I acquired about 15 pounds of what the grocery store called pork sirloin roast, which is actually the south side of the pork loin (I think). I rubbed it with Golden Brown Sugar Cure, as I had plenty left over after my last bacon cure. I put them in ziptop bags and let them set in the fridge for two weeks, flipping every couple of days. After soaking the cured meat for two hours, I then installed on bacon hangers and let hang in the fridge for 5 days. I then smoked overnight (7 hours) in the FEC 100 at 170 degrees using Mesquite pellets. I returned the smoked meat to the refrigerator and left hang for four more days then sliced it thin. (see pic). The meat was very dry, and the fat on it was noticeably dry. One of the pieces (there were five total) was noticeably more salty then the other four. They are salty, but not as salty as some country ham I've had. Next time I will cut back on the cure a little and soak a little longer. I think also, I will try my sweeter than sweet cure. The Mesquite pellets gave a nice Smokey flavor, which was good. Next time maybe cherry, or apple. I did vacuum seal three slices and put up in the pantry to see if it's shelf-stable. Anyway, we've got some sandwich meat for a while and a couple of pounds of ends and pieces for beans. I love using the bacon hangers as it's real nice to hang in fridge, move to smoker and back to fridge. The drawback is you have holes in your meat. By the way, I sliced it long-ways this time. to have larger slices. Attached is a pic of the ham after vac sealing. Sorry, time got away from me, so I didn't take any photos during the process.
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