Finally trying my hand at Canadian Bacon

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slots

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jul 1, 2013
38
10
Frederick, Maryland
After months of reading and mentally preparing myself i finally got my TenderQuick and decided to try my and at Canadian Bacon.  First of, i have to give a huge thanks to SQWIB for the great tutorial he did that made it seem easy to do CB.  So i went out and bought myself a 10lb pork loin and some peppercorns and maple syrup.  As you can see in the pictures, i divided it into 4 (Fairly) equal parts with 2 of them being pepper and garlic and 2 of them being maple..  they have been curing in the fridge for 2 days now and it is just a waiting game. I wil post more pictures when i pull them from the fridge and fry test and smoke and all of that good stuff.. Till then, Happy Smoking.





 
Great start !!!

Can't go wrong, following the SQWIB !!!

Be back later.

popcorn.gif


Bear
 
Well, the time has come and i can finally post an update after 11 days with the dry cure..  I took the loins out and soaked in water for an hour changing the water once half way through..  Once i was done with that i took a piece off of the end and performed a fry test, and yes it was salty, but it is in essence bacon, so i feel like it should be kind of salty (thats how we like it in my house).  Once that was done i was a bit rushed for time so i was not able to keep it in the fridge overnight, so i left it out in the windy 35 degree temps outisde to form a bit of a pellicle and just started it low and slow at 130 degrees.  Here is the process so far in pictures..





This one below is the Maple (notmuch maple flavor, but nice and sweet)


The one below hereis the cracked pepper (Very Peppery, but very good)


 
Once the loins had dried pretty well, and they were dry enough in the 130 degree smnoker with Sugar Maple smoke rolling, i turned it up to 180 degrees and kept the smoke rollig nthe entire time until i hit an internal temp of 145 (Dont have a thermapen yet, so i opted on the side of caution to make sure it was cooked the whole way through).  Once that was donei removed them from the smoker and let them sit for 24 hours before slicing and packaging.  Here are the final results.  '


Above and below are the Maple just out of the smoker




Above and the 2 below are the pepper just out of the smoker..



Below are the final packaged products



In the fact that my wife said it was delicious, i deem this experiment a complete success..  I will officially never not have Canadian Bacon on hand, and i will most certainly NOT EVER buy it again.  This morning my wife made me a sandwich with CB an egg and cheese on toast and it was the best breakfast sandwich i ever had..  I am hooked..  Also, i brought the extra fried up CB in to work and my boss devourved it and gave rave reviews..  All in all i am very pleased.  Than you to everyone that posted recipes and experiences of your own CB ventures on here to help me along the way and a special thank you to SQWIB for the great tutorial that made this possible..

Happy Smoking

Dave
 
Looks good!  Bet you are glad you finally tried it.  I am really hooked on the candian bacon.  It's so simple, cheap, and tastes great.  I have a five gallon Homer bucket sitting in my extra frig with three loins curing away.  Also have my first shot at belly bacon curing as well as my first attempt at curing a pastrami rather than using the corned beef brisket shortcut.
 
Last edited:
Nice Job, Slots!!!

Looks Great !!!

The thing that's nice about CB is it is aways easy to get, even if you don't know a butcher.

Same thing with BBB and Pulled Butt Ham.

Bear
 
Looks great!

We also take ours up to 145 as we like to slice thin and enjoy with cheese without the need to fry it.

For a budget version of this.  A boneless pork sirloin roast is usually cheaper than the whole loin. 

Still lean and excellent meat!

Good luck and good smoking.
 
looks great

im soaking and getting ready to smoke up 60 pounds for all the VULTURES that helped me with my smoker build. i think i will be piecing these guys off till im in a box ...  LOL
will post some pix tomorrow !!
nice job on the BB
 
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