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Pork Loin Ham - Copious Pics

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DMW
DMW Posts: 13,832
in EggHead Forum
So school starts for the kiddos tomorrow, first year all 3 will be in school, so it was time to do up some lunch meat.
I had a 11.4# pork loin in the freezer, but I wanted to do something different than Canadian bacon, and the kids love ham. 
So I decided to try the recipe in Charcuterie for American-Style Brown-Sugar-Glazed Holiday Ham, but with loin instead of fresh ham. I used all the times/temps from the Canadian bacon recipe however.

I broke down the loin into 3 equal parts and put it in The Briner (http://www.thebriner.com/) and then poured in the curing brine.


2 days later I rinsed it with cold water, patted it dry with paper towels and put on a rack and in the fridge for another day.


You can see one section is thicker than the others, remember that, it will be important, and is one of several reasons I broke it down first.

Today after it had set in the fridge and developed a nice pellicle I put it on the XL raised high in the dome at around 235* with cherry wood chunks for smoke.


After almost two hours the thinner section had reached around 135* and were ready for some glaze, the thick section was still 117*. I left the garlic out of the glaze recipe because the kiddos are more about sweet and less about savory in their sandwiches. So really, it was just Dijon mustard and brown sugar.



Glazed and put them back on until they hit 150*. The thick section was at 132* or so, so I glazed that one as well. After remove the thinner sections I gave them another coat of glaze and let them rest.


Once they cooled a bit, I gave them a porky pine treatment with wooden toothpicks, covered with plastic wrap and in the freezer to chill.



And remember the thicker section? It just finished up. 
Here it is right off the egg.


Second layer of glaze applied


Sliced, from the looks of it, I could have gone a bit longer on the cure. The thinner sections might be more fully cured.


Plated with some steamed veggies and fresh tomatoes


The remainder of the thick piece has joined the others in the freezer. After awhile I'll run it through the slicer, then vac seal and freeze it. The flavor is really good.

They/Them
Morgantown, PA

XL BGE - S BGE - KJ Jr - HB Legacy - BS Pizza Oven - 30" Firepit - King Kooker Fryer -  PR72T - WSJ - BS 17" Griddle - XXL BGE  - BS SS36" Griddle - 2 Burner Gasser - Pellet Smoker
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Comments

  • SGH
    SGH Posts: 28,791
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    Looks like a winner to me brother D. Great job man :clap: 

    Location- Just "this side" of Biloxi, Ms.

    Status- Standing by.

    The greatest barrier against all wisdom, the stronghold against knowledge itself, is the single thought, in ones mind, that they already have it all figured out. 

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  • TTC
    TTC Posts: 1,035
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    Fantastic as always sir. Some day years from now your kids will realize how good they have it.

    I did that recipe a few years ago for Christmas and it was a huge hit, and a fun process.

    XL BGE, Blackstone, Roccbox, Weber Gasser, Brown Water, Cigars --  Gallatin, TN

    2001 Mastercraft Maristar 230 VRS

    Ikon pass 

    Colorado in the winter and the Lake in the Summer
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  • Legume
    Legume Posts: 14,627
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    That looks and sounds awesome.  Great project for sure.
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  • LetsEat
    LetsEat Posts: 458
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    Your children will be the envy of the lunch-room. Nicely done. 
    IL 
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  • jaydub58
    jaydub58 Posts: 2,167
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    @DWM, a quick question; are you freezing those individual packages?
    John in the Willamette Valley of Oregon
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  • DMW
    DMW Posts: 13,832
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    jaydub58 said:
    @DWM, a quick question; are you freezing those individual packages?
    @jaydub58 - Yep, those are in the freezer now. Each Sunday night we will pull a pack out and use it to make sandwiches for the week. I need to do some roast beef and turkey so they don't get tired of having ham all the time.
    They/Them
    Morgantown, PA

    XL BGE - S BGE - KJ Jr - HB Legacy - BS Pizza Oven - 30" Firepit - King Kooker Fryer -  PR72T - WSJ - BS 17" Griddle - XXL BGE  - BS SS36" Griddle - 2 Burner Gasser - Pellet Smoker
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  • Eggpharmer
    Eggpharmer Posts: 483
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    Damit...now I want a meat slicer...
    Austin, TX
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  • stemc33
    stemc33 Posts: 3,567
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    Very cool. Much better than Michelle Obama's lunch program. Way to go. :plus_one: 
    Steven
    Mini Max with Woo stone combo, LBGE, iGrill 2, Plate Setter, 
    two cotton pot holders to handle PS
    Banner, Wyoming
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  • tarheelmatt
    tarheelmatt Posts: 9,867
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    Dang D!  Kids should be going to school pimping you out!  
    ------------------------------
    Thomasville, NC
    My YouTube Channel - The Hungry Hussey
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  • Roadpuke0
    Roadpuke0 Posts: 529
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    Nice job. Nothing like producing your own product. 
    Plumbers local 130 chicago.     Why do today what you can do tomorrow

    weapons: XL, Minie, old gasser, weber, v10 Bradley smoker and sometimes talent!

    Bristol, Wisconsin 
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  • paqman
    paqman Posts: 4,670
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    Nice!

    ____________________
    Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage. •Niccolo Machiavelli
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  • stemc33
    stemc33 Posts: 3,567
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    You know Michelle Obama's real goal of her lunch program was to stop lunch money bullying. Your kids might have a fight on their hands. 


    Steven
    Mini Max with Woo stone combo, LBGE, iGrill 2, Plate Setter, 
    two cotton pot holders to handle PS
    Banner, Wyoming
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  • mahenryak
    mahenryak Posts: 1,324
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    Lucky kiddos.  That looks delicious.
    LG BGE, KJ Jr, Smokin Bros. Premier 36 and Pizza Party Bollore



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  • NPHuskerFL
    NPHuskerFL Posts: 17,629
    edited August 2015
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    That'll make for some serious Sammies! :plus_one: On the curing brine<> going longer OR a vac save that pulls the liquid into the meat. But, I'm on the go just a bit longer camp like yourself. Either way the end product looks stellar. And more so your kiddos will love it. Mad jelly in the lunch room :smiley: 
    LBGE 2013 & MM 2014
    Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FAN
    Flying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
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  • coooltroy
    coooltroy Posts: 207
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    WOW @DMW all I can say is 
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  • YukonRon
    YukonRon Posts: 16,989
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    Brilliant process, thank you for sharing!
    "Knowledge is Good" - Emil Faber

    XL and MM
    Louisville, Kentucky
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  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 18,731
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    1. I'm jealous of your freezer space (didn't you just pull a SRF brisky outta there??)

    2. I'm jealous that your kids sammies will be better than what I'll eat for lunch this week (IMO at least)

    3. I'm jealous of your neighbors

    4. I'm still jealous of your XL


    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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  • bgebrent
    bgebrent Posts: 19,636
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    Speechless.  +1^^^^^^, except the XL ;)
    Sandy Springs & Dawsonville Ga
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  • Scottborasjr
    Scottborasjr Posts: 3,494
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    Looks fantastic as always man. My kid won't eat meat sandwiches at school, just peanut butter. Maybe if I give this a try he will turn the corner.  Nicely Done!!!
    I raise my kids, cook and golf.  When work gets in the way I'm pissed, I'm pissed off 48 weeks a year.
    Inbetween Iowa and Colorado, not close to anything remotely entertaining outside of football season. 
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  • swordsmn
    swordsmn Posts: 683
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    I had to look up pellicle.   =)  
    LBGE, AR.  Lives in N.E. ATL
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  • bo_mull
    bo_mull Posts: 363
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    @DMW which book did you get the recipe out of? 

    Cleveland, TN.

    LG BGE, PSWOO2, Stoker WIFI.

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  • SciAggie
    SciAggie Posts: 6,481
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    swordsmn said:
    I had to look up pellicle.   =)  
    Me too.
    Coleman, Texas
    Large BGE & Mini Max for the wok. A few old camp Dutch ovens and a wood fired oven. LSG 24” cabinet offset smoker. There are a few paella pans and a Patagonia cross in the barn. A curing chamber for bacterial transformation of meats...
    "Bourbon slushies. Sure you can cook on the BGE without them, but why would you?"
                                                                                                                          YukonRon
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  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited August 2015
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    Using two different recipes, requiring two different cuts, is where things went awry.
    You identified your issue. 

    Their ham recipe calls for a 6-8 day soak.
    And CB, 3.
    Why 2?

    Not a huge fan of Ruhlman.  The book, a good starting point.  

    The salt percentage on the forum famous bacon recipe used by many here, is too high IMO, 3.6%.  Although many rave about it, I had inconsistencies, and undercured some bacon using their recipe early on.  Which motivated me to move on, look into other options.
    CB in 3 days is yet another stretch, along with 7 day bacon, without wasting the time to do the math.  
    Applaud the guys for mainstreaming curing though. 



    Regardless, for CB/BB/back bacon/cured loin/whatever the hell you want to call it, standard is 7-10 days depending on recipe of course, within the max levels of Sodium Nitrite in curing at 200ppm.  

    Or some do the ol' 1/2" per day(re thickness of cut), plus 2 days for safety. 

    4" loin= 8+2=10 days for example

    With a wet cure, you could inject to help speed things up.  I doubt it would be fully cured after two days, even with injecting.

    Oh well, I'm sure it's still good.  
    All that matters is you, your kindergartner, and everyone here, loves it.  

    And for Christ's sake(and your family's), handle it as if it were uncured.
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

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  • DMW
    DMW Posts: 13,832
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    @Focker - Thanks for the info, his recipe for CB was a 48 hour soak, same salt/nitrite concentration as the ham recipe. The only difference in recipes was CB has additional seasoning in the brine and is finished differently. I assumed this shorter time was due to wet cure vs dry cure.

    And yes, I treated this as if uncured. I hot smoked it, chilled quickly and will keep frozen. The kiddos will have cooler packs in their lunches to keep them chilled until lunch time. Thanks for your concern.
    They/Them
    Morgantown, PA

    XL BGE - S BGE - KJ Jr - HB Legacy - BS Pizza Oven - 30" Firepit - King Kooker Fryer -  PR72T - WSJ - BS 17" Griddle - XXL BGE  - BS SS36" Griddle - 2 Burner Gasser - Pellet Smoker
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