how do I make canadian bacon?

bossdogg · Mar 15, 2010

I have the general concept that Canadian bacon is the lion that is then smoked and sliced in 1/8" slices. I picked a loin up and I want to turn it into Canadian bacon. it is only half a loin so it should fit nicely on my ECB. My question is this. I do not want to put my normal rub on it just for the simple fact I want it to turn out like bacon. not smoked pork. Here are my thoughts. Inject with apple juice and then smoke at around 250 deg till it hits a internal of 170 ish. every hour though I was going to either baste it or spray it with maple syrup. but I do not know if the syrup will burn or not. or even if the maple syrup will go good with it. I then plan on slicing it after letting it rest for a bit and then slicing it and freezing it in individual packs for later consumption. I plan on using hickory for my wood.

thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

badfrog · Mar 15, 2010

Canadian Bacon is a two step process...
1. the Cure
2. the Smoke

The cure gives it the traditional pink color and lots of flavor and moisture.
The cure (brine);
1 gallon of water
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 oz pink salt (8 tsp)
1 large bunch thyme
2 garlic cloves

combine the brine in a large ss pot to dissolve salt and sugar; cool to room temp then refrigerate. You can speed up the cool process by leaving our 3 or 4 ice trays worth of water, and then once at room temp, add the 4 trys of ice to cool quicker.

once cold, place the loin in the brine and weight it to keep it submerged. leave it in the brine for 48 hrs.

after the brine, remove, discard the brine, rinse the loin and dry it. set it on a rack in the fridge (with a drip pan underneath it!) for 24 hrs.

hot smoke (375-300 degrees) to an internal temp of 150 ( about 2 1/2 hours).

cool slice and refrigerate any leftovers!

This recipe is based on the Canadian bacon recipe in the book "Charcuterie". I have used this recipe many times...it makes a real tasty bacon!!!

rbranstner · Mar 15, 2010

You can also do a dry rub cure on it as well. A lot of people buy the HighMountain Buck Board Bacon kit if you can find it around your area.

rbranstner · Mar 15, 2010

Take a look around in here and you should find all kinds of information and different ways you can make the bacon.

http://smokingmeatforums.com/forums/...play.php?f=134

bossdogg · Mar 15, 2010

thanks fellas. here is the problem though. I put myself on a low calorie low carb diet. but I love bacon. I mean come on who doesn't. I was looking for more of a unprocessed taste. less salt and mostly just smoky slightly sweet slices of ham to stick in my breakfast. is this unrealistic? or impossible?

pineywoods · Mar 15, 2010

To make bacon you have to cure it otherwise its just pork. You can use either Tender Quick or Instacure #1, or Hi Mountain Buckboard Bacon Cure with good results

bossdogg · Mar 15, 2010

thats what I figured.

pineywoods are you by chance the same pineywoods that was/is on brewboard?

pineywoods · Mar 16, 2010

No I'm not good gosh I have enough hobbies

shooterrick · Mar 16, 2010

?As Piney said bacon must be cured. I personally use Tender Quick. If you are concerned about the salt soak in cold water with a few quartered taters raw. Slice a thin piece and fry. If still too salty soak again. The taters will help pull the salt out. Once yo are satisfied with salt content smoke to 145 and slice and package. If you do not want to cook it when done smoke to 160.

ddave · Mar 16, 2010

I (and my family) are BIG FANS of ShooterRick's Canadian Bacon method.

He has an excellent tutorial that I have seen but I don't know if it's on this forum or not.

Dave

thunderdome · Mar 16, 2010

Can you help me out with a link to that one?

pineywoods · Mar 16, 2010

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=74611

gnubee · Mar 16, 2010

For true Canadian bacon , cross the Northern border of the lower 48 on or about the 49th parallel.

codymcgee · Mar 16, 2010

you said to "Hot Smoke" 350-375. what about someone such as I with an electric ECB it has no temp adjustment and stays at about 250. would i still be able to do the CB?

pineywoods · Mar 16, 2010

No reason you can't do CB. I actually try to run my smoker as cool as I can for a couple hours to get more smoke flavor then turn it up to about 200-225 to get the CB up to temp I add smoke the entire time its smoking

Bearcarver · Mar 16, 2010

Like Piney said.

Also below is a link to the first Canadian Bacon I ever made, and exactly how I did it.
IT WAS GREAT !

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...t=83018&page=3

ak1 · Mar 16, 2010

Use maple to smoke. We don't have hickory.

bossdogg · Mar 16, 2010

thanks fellas. I do not have any maple wood here. and I do not have any cut up. I do want to check with the local hardwood store.

bossdogg · Mar 18, 2010

well I got a 9 lb loin tonight at the store. I followed bearcarvers recipe and assumed that he did a tbs of TQ and brown sugar to a lb of meat since the TQ package said a tbs was needed per pound. so I used 9 tbs of tq and 9 tbs of brown sugar. I plan on smoking next friday or maybe next thursday. will hickory work well with smoking these loins? I plan on smoking at low temp like suggested and working up to 225 ish and smoke till internal temp of 160 is hit. does anyone see any flaws?

Bearcarver · Mar 19, 2010

Sounds like a great plan. I now use 1/2 ounce of TQ per pound, which is just a little more accurate than 1 tablespoon per pound, because of the level/heaping or anything in between problem. I also find it easier to figure when I need to find how much TQ to use for a piece that might weigh "3 lbs 11 ounces". You will be fine, and your CB will be great. Hickory will do fine, but don't let it smoke too heavy for too long.
I'm going on a pork loin hunt today, because I want to do the same thing, only this time I'm going to cut most of it at 5/8" thick for
Boneless Smoked Pork Chops", because I still have a lot of CB left from the last smoke, and we love smoked pork chops sooooo much! Try a couple of those----You'll love them!

Bearcarver

BTW: I got that recipe from a consensus of a whole bunch of guys on this forum.

how do I make canadian bacon?

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