# Canadian Bacon



## Dick Hanks

I originally posted this in the "Friday Pictures" section, but it probably should have been posted here. This was definitely worth doing. Next time I'll plan on throwing some pork ribs into the smoker at the same time the loin is smoking:

Good Canadian bacon is getting hard to find in our area, so I decided to make my own. Just for clarification, Canadian Bacon is made with pork loin, not belly meat like regular bacon. That is why in some areas it is also called "back bacon". Pork loin is very lean, so it is pretty health stuff.

We use it for sandwiches, Hawaiian pizza, and of coarse Eggs Benedict! Any of the smokey scraps get used in soups.

This was a large, 10 pound, pork loin so it was cut into 2 pieces. Because of the thickness, it had to be in a curing salt (NOT regular salt) with brown sugar added, for 8 days. Then I trussed the loins to give them a rounder shape. Into the smoker for 5 hours using maple wood chunks for smoke. Last step was cooling overnight and then running it all through our meat slicer. Vacuumed pack into 3/4 to 1 pound packages.

This was a 1st try at this. Very pleased with the results. Will be doing it again, and probably won't make any changes to the procedure


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## flatscat1

That looks very good to me. Really perfect, I wouldn't change a thing if it tastes as good as it looks.


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## Haute Pursuit

Man, that looks good Dick! What temp did you smoke it at? Did you trim the fat from the loin or leave it? I need to try this.


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## Law Dog

Looks delicious, congrats!


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## Dick Hanks

I started with a 9.9 pound pork loin from Costco. Their pork loins are pretty well trimmed. After removing any extra fat and silver skin, it still weighted 9.5 pounds. The curing salt that I used was Morton's Tender Quick. It is salt and .5% Sodium Nitrate /Sodium Nitrite concentration. With this product, you use 1 Tbls per pound of meat. So that was 10 Tbls or about 2/3 of a cup. I mixed this very well with 2/3 cup of brown sugar. I cut the loin into 2 pieces at about 4#s and 5.5#s. Separate your rub into 2 piles so that each pile will match proportionally to the size of each piece of meat. 


Rub both pieces of meat evenly so that all surfaces are evenly covered. I put them into a large Tupperware container, but large zip style bags will work very well also. Place in frig. The next day, turn over the loins in the their container. You will see that they have given off a lot of moisture, so you will need to continue to turn them daily to keep the cure evenly applied. The cure penetrates the meat at about 1/4 per day. A 6 pound loin will probably be done in 6 days . I gave the 10 #er 8 days to insure that the cure had penetrated to the center. Extra time in the cure will not hurt the meat. When curing time is done, rinse off the meat very well under cold running water.


Cut off a small piece of the meat and fry it with no seasoning. If you like the salt level, you are ready for the next step. If it is too saltly, cover loins with cold water and keep refrigerated for and hour or 2. Then pat the loin dry with paper towels. Place on a rack and back into the frig for an hour or two uncovered, until the exterior is dry to the touch. If you want the Canadian Bacon to have a round shape, you will need to truss it at this point. If shape isn't important, it ready for the smoker!


Try to keep your smoker as close to 225 degrees as possible. I used maple wood chunks but any mild wood like pecan or fruit wood will work. After about 4 hours check the internal temps of the loin sections. If you are going to reheat or cook the Canadian Bacon when you use it, pull it out of the smoker at 140 degrees. If you are going to use it cold, like in sandwiches, you need to get to a 160 degree internal. temp. The higher the internal temp, the dryer the meat will become.


This is why it is a good idea to split your loin into 2 pieces. I smoked the smaller portion to 160 degrees. That portion will be used for sandwiches. The larger portion was pulled out at a 140 degree internal temp. It will be used for Eggs Benedict, pizzas, breakfast meat, etc. I ran it all through a meat slicer at about 1/4" per slice.


Curing is NOT something to guess at. Depending on if you use Morton's Tender Quick or Prague powder (6.25% Sodium nitrate) and also called pink salt, follow their directions carefully. Too little cure, or curing time, and your meat will turn out brown in the center. Too much Sodium Nitrate / Nitrite is not healthy. Used in correct proportions, no problems and the meat has a light pink color throughout. The flavor is wonderful. 


It is possible to do wet cures as well. This may be the way to go if you are going to do several loins at one time. Let me know if you have any questions.


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## Haute Pursuit

Good info. Going to try it the next time I have my smoker out. Thanks!


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## fangard

Charcuterie by Ruhlman. Awesome book.


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## mas360

Is it OK to use plain salt without Sodium Nitrate? That ingredient gives me goose bump.


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## Dick Hanks

You can, but the end product will be very different. Flavor, appearance, and keeping quality will be different. This doesn't mean that doing it with ordinary salt isn't worthwhile. 

You may have already had a chance to experience some of the differences. Regular (belly meat) bacon can be found with color variations from a pinkish/red on the meat portion to kind of a brownish color. Even if both bacons have been smoked for the same amount of time and intensity. The color difference between the 2 is more than likely the Sodium Nitrite. 

Curing with regular salt will result in meat that will have a browner appearance. In either process salt, brown sugar, and smoke are the main flavor enhancers. Nitrite does add a flavor that I like but it isn't a deal killer. 

Besides adding nice color, the main function of Nitrites is that absolutely kills botulism organisms when it is used properly. If you are very careful with meats only cured with salt, you should still be OK. Refrigeration, time held in the frig, and handling will become more important. Basically, threat them like uncured meat, and you will be OK.

Bottom line: I still prefer a cure with Sodium Nitrate for pork loins, but I'd do a salt cured only in a heartbeat, rather than not doing it at all. Maybe consider a wet brine rather than a dry one.


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## mas360

Thanks, Dick.


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## Dale Nichols

That looks great Dick. This is a old recipe but a good one give it a try one day.

http://virtualweberbullet.com/buckboardbacon.html


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## Daddio

Without the cure you have pork roast!
I do a variation on the cured loins, after curing I rinse and dry then coat with honey and sprinkle with coarse black pepper.
Then go to the Smokehouse for a couple of days.
Then bring up to 152 internal temp.
I usually do 2 cases from Sams in January or about 95#.
I also do venison backstrap and turkey breast (wild or domestic) the same way.
They are good breakfast,lunch or dinner!!


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## Dick Hanks

Dale.... I've been thinking about using this process on a pork shoulder. I do think that I need to try that.

Daddio.... The brown sugar in my rub adds enough sweetness for me, so I won't do the honey part. I am going to try adding a bunch of cracked black pepper to one of the loins during the curing process next time. I really like black pepper.

Definitely want to cure some venison as well. Thanks for the reminder.

When you cure that many pounds at one time, do you use a wet cure, or a dry rub cure?


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## Dick Hanks

The 2nd batch of Canadian Bacon just started being cured 2 days ago. This time, it is both an 11# and a 9.5# pork loin being cured. Total of 20.5#s of loin. There is also 4.5# of venison being cured (in a separate container) that will be made into Bresaola. Bresaola is a cured, air dried beef but I'm doing it with venison. Here is a "Copy" of the info:

*Bresaola*










Bresaola is an air-dried meat traditionally made from beefâ€"â€‹but we're using venison. This recipe is the perfect gateway into charcuterie:
It requires minimal ingredients, it's hard to screw up, and the end result is wildly delicious and surprisingly tender. Backstrap is the best cut to use here, but if you'd rather save that for steaks and roasts, fillets from the hindquarters work well, too. The recipe's cure gives the bresaola a peppery finish, so it's a natural fit in an arugula salad with fresh Parmesan. It's also terrific on sandwiches, or with an assortment of cheeses, preserves, and crackers. And it's not bad all on its own, either. â€"C.K.
*Ingredients*
-3 lb. venison loin or leg fillets, well trimmed
-6 Tbsp. whole black peppercorns
-3 Tbsp. salt
-3 Tbsp. brown sugar
-Â¾ tsp. coriander seed
-6 whole juniper berries
-Â½ tsp. Insta Cure No. 2
Special equipment needed: cheesecloth and butcher's twine
*Directions*
1. In a spice or coffee grinder, coarsely grind the peppercorns, salt, brown sugar, coriander, juniper berries, and Insta Cure. Rub and coat the venison evenly with this mixture and let cure in the refrigerator for 7 days in an airtight bag, turning once a day.
2. Rinse the cure off under cold water and pat the venison dry with paper towels. Wrap each piece in two or three layers of cheesecloth, then tie with butcher's twine: Starting at one end of the venison, tie an overhand knot. Next, tightly wrap the twine around the meat at 2-inch intervals until you reach the end. Secure with another overhand knot and leave a tag end several inches long for hanging. Weigh each piece and add a label with the weight to the tag ends.
3. Hang the venison in a refrigerator to dry, ideally at 50 to 60 degrees, with a relative humidity of 60 percent, for 5 to 7 weeks or until it has lost 30 percent of its original weight. The meat will be firm and will have shrunk slightly in the cheesecloth.
4. When it's done, wrap the bresaola in plastic wrap and refrigerate. To serve, slice very thinly against the grain. The bresaola will keep for up to 2 months.
Recipe adapted from Afield: A Chef's Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish by Jesse Griffiths (welcomebooks).

There you have it. I'm going to Cheat on the Bresaola by slicing and dehydrator drying after 4 days of hanging.

We are going to give about 1/2 or 2/3 of the pork and venison away to family for Christmas. If you are also thinking about giving any cured, smoked meats for Christmas, you need to be starting VERY soon. For me, the timing is: 8 days for the meat to cure, 1 day to air dry and then smoke latter that day, and then 1 day in the frig to firm up. I slice and vacuum seal on the 11th day.

A perfect gift for people who have everything.


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## Dick Hanks

The Venison Bresaola and Canadian Bacon are done curing (10 days), dried for a 1/2 day and smoked for 5 hours, and then chilled overnight. Just sliced it all up yesterday and today, plus vacuum seal a lot of the Canadian Bacon. All of the stacks in the pictures are at least 3 slices deep, some are more. I used a meat slicer to slice everything. Most of the Bacon will be given away for Christmas.

The Bresaola was supposed to hang for a month or more before slicing, but we wanted to give a bunch of it away for Christmas. The bowl of Bresaola is sliced barely over 1/8 inch thick. The bresaola on the white plate is sliced just under 1/8th inch thick. The thin stuff is a lot like a well seasoned, smoked chipped beef. I won't ever make Venison jerky again. The Bresaola is just so much better IMHO. Top drawer stuff. This Bresaola is lighter colored that the above post because it wasn't aged for the extra month. Next time I will try giving it the full age process, but we are leaving for Texas soon so that will have to wait!


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## old 37

Dick, that Canadian Bacon looks great, I'm going to try that on some wild hog back strap.


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## SSNJOHN

Dick,

Thanks for the post on the Canadian Bacon recipes and pictures. I have 2 x 5lb pork loins, 1 x 2 lb elk back strap, & 1 x 1lb venison in the cure right now. Will let you know how it turns out. 

John


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## Dick Hanks

Txsharkbait wanted me to post up pictures of my current batch of Canadian Bacon. All of the prep work was the same as for the other batches, but this time I went for a longer, and lower temp smoke. The 4 pork loins were in the smoker for 7 hours and the temp was dropped from 225 down to averaging about 210. This did allow a little more smoke flavor to build. However, as it turns out, I think that the shorter, slightly higher temp, was just as good.

CaptJack's version of "Easy Pastrami" was also something that I wanted to try. I followed his directions for prep, and then put the brisket in the smoker for the same 7 hours @ 210 degrees. It is on the middle shelf

On the top rack of the smoker I was doing pork ribs. They were in for 5 hours. The 1st 3 hours uncovered, and then the last 2 hours wrapped in foil. They had been rubbed with my own Cajun mix the day before and the refrigerated. I always peel the inside skin/film off before doing the rub.

Smoker picture about 1/2 way through the process and then the finished product.


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## txsharkbait

That looks fantastic! Thanks for the pics.

I may have missed it. What kind of smoker are you using?
My old offset Lyfetime pit has served me well for fifteen or twenty years. Now I have GOT to find, make, a vertical, cabinet type smoker. I need many racks and room to hang stuff.

Did you build yours?


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## old 37

Mr. Hanks, I have some wild hog backstraps in the cure now for Canadian Bacon, only about 1-3/4 lbs each but I'm going for it!!!


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## Dick Hanks

old 37 said:


> Mr. Hanks, I have some wild hog backstraps in the cure now for Canadian Bacon, only about 1-3/4 lbs each but I'm going for it!!!


 Glad to see that you are giving it a try! One thing that I didn't mention in the above posts is that I do use a water pan between the smoke source and the loins. Pork loins have very little fat so they don't self baste well. The water pan will help to keep the smoke moister and prevent the loins from drying out. With the smaller loins that you are doing, this will be especially important.

Question asked: What brand vertical smoker do I use?

For cooler smoking, I use a cheap Camp Chef "Smoke Vault" brand. It is thin walled and looses heat, which is what I want for the 3 different bacons. I don't use this smoker for cuts like pork shoulders or briskets though.


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## old 37

The wild hog back-straps I cured and smoked ,while smaller than regular pork loins from the store turned out fantastic!! Took them off at 142 degrees and they are very moist. Thanks for the receipe!!


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## Dick Hanks

Decided that I needed to make a bunch of Buckboard Bacon. It is cured like Canadian Bacon so I'm adding it to this thread. Because the pork shoulders are thicker than pork loins, I added 3 more days to the curing time.

I started with 2 boneless pork shoulder that totaled 15#s. I trimmed off the smaller meat flaps and cured them separately. In addition to the same cure and brown sugar as used for the Canadian Bacon, lots of fresh ground pepper was add. 

In addition to the shoulder cuts, I also had a 10# pork loin curing for Canadian bacon and part of a 4# package of boneless beef short ribs. 

All of the cured meat was all smoked @ from 200 to 245 degrees over hard maple chunks, and the shoulders also had 3 additional hours of cold smoking with apple pellets. 

A little over 1/2 of the beef short ribs were highly season for 3 days and then only cold smoked over the apple pellets. They are still basically raw and will be finished off latter.

The 1st picture is some of the pork shoulder / Buckboard Bacon. the second picture is some of the shoulder meat flaps that were trimmed off, and in the left front, 2 of the boneless beef short ribs. These 2 short ribs were the ones that were cured and hot smoked. They were shaved in a meat slicer and served warm with horseradish sauce in a Kaiser roll.

No pictures of the 10#s of Canadian Bacon. It looked just like the other batches.


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## JReich

Tagged for later


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## old 37

Sure looks good!!!


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## Bigin129

*Makin bacon*

I made both Canadian bacon and buckboard bacon. They both came out good.


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## Bigin129

*Buckboard bacon*

I like this the best


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## CaptJack

*well done*


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## Dick Hanks

That looks tasty, but could use a little more smoke ring. Looks like it stayed moist which is very important. What wood and smoker did you use?


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## Bigin129

Uds smoker, used charcoal and mesquite, internal temp was 172 when I removed them from the smoker


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## Dick Hanks

Just finished up making a new batch of Canadian Bacon. This is about 24#s of pork loin that was cured (curing salt and brown sugar) for 11 days. It was smoked for 4.5 hours @ 225 degrees, with maple wood chunks. Then refrigerated over night to firm it up for the meat slicer. Pictures are of it coming out of the frig and ready for the slicer.

This will be the last batch that I make before leaving here for the winter.


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## Bigin129

Looks good


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## StinkBait

Any reason this process can't be scaled back for a couple of pork tenderloins? I guess they are +-2#'s each. Any idea how long to let them cure? Guessing 2-3 days? 

Also, this sentence from the instructions....The cure penetrates the meat at about 1/4 per day..... What does this mean? 1/4 what per day?


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## w_r_ranch

1/4 of an inch...


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## StinkBait

w_r_ranch said:


> 1/4 of an inch...


Thanks WR


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## bigdaddyflo

mas360 said:


> Is it OK to use plain salt without Sodium Nitrate? That ingredient gives me goose bump.


Do not use table sale - use kosher salt.


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## Dick Hanks

Ranch is exactly correct. I meant to put 1/4 inch penetration / day. 

Bigdaddyflo is also correct. Use Kosher or canning salt if making your own cure.

Pork tenderloins are tapered so they will cure unevenly, unless you cure 2 at the same time. Tie them together thick end of one to skinny end of the other. This will help them cure more evenly. The ones that I usually see, would do well with 4 or 5 days cured this way. The key is to accurately measure the curing salt to the weight of the pork. If you do this step correctly, it doesn't hurt to leave the pork in the cure an extra day. I'd rather be a day long rather than a day short.

I'm sure that you will really enjoy the results.


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## StinkBait

Dick Hanks said:


> Ranch is exactly correct. I meant to put 1/4 inch penetration / day.
> 
> Bigdaddyflo is also correct. Use Kosher or canning salt if making your own cure.
> 
> Pork tenderloins are tapered so they will cure unevenly, unless you cure 2 at the same time. Tie them together thick end of one to skinny end of the other. This will help them cure more evenly. The ones that I usually see, would do well with 4 or 5 days cured this way. The key is to accurately measure the curing salt to the weight of the pork. If you do this step correctly, it doesn't hurt to leave the pork in the cure an extra day. I'd rather be a day long rather than a day short.
> 
> I'm sure that you will really enjoy the results.


Thanks for the info Dick and thanks for such a great thread. I plan to do the tenderloins next week/weekend. Then move up to loins after that. I will post results..


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## mas360

Dick Hanks said:


> Just finished up making a new batch of Canadian Bacon. This is about 24#s of pork loin that was cured (curing salt and brown sugar) for 11 days. It was smoked for 4.5 hours @ 225 degrees, with maple wood chunks. Then refrigerated over night to firm it up for the meat slicer. Pictures are of it coming out of the frig and ready for the slicer.
> 
> This will be the last batch that I make before leaving here for the winter.


How much Prague powder do you use for 24 lbs of loin? I am trying to figure out how much I need to purchase.

Walmart sells 2.5 lbs for $15, but then 4 Oz of same brand is $8.


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## w_r_ranch

Get the big one, it's not like it goes bad... I do a 'wet' cure (a simple recipe is here) & just did 2 loins & 2 butts... it took a total of 3.5 gallons (1 tablespoon of cure per gal.) to complete.

Like Mr. Hanks, we go through a lot of bacon here, so I usually do this size batch 4X per year.


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## Dick Hanks

^^^^^ X2 ^^^^^! 

The Prague cure container will come with the mixing instructions for both the amount of salt and how much per pound of meat. Be sure to get the right Prague for what you want to do.

If you have the room in the frig, I think that a wet cure is probably the way to go. It requires less attention (no turning every day). If space is tight, you will probably need to do the dry rub cure.

Ranch.... That is some great looking pork in those pictures. Excellent job trussing on the loins!


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## bigdaddyflo

I found this in the outdoor/barbecue pit section at my local Academy store of all places for around $1.69 (or something like that). The ratio I normally/usually use is 1/4 teaspoon per pound of meat. This says use 2 teaspoons per 10 pounds so they use a little less than what I generally use.
Dang it- You guys got me making Canadian bacon and regular bacon RIGHT NOW! I'll be making summer sausage this evening. Once you start - it's hard to stop.


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## mas360

bigdaddyflo said:


> I found this in the outdoor/barbecue pit section at my local Academy store of all places for around $1.69 (or something like that). The ratio I normally/usually use is 1/4 teaspoon per pound of meat. This says use 2 teaspoons per 10 pounds so they use a little less than what I generally use.
> Dang it- You guys got me making Canadian bacon and regular bacon RIGHT NOW! I'll be making summer sausage this evening. Once you start - it's hard to stop.


Awesome. I am heading to Academy.....
Thanks


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## StinkBait

Dick Hanks said:


> I started with a 9.9 pound pork loin from Costco. Their pork loins are pretty well trimmed. After removing any extra fat and silver skin, it still weighted 9.5 pounds. The curing salt that I used was Morton's Tender Quick. It is salt and .5% Sodium Nitrate /Sodium Nitrite concentration. With this product, you use 1 Tbls per pound of meat. So that was 10 Tbls or about 2/3 of a cup. I mixed this very well with 2/3 cup of brown sugar. I cut the loin into 2 pieces at about 4#s and 5.5#s. Separate your rub into 2 piles so that each pile will match proportionally to the size of each piece of meat.
> 
> Rub both pieces of meat evenly so that all surfaces are evenly covered. I put them into a large Tupperware container, but large zip style bags will work very well also. Place in frig. The next day, turn over the loins in the their container. You will see that they have given off a lot of moisture, so you will need to continue to turn them daily to keep the cure evenly applied. The cure penetrates the meat at about 1/4 per day. A 6 pound loin will probably be done in 6 days . I gave the 10 #er 8 days to insure that the cure had penetrated to the center. Extra time in the cure will not hurt the meat. When curing time is done, rinse off the meat very well under cold running water.
> 
> Cut off a small piece of the meat and fry it with no seasoning. If you like the salt level, you are ready for the next step. If it is too saltly, cover loins with cold water and keep refrigerated for and hour or 2. Then pat the loin dry with paper towels. Place on a rack and back into the frig for an hour or two uncovered, until the exterior is dry to the touch. If you want the Canadian Bacon to have a round shape, you will need to truss it at this point. If shape isn't important, it ready for the smoker!
> 
> Try to keep your smoker as close to 225 degrees as possible. I used maple wood chunks but any mild wood like pecan or fruit wood will work. After about 4 hours check the internal temps of the loin sections. If you are going to reheat or cook the Canadian Bacon when you use it, pull it out of the smoker at 140 degrees. If you are going to use it cold, like in sandwiches, you need to get to a 160 degree internal. temp. The higher the internal temp, the dryer the meat will become.
> 
> This is why it is a good idea to split your loin into 2 pieces. I smoked the smaller portion to 160 degrees. That portion will be used for sandwiches. The larger portion was pulled out at a 140 degree internal temp. It will be used for Eggs Benedict, pizzas, breakfast meat, etc. I ran it all through a meat slicer at about 1/4" per slice.
> 
> Curing is NOT something to guess at. Depending on if you use Morton's Tender Quick or Prague powder (6.25% Sodium nitrate) and also called pink salt, follow their directions carefully. Too little cure, or curing time, and your meat will turn out brown in the center. Too much Sodium Nitrate / Nitrite is not healthy. Used in correct proportions, no problems and the meat has a light pink color throughout. The flavor is wonderful.
> 
> It is possible to do wet cures as well. This may be the way to go if you are going to do several loins at one time. Let me know if you have any questions.


Sorry Dick, one more question. My tenderloins have been in the container for 24 hours. As you mentioned they have drawn out a lot of fluid. Do you drain this fluid every time you flip the meat? Put new cure on the submerged portion when you turn them? I drained it.


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## Dick Hanks

That is a very valid question, and is something that I should have addressed in one of the early posts.

The moisture given off by the meat still contains a very high concentration of cure, salt and possible brown sugar if you used some. This is part of the measured amount of cure to match up with the weight of the meat.

Over the curing period, more and more of the cure and salt will move from this liquid into the meat. By the end of the curing period, there should be an equilibrium, and the same concentration, of cure and salt in the liquid, as there is in the meat. That is when the process is actually done. 

This is what actually happens in a wet cure process as well. At the end of the process the meat, and the liquid it was submerged in, will have the same concentration level of cure, salt and possibly brown sugar.


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## mas360

Dick, do you see any difference in the final product using dry cure versus brine cure? which one do you prefer?


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## Dick Hanks

I really don't have much of a favorite between wet and dry. I use a dry rub much more often because of the flexibility of container space in a frig. The advantage of wet cures is that it is kind of a "set it and forget it" type of cure. By this I mean that there is no need to flip over the meat to ensure even absorption of the cure.

However, you will need to remember, that the amount of cure and salt per pound of meat will be different between the two. In a wet cure there will be a lot more cure and salt the will stay in the bulk of the liquid. You will definitely have to consider the amount of liquid in addition to the amount of meat to get the correct cure and salt amount to use.

That is why in Ranch's cure recipe he specifies 1 gallon of water, and not just "water to cover"


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## StinkBait

Dick, thanks again for answering my questions and PM's about this, your knowledge is appreciated sir!


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## StinkBait

First time pork tenderloins came out great Dick. They could have probably soaked in water a bit after rinsing, and the smoke is a little heavy, I used a pecan wood fire, not charcoal and chips. That being said, they do taste pretty dang good for the first time. They are really good with the Ritz and a slice of cheese. Next time I plan to try the large loins you have posted about.


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## Dick Hanks

Oh Yeah! That looks really good! I think that the curing/ smoking hook just got set deep in the corner of your mouth. Well done !


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## StinkBait

Yes sir, I have over 10#'s of backstrap this year. I may try a piece or two of that. And kudos to whoever recommended the pepper, I added coarse ground to mine and it is great


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## Haute Pursuit

Looks good Stanky!


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## StinkBait

Haute Pursuit said:


> Looks good Stanky!


Thanks HP! It was a pretty cool process.


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## StinkBait

You have created a monster Dick, got about 16#'s curing to smoke Saturday the 14th. And my first attempt at trussing wasn't too bad!
















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## Dick Hanks

Way ta go StinkBait! I'm a believer in "If your going to jump in... do it with both feet!"

You have a lot of good eating to look forward too.

Normally, I do my trussing after it comes out of the cure, just before going into the smoker. Doing it earlier in the process may work just as well. However, you may find that the string stretches out during the curing (and the meat loses shape), or the string sticks to the meat after smoking. If either of those happen, do your trussing after the cure next time. Either way, you should have great tasting Canadian Bacon!


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## kweber

Ranch, guessing the last pic is your buckboard bacon?
that would do nicely in my cabbage stew...


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## w_r_ranch

Yep, you are correct.


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## StinkBait

Dick Hanks said:


> Way ta go StinkBait! I'm a believer in "If your going to jump in... do it with both feet!"
> 
> You have a lot of good eating to look forward too.
> 
> Normally, I do my trussing after it comes out of the cure, just before going into the smoker. Doing it earlier in the process may work just as well. However, you may find that the string stretches out during the curing (and the meat loses shape), or the string sticks to the meat after smoking. If either of those happen, do your trussing after the cure next time. Either way, you should have great tasting Canadian Bacon!


Whoops! Ok, well I hope it works out ok. I will post my results. Thanks for the tip!


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## Leftyonly

I got inspired by this thread!!

Here's my first try with a small (3lb) pork loin. It came out great. Maybe a tad saltier than I would have liked, but really great nonetheless. Just used brown sugar, salt, Fiesta Curing Salt to cure. Rubbed with maple syrup and brown sugar before smoking.



















I bought an 11 lb whole loin at HEB last week for $1 per pound. Cut it in half and curing them now. Been in the cure for 8 days now. I'll smoke it up this weekend. I used less salt, more sugar in the cure this time.

-Richard

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## bbquman

Save those end pieces for pinto beans


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## Big Guns 1971

Leftyonly said:


> I got inspired by this thread!!
> 
> Here's my first try with a small (3lb) pork loin. It came out great. Maybe a tad saltier than I would have liked, but really great nonetheless. Just used brown sugar, salt, Fiesta Curing Salt to cure. Rubbed with maple syrup and brown sugar before smoking.
> 
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I bought an 11 lb whole loin at HEB last week for $1 per pound. Cut it in half and curing them now. Been in the cure for 8 days now. I'll smoke it up this weekend. I used less salt, more sugar in the cure this time.
> 
> -Richard
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Be very careful when using less salt than recommended by the instructions. Remember that the salt is the cure to prevent bacteria that could kill you. This is a serious procedure and it's important to get it right. If you don't like the salty finish just soak in fresh cold water after the meat is cured to remove more of the salt. Slice off a piece and cook to see if its too salty or not. If it's still salty dump out the water and add fresh cold water and let sit longer. Repeat this process until it is to your liking. Remember botulism can kill you so do not use less cure than the instructions say per pound. It's also important not to use too much either.


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## Leftyonly

Big Guns 1971 said:


> Be very careful when using less salt than recommended by the instructions. Remember that the salt is the cure to prevent bacteria that could kill you. This is a serious procedure and it's important to get it right. If you don't like the salty finish just soak in fresh cold water after the meat is cured to remove more of the salt. Slice off a piece and cook to see if its too salty or not. If it's still salty dump out the water and add fresh cold water and let sit longer. Repeat this process until it is to your liking. Remember botulism can kill you so do not use less cure than the instructions say per pound. It's also important not to use too much either.


Thanks, I used less Kosher salt. The salt does nothing to cure the meat, it is only there to for flavor.

I used the proper amount of curing salt (AKA, pink salt, prague powder, etc..). It is the 6.25% Sodium Nitrate in the curing salt that cures the meat.

-Richard


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## Dick Hanks

Blake..... This thread got this long because you asked a question about makin Canadian Bacon.

Did you ever make any on your Rec Tec? Pictures or it didn't happen:cheers:


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## StinkBait

Dick Hanks said:


> Blake..... This thread got this long because you asked a question about makin Canadian Bacon.
> 
> Did you ever make any on your Rec Tec? Pictures or it didn't happen:cheers:


Funny you dug up this post Dick, I was just about to post up that I cured 8 tenderloins and smoked them yesterday









Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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