All Cured Meat Weekend, W/Qview

[nate_46]

I have watched the posts about cured meats lately and decided I wanted in on the fun. I planned on making Pastrami, Canadian Bacon, and Capacola for the first time. Later I will add to this post, but for now I have run into a couple problems and hope someone could give me a hand. I guess you need to know that I started with a pork loin (3 1/2 inches in diameter and 12 inches long) that I planned on using for the Canadian Bacon and I have a pork loin roast (3 1/2 inches in diameter like a ball) that I will use for the Capacola. I prepped them both on Tuesday with a wet cure consisting of 2 cups Tender Quick and 8 cups water. I also injected them every inch or so all around.

First, after the fry test I found out that there was way too much salt (you were right Ron), so I soaked them all afternoon with water and potatos changing them twice. I did another fry test and they were better, but still too much salt. I planned on soaking them all night with fresh water but I didn't know if I would run into any problems with the meat. How long can you soak them until the meat is not usable?

Second, When I cut into the middle of the roast I found bright pink flesh, but when I cut into the middle of the other loin it was still pale. Is there a problem with that loin? If the pale color due to soaking it so long in water? Should I toss it? Didn't taste or smell bad, just salty

.

I added a couple pictures so you could see for yourself. When I start smoking tomorrow I will post as much as I can.

Pork loin roast nice and pink

Pork loin about the same color as the outside

 

[ronp]

Don't toss I don't know what to say if you did them them the same. The worst thing can happen the other won't be cured all the way, and make sure you watch the temps and may have to fry before before you eat it. I don't think you can soak too long if it is cured. Let me know.

 

[nate_46]

First off I want to give credit where credit is due. There have been some really good posts about Pastrami and Capacola but a couple stood out from the rest. Also I want to thank Ron for his help, I picture him as being the "go to" guy when it comes to cured meats (among other topics). Here are a couple links that everyone should check out.

Fire it up's Pastrami
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80178&page=3

Pignit's Capacola
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76660&highlight=capicola&page=3

Thank you all.

Anyway, I am glad to say that the meat is on. It was tough waking up today because of a very hard week, but I finally drug myself out of bed. I was dieing to know how the pork was doing still soaking in the water and potatos. I went and did another fry test and they seem better. I am very sensitive to salt but the wife said they were edible. I rubbed them, built a fire and put them on.

I don't have any pictures of the prep work because there was no time. Maybe I should of waited for a week that wasn't so busy to try anything new.

Pastrami out of the bag, before being rinsed. Boy it smelled good.

Pastrami after being rinsed. Meat had a very dark color on the outside, but the middle was nice and pink.

Pan fry test with the pastrami.

Pastrami rubbed and waiting.

Capacola and Canadian bacon waiting for the smoker.

Here is a pic of everything on the smoker. I can't wait. There is nothing like the smell of smoking.

Everything has been on for a hour or so, and I can already smell it. About time to check on it so I will post more later.

 

[nate_46]

I almost forgot, how is this for TBS?

 

[benjaminr]

wow
looking great

 

[fire it up]

Looking great so far Nate.
Glad myself and some of the members have been so helpful and inspired you to give some new things a try.
Good luck with everything, hope it turns out great.
Nice pic of the smoke too, great when you have to **** your head to make sure it's actually there.

 

[nate_46]

Okay, been on for little over an hour:

The temps are rising quickly. I assume that it is due to the cured meat and the thickness of the meat. Both pastrami's are around 120-130 but the park is still around 91. The brisket that I made the pastrami's out of was pretty thin once I trimmed it (about 2 inches at the thickest part). The pork is thicker and farther from the hot box so I don't expect them to rise quite as quick.

 

[nate_46]

Couple hours in and still smelling real good. Pastrami near the fire box is 140 and the other one is 132. The pork is 110 and climbing.

 

[beer-b-q]

It's looking really good Nate...

 

[nate_46]

Ran into a problem..... Computer crashed..... I have limited connectivity right now. I pulled out a old computer to keep up with posts, but it is too slow/unable to do pictures. I will work on it, and keep my finished pics until I get up and running again.

Nate

 

[nate_46]

Well I am back up and running for now. Power supply fan quit and when the power supply over heated it would shut down without warning. An auxiliary fan will work until I receive a new PSU.

Anyway here are some final picks and a few thoughts....

Capacola after a night in the refrigerator

Here it is sliced

Canadian Bacon Chilled

Sliced

Pastrami after being steamed and sliced

The pastrami turned out amazing. I will be doing it alot in the future. The Canadian Bacon and Capacola was just too salty. The difference in color in the CB I think was due to the different muscles in the cut. Half of it had the bright pink cured color and the other half didn't. I think it was cured though because it had the same texture and it was way too salty.

I usually like thick slices of meat on my sandwiches but I think the pastrami would have been better thinly sliced and piled high. Here is a pic of one of my three sandwiches....

Dark rye bread with spicy mustard and grilled onions... 2 slices of swiss cheese and toasted....

this is how I felt after eating...

 

[beer-b-q]

Great Qview, Congratulations...

 

[ronp]

Great job there.

Gotta give you points for tackling all that in one smoke.