I picked up a 2.9 lb cryovac of pork tenderloin on sale at the local grocer for $3.99/lb and thought "lets try making Canadian bacon," a first attempt for me The thickest part of tenderloins was about 3 inches.
I found a wet cure recipe online that called for A LOT more curing salt than I expected to see in a recipe that only used a gallon of water. The recipe called for 1 1/2 cups kosher salt and 8 teaspoons of curing salt for four pounds of meat. The Prague #1 pink salt I have said 1 teaspoon for 25 lbs of meat. I reduced the kosher salt to 3/4 cup and the curing salt to 5 tsps, leaving the rest of the ingredients alone.
After cooking and cooling the brine I injected it, then submerged it, and put it in the refrigerator for what turned out to be 58 hours. Then I rinsed it and dried it in the refrigerator for 30 hours. Smoked it for 4 hours with apple wood between 206F and 225F in the Weber Kettle with most of the smoke time in the mid teens. Kept it smoking until IT was 160F so it could be eaten without cooking.
It had a GREAT skin and flavor, was moist and tender, pink through and through, but was just on the verge of being too salty. Had a flavor that reminded me of a Virginia Ham. My wife and I have both been enjoying it but decided next time to significantly cut the curing salt and maybe even the kosher salt a little more.
I'm still not used to taking pics of what I cook and grabbed the camera after I started dissecting the tenderloins to see what I had inside. On a scale of 1-10, this was about a 6.5 for success. Makes a fantastic addition to baked beans though and that's how we've been enjoying it.
I found a wet cure recipe online that called for A LOT more curing salt than I expected to see in a recipe that only used a gallon of water. The recipe called for 1 1/2 cups kosher salt and 8 teaspoons of curing salt for four pounds of meat. The Prague #1 pink salt I have said 1 teaspoon for 25 lbs of meat. I reduced the kosher salt to 3/4 cup and the curing salt to 5 tsps, leaving the rest of the ingredients alone.
After cooking and cooling the brine I injected it, then submerged it, and put it in the refrigerator for what turned out to be 58 hours. Then I rinsed it and dried it in the refrigerator for 30 hours. Smoked it for 4 hours with apple wood between 206F and 225F in the Weber Kettle with most of the smoke time in the mid teens. Kept it smoking until IT was 160F so it could be eaten without cooking.
It had a GREAT skin and flavor, was moist and tender, pink through and through, but was just on the verge of being too salty. Had a flavor that reminded me of a Virginia Ham. My wife and I have both been enjoying it but decided next time to significantly cut the curing salt and maybe even the kosher salt a little more.
I'm still not used to taking pics of what I cook and grabbed the camera after I started dissecting the tenderloins to see what I had inside. On a scale of 1-10, this was about a 6.5 for success. Makes a fantastic addition to baked beans though and that's how we've been enjoying it.
