Whole pork loins were on sale for a great price. My brother had bought me a slicer for Christmas so I thought the least I could do was make him some back bacon (Canadian bacon to my American friends). He likes the regular, pepper and chipotle bacon I have made before.
However, my friend picked up a loin too and asked me to make bacon for him. He wanted regular and pepper but threw a curve at me. He wanted Piri Piri Bacon. What the heck, I'm adventurous.
I cut each loin into 3 pieces and worked with one piece at a time.
I weighed a piece.
Then I mixed up my standard cure mix, for each 1 kg of pork:
3 grams Prague powder #1 (4 ml)
40 ml brown sugar
15 ml kosher salt
For the American readers use the following for each 1 pound of pork:
0.045 oz (1/5 teaspoon) Prague powder #1
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
I put the pork on a plate so any loose cure mix would fall on the plate and rubbed the mix into the pork.
I put the pork in a ziploc bag and scraped any cure mix on the plate into the bag.
I repeated this for all six pieces.
I sealed the bags and put them in the fridge for 10 days, turning every other day.
I took the pork out of the bags and rinsed them. I let them soak in cold water for 40 minutes, changing the water once.
I put the bacon on a rack and dried it with paper towels. I put the rack in the fridge, uncovered overnight.
I left two of the chunks unrubbed for the regular bacon.
I rubbed two with 15 ml (3 teaspoons) of coarse ground pepper each.
I rubbed one with 3 ml (1/2 teaspoon) ground chipotle pepper
I made a Piri Piri spice mixture:
1 ml (1/4 tsp) paprika
2/3 ml (1/8 tsp) oregano
2/3 ml (1/8 tsp) ginger
2/3 ml (1/8 tsp) cardamom
2/3 ml (1/8 tsp) garlic powder
2/3 ml (1/8 tsp) onion powder
1/2 ml (1/8 tsp) salt
1/2 ml (1/8 tsp) cayenne
I rubbed that over the last chunk.
I let them sit on the rack on the counter for an hour.
I prefer my bacon double smoked but after talking to She Who Must Be Obeyed, I realized single smoking was better.
I put the pork in the pellet smoker at 180 F with hickory pellets and smoked to an internal temperature of 140 F.
I let the chunks rest in the refrigerator for 2 days.
Here is the regular bacon.
The Piri Piri.
The Pepper.
The Chipotle
The new slicer worked well but you do have to go slow to get a decent slice.
I portioned it to 1/2 pound packages and sealed them with my foodsaver for freezing.
Of course, I had to fry some up for tasting.
I also did a video of the basic back bacon cook.
The Verdict
The regular bacon is my go to blend for a nice salt/sweet balance.
The pepper just gives a nice pepper kiss but lets the bacon taste rule.
The chipotle adds a mild heat without burning that I enjoy.
The Piri Piri was the big surprise. It was really great. Just a touch of heat and the complexity of the blend really gives a great flavour. It will be a regular in my bacon rotation!
Disco
However, my friend picked up a loin too and asked me to make bacon for him. He wanted regular and pepper but threw a curve at me. He wanted Piri Piri Bacon. What the heck, I'm adventurous.
I cut each loin into 3 pieces and worked with one piece at a time.
I weighed a piece.
Then I mixed up my standard cure mix, for each 1 kg of pork:
3 grams Prague powder #1 (4 ml)
40 ml brown sugar
15 ml kosher salt
For the American readers use the following for each 1 pound of pork:
0.045 oz (1/5 teaspoon) Prague powder #1
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
I put the pork on a plate so any loose cure mix would fall on the plate and rubbed the mix into the pork.
I put the pork in a ziploc bag and scraped any cure mix on the plate into the bag.
I repeated this for all six pieces.
I sealed the bags and put them in the fridge for 10 days, turning every other day.
I took the pork out of the bags and rinsed them. I let them soak in cold water for 40 minutes, changing the water once.
I put the bacon on a rack and dried it with paper towels. I put the rack in the fridge, uncovered overnight.
I left two of the chunks unrubbed for the regular bacon.
I rubbed two with 15 ml (3 teaspoons) of coarse ground pepper each.
I rubbed one with 3 ml (1/2 teaspoon) ground chipotle pepper
I made a Piri Piri spice mixture:
1 ml (1/4 tsp) paprika
2/3 ml (1/8 tsp) oregano
2/3 ml (1/8 tsp) ginger
2/3 ml (1/8 tsp) cardamom
2/3 ml (1/8 tsp) garlic powder
2/3 ml (1/8 tsp) onion powder
1/2 ml (1/8 tsp) salt
1/2 ml (1/8 tsp) cayenne
I rubbed that over the last chunk.
I let them sit on the rack on the counter for an hour.
I prefer my bacon double smoked but after talking to She Who Must Be Obeyed, I realized single smoking was better.
I put the pork in the pellet smoker at 180 F with hickory pellets and smoked to an internal temperature of 140 F.
I let the chunks rest in the refrigerator for 2 days.
Here is the regular bacon.
The Piri Piri.
The Pepper.
The Chipotle
The new slicer worked well but you do have to go slow to get a decent slice.
I portioned it to 1/2 pound packages and sealed them with my foodsaver for freezing.
Of course, I had to fry some up for tasting.
I also did a video of the basic back bacon cook.
The Verdict
The regular bacon is my go to blend for a nice salt/sweet balance.
The pepper just gives a nice pepper kiss but lets the bacon taste rule.
The chipotle adds a mild heat without burning that I enjoy.
The Piri Piri was the big surprise. It was really great. Just a touch of heat and the complexity of the blend really gives a great flavour. It will be a regular in my bacon rotation!
Disco
