Canadian Bacon

Anybody have any recipes? Looking to try some here shortly. Attached is one I found.

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Very similar to the process and recipe I found on smokingmeatforum.com by a poster “bearcarver”.

I’ve used this a couple times and it turns out just excellent!

Scott

Great! I’ll give it a try. I was surprised he only takes it to 140 internal, but I’m just getting started trying things like this.

Canadian Bacon is an easy meat and super tasty. I make mine in basically the same fashion as the shown recipe except I roll my loin chunks in cheese cloth, maybe five or six single layer wraps, and then give the cheese cloth a light spray of water right before smoking. The cheese cloth stays on until I slice the finished meat. The cheese cloth helps form the meat….which is absolutely not an essential, just cosmetic…. and it helps catch some of the tar from smoking that can be acrid or bitter if left directly on the meat.

At 140 degrees one still has to cook or fry the bacon as it is not what is called fully cooked. I do my sausage containing pork to at least 152 degrees, some suggest even higher at 160 or 165. My bacon isn’t dry at 152 but I have seen it get dry by going to the 165 and nobody wants dry Canadian Bacon. The 140 degree mark is where I aim for the Canadian Bacon as I always fry it to finish it and never eat it right out of the freezer package. Commercial product is usually labeled as fully cooked and can be eaten from the package.

The temperature was dropped on pork to 145 for USDA guidelines however I still have not dropped to that temperature.

So if we were going to slice to put on pizza, for instance, go to 152? Or does baking the pizza put it into the safe range?

Some maple in the brine is also good if you go with a wet brine.

The following link shows step by step of my process with a wet brine.

http://finaddicts.us/smf/forums/index.php?topic=10744.msg79415#msg79415

The finish product looked excellent Dave! So you cut the loin into 2×2 pieces by what, 6 to 8 inches long? I assume that is why you get away with the 48 hour brine. Most recipes I’ve seen, whether wet or dry are for 6-8 days.

got this from rhienhart a few years ago. I make it 3 or 4 times a years. really good!

1 gallon of cold water
3/4 cup Kosher salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 big T of mollases
1 T of cure#1 (Pink Salt)
Mix all of this up well till all of the ingredients are dissolved. Cut pork loin into 2 pieces and put in the brine and leave it in the fridge for 9 to 10 days.  Make sure you use a  glass or plastic container.(5 gallon bucket works dandy)  Also make sure the meat is submerged.  I fill a gallon zip lock bag half full of water and put it on top of the loin and that sinks the loin well.  After the 9 to 10 days take the loin out and rinse it with cold water.  Pat it dry and put it uncovered back in the fridge to dry and set overnight.  Next day is smoking time.  I set my smoker at 225 deg.  fill the chip tray with cherry wood.  Keep adding chips in the smoker tray until you get that nice gold color.(In my electric I just fill the tray 2 times)  Then stop adding chips and let the loin continue without smoke until the internal temp is 150 deg.  Then take it out of the smoker and set it on the kitchen counter to cool off.  I usually put a foil tent on it.  Once it cools down, put it in the fridge until the next day.  Don’t get tempted into cutting into it.  It will be hard to do, but leave it in the fridge overnight. Slice and Package.

I run it thru my meat slicer about 1/8 inch thick. great for samiches and all by itself or with eggs or in a salad whatever.

I’ve been using the same one from his site for years. Fool proof for canadian bacon with pork loins, pork shoulder, or even smaller pork bellies.

eyeguy54 wrote:

got this from rhienhart a few years ago. I make it 3 or 4 times a years. really good!

1 gallon of cold water
3/4 cup Kosher salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 big T of mollases
1 T of cure#1 (Pink Salt)
Mix all of this up well till all of the ingredients are dissolved. Cut pork loin into 2 pieces and put in the brine and leave it in the fridge for 9 to 10 days. Make sure you use a glass or plastic container.(5 gallon bucket works dandy) Also make sure the meat is submerged. I fill a gallon zip lock bag half full of water and put it on top of the loin and that sinks the loin well. After the 9 to 10 days take the loin out and rinse it with cold water. Pat it dry and put it uncovered back in the fridge to dry and set overnight. Next day is smoking time. I set my smoker at 225 deg. fill the chip tray with cherry wood. Keep adding chips in the smoker tray until you get that nice gold color.(In my electric I just fill the tray 2 times) Then stop adding chips and let the loin continue without smoke until the internal temp is 150 deg. Then take it out of the smoker and set it on the kitchen counter to cool off. I usually put a foil tent on it. Once it cools down, put it in the fridge until the next day. Don’t get tempted into cutting into it. It will be hard to do, but leave it in the fridge overnight. Slice and Package.

Bob Schultz wrote:

The finish product looked excellent Dave! So you cut the loin into 2×2 pieces by what, 6 to 8 inches long? I assume that is why you get away with the 48 hour brine. Most recipes I’ve seen, whether wet or dry are for 6-8 days.

I cut the loin in half lengthwise and then halved the haves. My recipe originated from a book call, Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman. A very good book on curing meats.

Bob Schultz wrote:

So if we were going to slice to put on pizza, for instance, go to 152? Or does baking the pizza put it into the safe range?

If you slice the Canadian Bacon 1/4″ or less it’ll be fine by cooking on the pizza.

Yes, the pork minimum temp has been lowered and this C. Bacon calls for cure, but I still use the 152 degrees as a minimum temp…..too much of what I do has red meat in it too and that still calls for the higher temp to be safe. I use that temp out of habit.

Alright. Thanks for the recipes and tips. Tomorrow I’ll pick a recipe and start the process.