Canadian Bacon, first try

stripernut · Jul 12, 2013

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stripernut
Jul 12, 2013

I asked my wife to bring home 2 pork loins for this project, but

she got pork tenderloins. No matter, should make some good quality

smaller diameter CB.

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stripernut
Jul 12, 2013

Used Pop's brine recipe.

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stripernut
Jul 12, 2013

Injected the tenderloins with brine.

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stripernut
Jul 12, 2013

Don't know how that got in there - was some great fried crappie

and eggplant though.

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stripernut
Jul 12, 2013

Tenderloins are in the extra fridge brining away.

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stripernut
Jul 12, 2013

Checked on them today (7/12). Looks like a little fat floated to

the surface - should I skim this out? The brine has great clarity,

and the plate has kept the tenderloins submerged. The shiny

rectangle is a surface reflection. When they come out I plan to

rub them down with coarse ground black pepper, cold smoke at

100 for a couple of hours, then hot smoke until internal temp of

the fattest tenderloin is 140F. Any advice is welcome.

Best,

Wes

themule69 · Jul 12, 2013

Wes

That sounds like a great plan.

Thanks for sharing.

Happy smoken.

David

reinhard · Jul 12, 2013

I'm used to doing 5 pound pieces and i know that's what you probably had in mind. Just wondering how long you brined them for being they are smaller pieces? I love Pop's brine and i'm sure yours will turn out fine. Reinhard

woodcutter · Jul 12, 2013

Foamy asked me a few weeks ago how pork tender loin would turn out and it is something I haven't done yet. Did you add any seasoning to the brine? Have fun and I'm looking forward to your results!

stripernut · Jul 12, 2013

Reinhard,
I am brining 2 weeks. I know I could probably cut down on the time with the smaller pieces, but want to be safe. I don't think there's a downside to brining more time than needed - at least I hope not.

WC,
I did not add seasoning, just went with the straight Pop's brine. I do plan to cover heavily with coarse ground black pepper before smoking. Black pepper seems to make most smoke meat taste better.

Thanks for the replies.
Best,
Wes

reinhard · Jul 12, 2013

Two weeks seems a little long but maby someone will have better advice than me. A five pound piece for me went 12 days and was just fine. Personaly i would think 5 to 7 would be more than enough being they are tenders. i'll be looking for the final results. Reinhard

stripernut · Jul 12, 2013

Reinhard said:
Two weeks seems a little long but maby someone will have better advice than me. A five pound piece for me went 12 days and was just fine. Personaly i would think 5 to 7 would be more than enough being they are tenders. i'll be looking for the final results. Reinhard

I bet you're right. Maybe I'll smoke those pups Sunday - that will be 7 days.

Wes

themule69 · Jul 12, 2013

OK take the thickness of the meat. I'm going to say 3" thick as an example. This is an example only. I do not know hoe thick yours is. so 3" divided by 2 = 1 1/2" so now you will cure for 1 day for every quarter of a inch. so that will be 6 days. Now you add 2 days for safety to the end of any size so now your at 8 days. You can go much longer if you want. It will be the same a week or 3 later. The reason you divided by 2 is the cure is coming from both sides to meet in the middle.

Happy smoken.

David

Bearcarver · Jul 12, 2013

themule69 said:
OK take the thickness of the meat. I'm going to say 3" thick as an example. This is an example only. I do not know hoe thick yours is. so 3" divided by 2 = 1 1/2" so now you will cure for 1 day for every quarter of a inch. so that will be 6 days. Now you add 2 days for safety to the end of any size so now your at 8 days. You can go much longer if you want. It will be the same a week or 3 later. The reason you divided by 2 is the cure is coming from both sides to meet in the middle.

Happy smoken.

David

Exactly what Mule said!!!

However some of us have made a slight change----Instead of dividing it in two & making it 1 day for every quarter inch to center, just measure it at the thickest point, and make it one day for every 1/2" of the total thickness. It comes out the same, but with one less move. But don't forget to add those 2 days for safety.

The 3" thick piece would be 6 days + 2 days =- 8 days for absolute minimum. I like to add another 2 or 3 days to that, so I would cure it for 10 or 11 days, depending on which day is most convenient for me to smoke it.

Note: These calculations are what I use for dry curing.

Bear

stripernut · Jul 12, 2013

themule69 said:
OK take the thickness of the meat. I'm going to say 3" thick as an example. This is an example only. I do not know hoe thick yours is. so 3" divided by 2 = 1 1/2" so now you will cure for 1 day for every quarter of a inch. so that will be 6 days. Now you add 2 days for safety to the end of any size so now your at 8 days. You can go much longer if you want. It will be the same a week or 3 later. The reason you divided by 2 is the cure is coming from both sides to meet in the middle.

Happy smoken.

David

Thanks David! That's the info I needed.

Best,

Wes

stripernut · Jul 12, 2013

Thank you too Bear!

Best,

Wes

Bearcarver · Jul 12, 2013

Wes,

Make sure you do a salt-fry test, because those are awful small pieces to be injecting. I never inject unless the meat is at least 3" thick.

That is to make it cure from the inside out, and the outside in. Not needed in small pieces.

If you test it, and it's too salty, you can soak it until it's not too salty any more. Once you smoke it, it's too late to do anything about it.

Bear

diggingdogfarm · Jul 12, 2013

If you pumped then good, 3-4 days curing time should be enough, tenderloin cures fast.
I brine pumped loin for as little as 4-5 days and it always turns out great.
Because they'll dry out very easily, I'd smoke at as low a temp as you can and if you insist on cooking them twice, very gently steam them at ~160 degrees to bring them up to temp.
Personally, I'd cold smoke and cook only once.

~Martin

stripernut · Jul 12, 2013

Martin and Bear,

Thanks Y'all. I appreciate all the good advice.

Best,

Wes

stripernut · Jul 13, 2013

David, Martin, and Bear,

Question: Can a piece of meat be over-brined? Seems to me that once an equilibrium is established, i.e., the salt/sugar ions have fully diffused into the meat, that the sugar/salt concentration in the meat will not increase beyond what the meat will hold at equilibrium level. So, I guess what I'm asking is if once a piece of meat has reached a salt/sugar equilibrium with the salt/sugar solution, is there any harm in leaving it longer? I realize that one doesn't want to risk spoilage by leaving the meat in for months, but just curious if there's anything negative about leaving the meat in the solution beyond the timetables you suggest above. Just curious.

Best,

Wes

diggingdogfarm · Jul 13, 2013

You certainly can over-brine it, meaning over-salt and over-cure.
If you know exactly how much the meat weighed, how much salt, sugar and cure weighed and how much water was used you can get a good idea if equilibrium will be in an acceptable range.
If equilibrium is in an acceptable range, there's nothing wrong with leaving the meat in the brine for some time.

~Martin

Bearcarver · Jul 13, 2013

DiggingDogFarm said:
You certainly can over-brine it, meaning over-salt and over-cure.
If you know exactly how much the meat weighed, how much salt, sugar and cure weighed and how much water was used you can get a good idea if equilibrium will be in an acceptable range.
If equilibrium is in an acceptable range, there's nothing wrong with leaving the meat in the brine for some time.

~Martin

What Martin said !!

A salt-fry test would tell you if it's too salty-----Just in case.

Bear

stripernut · Jul 13, 2013

Thanks Martin and Bear.

Best,

Wes

foamheart · Jul 21, 2013

~BUMP~

Sooooooo..... is it soup yet?

stripernut · Jul 22, 2013

Thanks for the reminder Foamheart.

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stripernut
Jul 22, 2013

This is how they look after 24 hours of soaking in cold, fresh

water.

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stripernut
Jul 22, 2013

Did a fry test. Everyone that had some for breakfast raved

about the flavor - Pop's brine is great!

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stripernut
Jul 22, 2013

Applied coarse-ground pepper liberally, and put them in the

extra fridge overnight to form the pellicle.

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stripernut
Jul 22, 2013

Put them on the Smokin' Tex, and inserted the temp probe

into the fattest one.

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stripernut
Jul 22, 2013

The meat was cold starting out, and the ambient temp was 81.

I took them up to 160 and held them there for one hour. The

smoke came from a small chunk of apple wood.

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stripernut
Jul 22, 2013

Two hunks disappeared quickly, and the others won't last

long. This was a great success, and I don't think we'll be

buying ham/CB from the store anymore.

Canadian Bacon, first try

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