Canadian Bacon

Hey Axel,

I too am looking at doing a canadian bacon in the near future, so with that said I can only offer some ideas. I have made deer bacon, which I just finished a batch tonight.

There is a recipie in "Great Sausage Recipies and Meat Curing" by Rytek Kutazs' book that mirros the Norton's book minus the sugar. With that said and the previous venison bacon I have done I would say that it is only a prefrence of taste to add more salt or sugar or both at this point in time.

The reason a rub is used over the brine is that you want to remove moisture over adding it like with a brine.

The amount is the same in both, add a tablespoon of tender quick vs. Instacure or prague (both are a version of sodium nitrite / nitrate, a curing agent). Or basically, 1T per pound of meat is all you need to know. The rest is the cure time on the thickness of the meat.

I usually cure for at least 1 week (7 days) for a 1.5 inch thick piece of meat. Or until the meat is cured. Tell by the rubber look and feel of the meat.

Hope this helps.

quote:

Originally posted by D33rSm

The reason a rub is used over the brine is that you want to remove moisture over adding it like with a brine.
The amount is the same in both, add a tablespoon of tender quick vs. Instacure or prague (both are a version of sodium nitrite / nitrate, a curing agent). Or basically, 1T per pound of meat is all you need to know. The rest is the cure time on the thickness of the meat.

Thanks. That explained some. Still a bit unclear on one point though. You are saying that no matter the volume of water used in the brine (if I go the brine route) the amount of curing agent stays at 1 tablespoon per pound of meat even though the sugar and salt would rise proportionately per amount of water used?
Seems this would serve to dilute the strength of whatever agent is used.

I have used pork loin and Hi-Mountain's bacon cure and seasoning kit. Turned out great.

I cure mine in a mix of 1 part TQ & 2 parts dark brown sugar for 7 days. I also toss in 1 TBL fresh ground pepper. Turn every other day. Rinse and well. Remove and let air dry some. Place in my 008 with maple (my choice) and set to cook at 180 until internal temp hits 145. Pull and wrap and refrigerate. Slice when cooled. My smokes rarely take longer than 3 hrs.

Note: this recipe has been an evolving process.

bob

quote:

Originally posted by cadillac:
Note: this recipe has been an evolving process.
bob

I cure mine in a mix of 1 part TQ & 2 parts dark brown sugar for 7 days
........................................
To how much water??
No regular salt(kosher for example)?
.............
I've found that anything that turns out good consistantly always involves such a process. The nice thing about these forums is that they save a lot of trial and error for those starting down the same path.
My real problem is that I don't yet have a cookshack smoker. First I gotta get Christmas taken care of. Then next semester's tuition for my last son in college is due. Then, maybe by mid to late January I can squeeze out the cash for an 008 or 009

no water. the curing process will produce its own "syrup" it sits in. keep your fridge cold... I keep mine 34-38. I have listed my only ingrediants.

bob

Sorry Axel, I see where you are confused. Im talking about a dry cure, not a brine. if I have a 10 lb loin, I cut it in half and make 5lbs amount of rub. put it in a bag after rubbing with all th eleftover rub. Then mix next 5 lbs worth of rub, and repeat.

bob

quote:

Still a bit unclear on one point though. You are saying that no matter the volume of water used in the brine (if I go the brine route) the amount of curing agent stays at 1 tablespoon per pound of meat even though the sugar and salt would rise proportionately per amount of water used?

Alex, The info I talked about are for a dry rub only not a brine. If I brine using Tener Quick I use 1/4 C or TC to one gallon of water. Then you can add additional seasoning to the water such as sugar, pepper, etc..

The dry rub like cadillac said causes it's own "syrup" or "brine" that uses it's own juices to brine the meat and cure at the same time.

The reason I use a rub is to draw out the moisture of the meat and cure at the same time. I don't know of a brine for a bacon, (though I'm sure there is some probably available). If you brine you will probably need to cook longer or put it into a dehydrator to dry it out a bit more as the meat will take on the water that you are curing it in and be "mooshy."

I just made this mistake with some salmon and will not do that again. I know what I did wrong, I didn't let it sit long enough outside the brine to dry out enough. It was great flavor but the texture was really, really wrong!

I just did almost 3 pound of deer this weekend with the High Mountain cure and it turned out great! Cure for 14 days, smoked for 4 hours with the first hour drying (at 150), 2 hours (180) actual smoke (hickory and apple) and the last hour cooling in the smoker. Total of 4 hours from start to finish. The internal temp was 140 degrees which is overkill since it only needs to be 125+/- but since it is deer...

Hope this helps explain more.

Chris