Canadian Bacon Dry Cured (Step by Step)

[Bearcarver]

Awesome, SGT

Thanks Ole Buddy!!
Good to see ya!

Bear

 

[chopsaw]

Bear , your Canadian bacon thread was my first adventure into cured meats , and where I learned proper use of TQ .
Been doing them for about 3 years now . The results are fantastic . Thanks !

 

[Bearcarver]

Bear , your Canadian bacon thread was my first adventure into cured meats , and where I learned proper use of TQ .
Been doing them for about 3 years now . The results are fantastic . Thanks !

That looks Great, Chopsaw!!
I'm glad it's working good for you & you're all enjoying Great Cured & Smoked Meats!!!

Bear

 

[Ranger619]

Along with a 9 pound pork belly, I trimmed up a nice pork loin from Costco and it is curing per the recipe/instructions on this thread. Cut into 3 pieces and each in a gallon ziploc. Rotated/massaged them this morning and they are already starting to firm up a bit. I plan to cure for 10 days and then smoke in my MES 30 with AMNPS. I'm toying with the idea of smoking one of them to about 140F and then putting it in a bag and using my Annova Sous Vide to take it to 145F for a few hours. Thoughts or experiences with the sous vide option?

Scott

 

[Bearcarver]

Along with a 9 pound pork belly, I trimmed up a nice pork loin from Costco and it is curing per the recipe/instructions on this thread. Cut into 3 pieces and each in a gallon ziploc. Rotated/massaged them this morning and they are already starting to firm up a bit. I plan to cure for 10 days and then smoke in my MES 30 with AMNPS. I'm toying with the idea of smoking one of them to about 140F and then putting it in a bag and using my Annova Sous Vide to take it to 145F for a few hours. Thoughts or experiences with the sous vide option?

Scott

Hmmm, I don't see a benefit with changing to SV for the last 5°.
I could see Cold Smoking it or Warm Smoking it to between 100° and 110° IT to get some good smoke flavor. Then SV it, using 145° for a few hours, until the IT hits 145°. After hours of Smoking, I wouldn't SV it for too many hours, or it could suck too much moisture out of it. I would recommend SV it Just long enough to get it to 145° for awhile.

Bear

 

[Ranger619]

Good point. I think I'll experiment with 1 out of the 3...

Scott

 

[kit s]

Canadian Bacon Dry Cured (Step by Step)


About a month ago I ran out of Canadian Bacon, so I waited for the Christmas Week sales.
I got an 11.24 LB Pork Loin @ $1.89 LB.
I also got 5 “Choice” Prime Ribs about 5 to 6 LBS each ($7.99 LB).
Then I had the bones trimmed off of the Prime Ribs, with about an extra inch of meat left on the bones, for some Awesome Meaty Beef Dino Ribs in my future!!!
My whole bill was $253——Not bad for a years worth of Great eating.

NOTE: The following is how I do this particular Smoke. You can do it this way, or many other ways.
I'm posting this in Step by Step form in case anyone would like to follow it.


So back to my Pork Loin Adventure:
First of all, Mrs Bear wanted some Pork Loin for her crock-pot to make Pork & Sauerkraut (New Year's Day).
I wanted to cure the rest, so that worked out perfectly.
I cut two pieces of Loin, that would each fit in my Gallon Size Zip-locks.
The piece that was left was for Mrs Bear's Crock-Pot.

Prepping (Day #1):
Weigh pieces to be cured.
Weigh proper amount of Tender Quick for each piece of Pork Loin—1/2 ounce (One TBS) per pound.
Rub TQ on first, trying to get it distributed evenly all over the piece of meat it was measured for.
Rub on about 2 tsp of Brown Sugar per pound of meat, and put the piece of meat in the bag.
Note: We fold the top of the bag over, like a pants cuff, so no salt or sugar grains get in the zipper parts.
Also: Any cure that falls off before getting into the bag, I pick up & put in the bag, with the piece of meat it was designated to be with. That will ensure that the proper amount of cure will be with each piece of meat during the curing stage.

Calculating curing time:
The method I use for calculating curing time is simple.
Measure the thickest spot of all of the pieces of meat you plan to cure.
Figure how many "half inches" there are in that measurement.
Add 2 to that number. That will be the minimum time that I would cure that piece of meat.
Then I personally like to add 2 or 3 more days to be extra safe (you can't over-cure, but you can under-cure).
Example:
My thickest piece was 2 1/2 inches. There are 5 "Half inches" in 2 1/2".
So that would be 5 Days plus 2 days = 7 days minimum curing time.
Then I always add 2 or 3 days to that, so I planned on curing this stuff for 10 days.
Note: I Never cure for less than 7 days.

Don't forget to flip the curing packages over every day to give both sides an equal turn laying in the juices.
Meanwhile Mrs Bear went into the hospital, and was still there on my 10th day.
Two extra days won't hurt, so I waited until Sunday after she came home, which was actually 12 days in cure.

Day #13:
Rinse the pieces off well, and pat dry with paper towels.
I cut a slice out of the middle of the thickest piece to see if the cure went all the way to center.
Then I did a Fry-Test to make sure it wasn't too salty. It was perfect.
So I patted the pieces dry with a lot of paper towels (Mrs Bear says I should buy a paper towel company!!)
Then I sprinkled some CBP, Garlic Powder, and Onion Powder on each piece, and put the pieces on the Grill rack, without touching each other.
Then into the fridge uncovered over night for the pellicle to begin forming.
If you don't have fridge space, you can put in your smoker for an hour or two at about 130˚, before adding the smoke. This should form a pellicle.
Or you can put the pieces in front of a fan for a couple hours to form that pellicle.

Day #14 (Smoking Day---Using MES 40):
6:30 AM-------------------------Pre-Heat Smoker to 150°.
7:00 AM-------------------------Put loaded grill on second position, with top exhaust vent open fully, without smoke, to finish forming pellicle.
7:30 AM————————-Load my AMNS with Hickory Sawdust & light one end.
7:45 AM————————-Put AMNS on bars to the left of Chip Burning Assembly.
2:00 PM-------------------------Bump heat to 170° (Internal Temps were at about 130° at this time).
4:00 PM————————-Bump to 190°——Sawdust all burned out.
6:00 PM————————-Wanting to get to 145° IT minimum, I hit IT 149° and 151°. Pull pieces & bring in to cool.

Allow to cool to about 100° before wrapping in plastic wrap, and putting in fridge for R & R.
Leave in Fridge for 44 hours.
Put in freezer for 4 hours before slicing makes the slicing work much better.
I got 144 slices (1/8” Thick), plus a little bowl of ends.
I Vacuum packed 16 packs of 9 slices in each for freezing, and gave a Baggie of ends to my Son & kept one for myself.

The next morning I fried up some ends lightly with a couple eggs, and the taste was Fantastic!!


That's all I can think of right now----Enjoy the Views!!

Bear




Victim for today is the large Pork Loin in the very back of this Christmas Week score I made.
In the middle are 5 “Choice” Prime Ribs.
On both ends are the bones I had sliced from the Prime Ribs, with about an extra inch of meat on each for some Meaty Beef Ribs:
View attachment 339844



Two cured hunks of Pork Loin, with the center sliced out for salt fry test & to see the cure went all the way to center:
View attachment 339845



Closer Look——Note the slice on top is pink all the way to center showing complete cure:
View attachment 339846



Salt Fry Test——MMMMMmmmmmm——Oh Yeah!!
View attachment 339847



Seasoned & ready for smoking:
View attachment 339848



Fresh out of Smoker:
View attachment 339849



After 44 hours in fridge and 4 hours in freezer——Ready for slicing:
View attachment 339850



Slicing started (and some tasting):
View attachment 339851



All sliced up into 144 slices (1/8” thick), and a bowl of ends:
View attachment 339853



All bagged up——16 packs of 9 slices each for freezer, and 2 baggies of ends (one for me & one for my Son):
View attachment 339854

Bear question what is CBP you sprinkle on CB
Kit

 

[Bearcarver]

Bear question what is CBP you sprinkle on CB
Kit

Hi Kit,
That would be Cracked Black Pepper (CBP), with the onion Powder & Garlic Powder. Just light coatings, so it doesn't end up falling off.

Bear

 

[kit s]

oH...LOL ...seeing what it is , well duh somebody smack me please.:D

 

[Bearcarver]

oH...LOL ...seeing what it is , well duh somebody smack me please.:D

LOL---No need---That is probably the #1 question I answer the most often.

Bear

 

[Neo]

Outstanding step-by-step Bear, I may just need to go check out the loins tomorrow.

 

[ksprairie]

Day #13:
Rinse the pieces off well, and pat dry with paper towels.
I cut a slice out of the middle of the thickest piece to see if the cure went all the way to center.
Then I did a Fry-Test to make sure it wasn't too salty. It was perfect.

Bearcarver,
I cured a pork loin according to your Canadian Bacon Dry Cured step by step. I put the TQ on the evening of 1/13/19 so today is day 11. I rinsed one portion of it and sliced it in half to check to see if the cure went to the center. The color is pink, and the corner area above the fat seem is a darker bright red. Can you take a look at the picture and let me know if you think this looks ok?
In this picture the pork loin is sitting on top of the beef bottom round that is on day 14 of your Dried Beef step by step recipe. That looks like it matches the color of one of your pictures.
It has been over a year since I have cured and smoked anything, so I could use some back up here for peace of mind.
I am rinsing, drying and applying seasoning tonight and smoking tomorrow. As long as the meats look ok, that is!
Thanks for looking!
KSprairie

 

[Bearcarver]

View attachment 386354

Bearcarver,
I cured a pork loin according to your Canadian Bacon Dry Cured step by step. I put the TQ on the evening of 1/13/19 so today is day 11. I rinsed one portion of it and sliced it in half to check to see if the cure went to the center. The color is pink, and the corner area above the fat seem is a darker bright red. Can you take a look at the picture and let me know if you think this looks ok?
In this picture the pork loin is sitting on top of the beef bottom round that is on day 14 of your Dried Beef step by step recipe. That looks like it matches the color of one of your pictures.
It has been over a year since I have cured and smoked anything, so I could use some back up here for peace of mind.
I am rinsing, drying and applying seasoning tonight and smoking tomorrow. As long as the meats look ok, that is!
Thanks for looking!
KSprairie

I would gladly take a look at the Pic & give you my opinion, but you forgot to add the pic to this post.
However I'm guessing it's the typical color difference that we often see in Pork Loin---->> Two different shades of Pink, separated by a clearly defined line.
Without seeing the Pics, I would say as long as the colors are "Pink & Red", you're OK. If there is some Gray or Brown--Not so good. However I'd like to see the Pictures.

Bear

 

[Bearcarver]

Outstanding step-by-step Bear, I may just need to go check out the loins tomorrow.

Thank You Neo!!
Sorry I'm late, but I just noticed this comment.

Bear

 

[ksprairie]

Bearcarver,
I can see the picture I uploaded, it’s right above my text in the above post. Can you see it now? If not, I don’t know what I did wrong....

 

[ksprairie]

I will try upload the pictures again.....

Pork loins sitting on top of the beef.

Pork loin below

 

[Bearcarver]

I can see them both now:
They look Great---The Beef looks exactly like it should, and like mine always look.
And the Pork Loin shows no uncured area, and the color difference is like I said above----It's separated by a white line between two different densities of meat. It all looks Fine.

Below is a Pic I found long ago to show what you don't want to see:
The pink is cured, and the Brownish Gray in the center is not cured:

 

[maplenut]

I will try upload the pictures again.....

Pork loins sitting on top of the beef.



View attachment 386407


Pork loin below
View attachment 386406

I had the same question when I did my 1st Canadian bacon cure. There is the unknown of what to expect when you cut it in half since we never have done it before(don't want to get ill)

But once I was shown those same pics from Bear Carver now I have no worries.

Good luck with the smoke.

 

[ksprairie]

I had the same question when I did my 1st Canadian bacon cure. There is the unknown of what to expect when you cut it in half since we never have done it before(don't want to get ill)

Maplenut,
Exactly! Those two colors kinda throw you off when you first see them. Thanks!

 

[ksprairie]

They look Great---The Beef looks exactly like it should, and like mine always look.
And the Pork Loin shows no uncured area, and the color difference is like I said above----It's separated by a white line between two different densities of meat. It all looks Fine.

Thanks Bearcarver!! That’s what I was hoping to hear. .
The picture of the uncured meat is so helpful!! I have wondered what it would look like if the cure did not get through to the center. Now I know. . That does not look good.

I smoked everything this morning, started about 6:30am and pulled them off at 6 pm. The pork was right around 150-160 and the beef was 160ish. They are cooling now, but I grabbed one of each and cut off a few slices. Mighty tasty!! Thanks SO much for your step by steps and your advice. It is so valuable.
We are going to be enjoying this meat for awhile- if I can get it sliced, packaged, then stashed out of site in the freezer. My boys have already asked if I will make “chipped beef on toast” tomorrow. It’s a favorite! I just took 2 loaves of bread outa the oven so we are set.
Thanks again!

8# beef bottom round, 9# pork loin