First Canadian Bacon

[DDave]

I'm finally trying my hand at Canadian Bacon.

Stopped off at Safeway in search of a pork loin tonight and, naturally, they didn't have the wonderful specimens that they had when I was looking before. So I got this.



It says "Pork Loin Sirloin Roast". Hope it's the right thing,

Anyway, I got it trimmed and it weighed out at 19 ounces.

Now ShooterRick's tutorial said to trim to "Trim very close to whole pound weights" but I was pretty close and had a scale that would weigh in ounces so I figured I'd just go with it.

So, if some of you curing experts can check my math -- here goes.

19 ounces divided by 16 ounces gives me 1.1875 pounds. At a rate of .5 ounces of TQ cure per pound, that comes out to .59375 ounces of cure. (I rounded up to .6 ounces.)

I weighed it out on the trusty old Weight Watchers scale



(the scale was zeroed out with the bowl on it) and it came to slightly more than a tablespoon so it passed the test of reasonableness. I also added a tablespoon of sugar with the cure.

I rubbed the cure all over the loin and put it in a Ziploc bag with as much of the remaining cure as I could wipe off of the dish and put it in the fridge.



It seems like there was quite a bit of cure sticking to my gloves but I rubbed it into the loin pretty well so hopefully it will do the job. The loin was about 2" thick so applying ShooterRick's formula of 1 day cure time per ¼ inch from center of meat out plus a 2 day safety margin puts me at 6 days for the cure. Should be ready to smoke at 4 pm the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Which probably means it won't get smoked until possibly the Friday after.

So I guess I'll just keep my eye on the thermo and turn the loin once a day. Are there any telltale signs that I should watch for to let me know that it is curing properly -- short of an awful stench in the fridge, that is.

I plan on smoking it at around 190ish to an internal temp of 160° so we'll see how it goes.

Dave

[Gunslinger]

I think you would typically use the eye portion, but I guess that roast would work. I would say as long as it is very lean muscle, you'd be good to go.
Lot of first timers this week, can't wait to see the end results.

[Slanted88]

DD...get after it! Fixin ta do some we got in the freezer chicken fried!

[sweet_magnolia]

Good luck, Dave! I have faith in you that it will turn out great! With everyone here helping us, we can't go wrong, right?

[Richtee]

So, if some of you curing experts can check my math -- here goes.

19 ounces divided by 16 ounces gives me 1.1875 pounds. At a rate of .5 ounces of TQ cure per pound, that comes out to .59375 ounces of cure. (I rounded up to .6 ounces.)

You are quite technically correct... but read on

It seems like there was quite a bit of cure sticking to my gloves but I rubbed it into the loin pretty well so hopefully it will do the job.

This is good... I wanted to say 1 level Tbsp- it'll be enough no3 content and a bit less salt.

The loin was about 2" thick so applying ShooterRick's formula of 1 day cure time per ¼ inch from center of meat out plus a 2 day safety margin puts me at 6 days for the cure.

So applying Morton's - 7 days. Those guys are good huh? ;{)

[Fishawn]

Looking good Dave! ...... I think that cut should work just fine. I have rubbed & smoked them before, sliced thin & served with Hot Mustard & Cocktail sauce. I thought they were great & lean to boot. Keep us posted.

To quote Tom Petty " Yeah, the waaaaaaaaiting is the hardest part".... Especially when you can make fresh sausage in about 1 hour...

[Bbqgoddess]

Yep, let the waiting begin... boy I hate the wait! I am curious to see how that roast turns out

[ALX]

Looking good.They are delicious.

[Uncle-Honky]

Lookin good Dave. I'll be keeping an eye on this for sure. Can't wait to see the end results either.

[Zeeker]

Good luck DDave. Keep us posted Bud...

[DDave]

Well, I flipped my loin this morning. Thermo was reading slightly under 33° but nothing in my fridge is frozen. But then the thermo was made in China. Guess I could toss another thermo in there for a second opinion. I have a patio thermo I could put in there but my guess is that damn thing is made in China too.

To quote Tom Petty " Yeah, the waaaaaaaaiting is the hardest part".... Especially when you can make fresh sausage in about 1 hour...

Oh yeah . . . sausage . . . I have been neglecting that.

Maybe I'll pick up a tray of Country Style Ribs tonight and make some sausage patties for breakfast. Haven't ordered any casings yet. I need to get on that, too! All this talk about the kolbasz has got me going. I'm thinking I can mount a dowel in the SnP to hang sausage while smoking it.

Man I LOVE this place. So many great ideas . . .

Dave

[DDave]

Well, I was going to smoke the CB today but, apparently, we are going to get a Christmas tree. So it looks like I'll be smoking it tomorrow.

Today at 4 it will have been curing for 8 days. Temp has been fine in the fridge. The loin looks . . . well it looks like this.



And this . . .



Don't know if it's normal or not since I've never done one.

Gave it the sniff test and it seemed fine so, barring any cautions from you folks, I'll be smoking it tomorrow.

Dave

[Richtee]

Yer fine. Careful with the saw if yer cutting one, and the wallet in either case ;{)

[DDave]

Well, the CB is on the smoker. Fry test went well. Not too salty. When I opened the bag the loin felt a little slimy but it smelled okay. Don't know if that's just the curing process or what? Anyway, I ate the fry test sample and I'm still okay.

Went with pretty simple seasoning -- just a little olive oil, coarse ground black pepper and some brown sugar.



The wind is going NUTS today so I have the SnP barricaded.



Darn wind blew the windbreak over on the smoker at one point.

Temp is holding pretty steady averaging around 190ish. Bouncing around between 180° and 200°. Smoking with hickory today. Keeping it very light as Mrs. DDave does not like much smoke flavor.

I put the insulating blanket on that I made awhile back.



I don't know that it makes much more difference than the windbreak but I figure it can't hurt.

I figure I'll give it a couple of hours then start checking it with the Thermapen. Planning on going to 155° or so. We'll see how it goes.

Dave

[Zeeker]

Keep fighting DDave. Wow, you're working for your supper their Bud...