Easy Canadian Bacon

[pmillen]

Rub a boneless pork loin with dry cure, garlic powder, onion powder and brown sugar. 

     •  1 Tbl. Morton Tender Quick (or Basic Dry Cure) per pound—be exact with this measurement

     •  1 tsp. dark brown sugar per pound

     •  1 tsp. garlic powder per pound

     •  1 tsp. onion powder per pound

 

Mix it and rub all of it on the loin.  Make sure to cover all surfaces and work the dry cure into any crevices in the meat.

 

Put it in a plastic bag, remove as much air as possible, seal it and put it in the refrigerator for six days.  Turn it once a day.

 

After curing for six days, you’ll need to rinse the cured loin and soak it in cool water in a deep soup pot for a half hour.

 

Fry a small piece to see if it tastes too salty.  If it does, soak it some more.

 

Refrigerate uncovered overnight, or long enough to allow it to dry and to form pellicle on the surface.  Once the cure is removed, the curing process still continues.  Letting the loin rest overnight gives the cure time to equally distribute throughout the meat.

 

Smoke the cured loin at 225° until the internal temperature reaches 140°-150° F.  I usually use hickory.

 

Cool the loin to room temperature and then wrap it in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate it for two days.

 

My photographs have exceeded the 14.65MB limit.  The final two will be in a subsequent post, posted as a reply.

[pmillen]

     When you unwrap it, it’s Canadian bacon.

 

 

    Fry a few pieces to taste-test your work.

 

Sidebar:   

What lower North America calls Canadian Bacon is cured and smoked pork loin.  The smoking is a type of cooking which makes the distinction from the true Canadian variety.  Lower 48 Canadian bacon is really more of a different kind of ham.

 

Canadians eat Peameal Bacon.  It's cured pork loin that's not smoked.   After curing, it's rolled in corn meal to dry the meat (it used to be pea meal).  The corn meal sort of blends with the loin so it doesn't flake off as easily as you would expect.  It's then cooked for the first time when it’s served.

[Red River Smoke]

Interesting, I want to try this now.

[TKOBBQ]

Nice write up.   I've heard there were differences between versions but didn't realize what it really was.   Thanks for the lesson and clarification.  So when you say it's rolled in the corn meal, is this the whole cured piece?  Or slices?

[pmillen]

It's rolled in the meal before slicing.

[Rick in Ontario]

I have never seen or heard of "Canadian Bacon" here in Canada.

[pmillen]

4 hours ago, Rick in Ontario said:

I have never seen or heard of "Canadian Bacon" here in Canada.

 

I'm not surprised.  It's a misnomer.  

 

Most of us south of the 45th parallel are just being introduced to poutine.