Back Bacon Ideas

[mr_whipple]

One way or the other I'm going to toss a piece of pork loin in a dry cure to make some Canadian / back bacon. I'm on a forced day off as the shipyard and Naval base are essential personnel only today. Oh darn. Anyway, what I'm looking for is a different flavor profile. I usually wet cure pork loins, and I can't remember if I've done a dry cure on one. Either way, it's normally salt, cure, black pepper and some maple syrup in the wet cure. I've been cruising this forum and the web and haven't seen anything that caught my eye other than a cumin paprika and sage combo. Just looking to do something different so if anyone has any ideas or success stories for different varieties of flavor for loin bacon I'm all ears. Thanks in advance!

 

[tbern]

sorry, no ideas for you, but will be following along to see what new ones members have here. enjoy your day off!

 

[thirdeye]

I almost always go with some cracked pepper, but on occasion I'll add some garlic powder. I use various mustards to change up the flavor as I'm eating on the hunk.

Something I have been doing with pork butt is making Porkstrami. I have not tried this style of cure on a loin, but if I did I would use the rib end (like the photo above) because it's a hair fattier than a center cut or the sirloin end.

 

[indaswamp]

Pork Loin for Canadian bacon is the one thing I like to wet brine to help with the natural dryness of the meat. I like to put Cajun Ham Rub on them...
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/cajun-spice-ham-rub-recipe.286238/

 

[indaswamp]

Porkstrami....that sounds delicious!

 

[mr_whipple]

I almost always go with some cracked pepper, but on occasion I'll add some garlic powder. I use various mustards to change up the flavor as I'm eating on the hunk.
View attachment 645015
Something I have been doing with pork butt is making Porkstrami. I have not tried this style of cure on a loin, but if I did I would use the rib end (like the photo above) because it's a hair fattier than a center cut or the sirloin end.

Pork Loin for Canadian bacon is the one thing I like to wet brine to help with the natural dryness of the meat. I like to put Cajun Ham Rub on them...
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/cajun-spice-ham-rub-recipe.286238/

Yes, the porkstrami looks killer and I'll try getting to that. Cajun ham rub also sounds like a great idea, but for now I had to make the call earlier so I could have this done and bagged for the ride in the fridge. Had all kinds of ideas running around in my head including some five spice mix... but I came across a recipe over at the meatwave for spice cured bacon that was a mix of paprika, juniper berries, peppercorns and whole coriander that caught my eye. So... I had some coriander that should have been tossed a while back and I wasn't going out on this crappy rainy day looking for juniper berries. I ended up doing this to a 1877 gram pork loin, will post a pic or two later.... busy busy!

1.75% kosher salt
1% dark brown sugar
.25% Prague powder
1.5 TB Peppercorn melange and two bay leaves ground in the mortar/pestle
1 tsp each of garlic and onion powder.

Rubbed it up and vac sealed. I'll let it ride til the following Friday or Saturday which will be 11-12 days.

 

[Wet Spaniel]

For a traditional British back bacon the dry cure usually comprises of salt, sugar and cure#1 only. I make mine with 2% salt and 1% sugar and the cure at it’s prescribed rate. Dry rubbed on a loin and then give it 1 day per 1/2 inch of maximum meat thickness plus 2 days for good luck. After curing, it’s can be either left unsmoked or if it is smoked, it’s cold smoked at a very low temperature so effectively the meat is still uncooked. It’s a very simple method/recipe but it does make very tasty bacon.

 

[mr_whipple]

For a traditional British back bacon the dry cure usually comprises of salt, sugar and cure#1 only. I make mine with 2% salt and 1% sugar and the cure at it’s prescribed rate. Dry rubbed on a loin and then give it 1 day per 1/2 inch of maximum meat thickness plus 2 days for good luck. After curing, it’s can be either left unsmoked or if it is smoked, it’s cold smoked at a very low temperature so effectively the meat is still uncooked. It’s a very simple method/recipe but it does make very tasty bacon.

That's interesting. So it's cured then optionally left unsmoked. Maybe next time I'll do a small section of loin that way just to try.

 

[SmokinEdge]

I like going the Italian flavor route with pork from time to time. Basic cure rub of salt sugar and #1 with ground fennel, rosemary and thyme and white pepper With granulated garlic.

 

[Wet Spaniel]

That's interesting. So it's cured then optionally left unsmoked. Maybe next time I'll do a small section of loin that way just to try.

That’s correct, or if it is smoked, it’s cold smoked at very low temps so the meat doesn’t get cooked at all. This is pretty much the standard for all commercially produced bacon in the U.K.

 

[ScottW]

I often add a few whole star anise and some allspice berries in the wet brine to add a bit of a festive profile to the bacon.

 

[mr_whipple]

I've been trying to get around to updating this, but the combo of lazy and busy is my problem. This actually turned out very well, and I'm going to do this again but I need to get my game on point with the netting. The mortar/pestle of the Tone's peppercorn melange was very flavor forward. I didn't think it would be that much out front, but I love the taste of fresh cracked pepper and this had no shortage. The bay leaf is there and lends a hand but this is labeled on the vac bags as peppercorn back bacon.

Here we are out of the vac seal dry cure. The peppercorns don't look to be that heavy, but the taste was there.

So.... I used a cheap place mat to put it in the netting, and either I was drunk or just trying too hard. Last time I put a loin in the netting I had a nice round consistent size from end to end.

Into the pellet pooper on low smoke with Knotty Wood Plum Pellets for a few hours to get some color. I think this was about 2 hours in. Hit Hi smoke til it was 145 at the fat spot. The thin end hit 150 but was still very moist after slicing and tasting so it's a win.

Done.

A couple of cut shots.

Here's a shot of the smaller end while slicing and sealing. I did it up in 6 oz batches for convenience.

Thanks for looking, and Happy Friday. It's now cocktail hour and time to feed and walk the hounds,

 

[Brokenhandle]

Is it bloody mary time? That looks like a mighty tasty hunk of meat!

Ryan

 

[JLeonard]

Looks good to me!
Jim

 

[gmc2003]

Now this is something I'm really gonna have to try. That looks fabulous.

Point for sure
Chris

 

[tbern]

Looks delicious!!! Thanks for sharing it!

 

[thirdeye]

Fantastic The small end is the rib end (the forward end) and the other end is the sirloin end. The rib end is my favorite.

So.... I used a cheap place mat to put it in the netting, and either I was drunk or just trying too hard. Last time I put a loin in the netting I had a nice round consistent size from end to end.

Only the center cut is somewhat consistent. The ends are what they are. I pepper my bacon or loin bacon before the cure, then rinse, dry, net them, and lastly, refresh the pepper after netting, and before smoking. Remove the net with scissors.

Here is a netting tip. I use a stainless canister to hold the stretched net in position. It takes about a minute to stretch the net in place.... then about 30 seconds to push the roast in.

 

[tbern]

Good tip!

 

[tbern]

Where do you guys get your netting from?

 

[thirdeye]

Where do you guys get your netting from?

The Sausage Maker will sell direct, but they have an Amazon store that is (was) cheaper the last time I bought some. Size 28 works on a pork loin, or on a stuffed pork loin, and a chicken if you work at it.