoking CB, but it sat between 118-122 for close to 3 hours!

Here's a pic of the partially cooked chunk that came off first-













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__ unionguynw
__ Jan 16, 2013






This piece was plain with no glaze or added spices outside. All the pieces are resting in the fridge awaiting their fate on the slicer when I get home from work!


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## smoking b (Jan 16, 2013)

Looking forward to the sliced pics. Make sure you eat before you slice up the fully cooked pieces or they may not make it!


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## unionguynw (Jan 17, 2013)

Ok, let's warp this thread up! Got home tonight and it It was slicing time!

Pulled out the.loin chunks that had been resting in the fridge all night












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__ Jan 17, 2013






All sliced up












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Close up












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__ unionguynw
__ Jan 17, 2013






Bagged n tagged!












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__ unionguynw
__ Jan 17, 2013






I'm pretty happy with the results. Takes a lot of time and patience, but well worth it! As I had read in several other threads the glazes didn't add much to the flavoring of the finished product. Next time I'll experiment with flavors in the brine. I thought it was a bit dry, might try a bit hotter and faster next time. 

Thanks to all that have shared on here!


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## smoking b (Jan 17, 2013)

Looks great man!  Good job  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





   On the dryness note that's why I only cold smoke my CB then cook it when it comes time to eat it. I know a lot of others cook theirs when smoking & I tried it once but not cooking till I eat it works better for me...


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## dirtsailor2003 (Jan 17, 2013)

Smoking B said:


> Looks great man!  Good job
> 
> 
> 
> ...


x2!

One thing you can do to "plump" it up with moisture is to reheat it in a fry pan with a tablespoon of water per slice of CB. This will basically steam the meat adding moisture back in.


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