First Attempt At Canadian Bacon

Spring Chicken

Been Egg'n since 1999 and it never occurred to me to try make'n Canadian Bacon. I tried eating some a few times and wasn't impressed. Didn't taste anything like bacon. Kinda dry and mild. So I never got inspired to make some myself. Until four days ago. 

We saw someone's post about it and it looked easy enough, so we bought a pork loin and cut it into 3 parts - Left, Middle and Right. Unless you were standing on the other side, then it would be Right, Middle and Left. But I digress... 

We placed the pieces into a brine solution according to the directions, heated it a bit and then cooled the brine down to like 36° before adding the also cooled loin parts back to it. Then we let it soak and soak and soak and soak, four days of it in the fridg. I removed it today, soaked it for thirty minutes in fresh water, dried it and seasoned each piece differently. One was with It's My Rub, another was with Cluck & Squeal, and the other was Dizzy Pig's IPA. Then I placed all three on the Egg which was set up indirect @ 225° with some pecan chunks. 

Then I let it smoke and smoke and smoke and smoke for about four hours until all the pieces were 140° internal. The neighborhood smelled really good. 

We haven't tried any of it yet but come tomorrow morning I plan to try all three flavors by pan-frying them to 165°. 

Here are some photos. 

 

 

 

I sealed all three in a Food Saver bag which we can re-use each time we want to slice off some for breakfast. 

 

Can't wait to see how they turn out. 

Spring "Bacon Ain't Bacon Unless It's Bacon" Chicken 
Spring Texas USA

blind99

Mr Chicken that's looking mighty fine. Can't wait to hear how the seasonings taste - but I bet they'll be awesome. 

Skiddymarker

Interesting, been a Canadian since birth in 1950 and until I ate at McDonalds years ago had no idea there was Canadian Bacon. 
Whatever you are doing there looks pretty awesome. I do like peameal bacon, try it. 

Jupiter Jim

Mr. Chicken looks very good! Looking forward to your review.

fishlessman

looks good to me, not sure your recipe but the one on natureboys site is really good. great with runny eggs

Spring Chicken

Follow-up To My Canadian Bacon Attempt

Well, we tried all three Canadian Bacon flavors this morning and we're both under the impression that it wasn't very good. 

First of all, the meat looked nice but it was so tough that we needed steak knives to cut it. But to be fair, we needed steak knives to cut the store-bought brands too. 

Next, it was way too salty, even after soaking them in fresh water for 30 minutes as instructed. I'm thinking an hour would not have changed anything. 

Next, the three rubs we applied to the outside all tasted pretty much the same but were a bit overpowering considering that the brine solution probably infused enough flavor by itself. 

Next, the meat was as dry as cardboard. A cheese sauce would not have helped it at all. Judy suggested we might fry it in water instead of the spray oil. 

Next, I probably cut the slices too thick (about 1/4"). My electric slicing machine would have been much better. I'm thinking no thicker than a penny. And the end cuts might go better chunked up in a pot of beans, or tossed. 

As for why it is suggested on the South Beach Diet, I think it's because you won't want to eat a lot of it, whereas eating bacon is a lot more tempting to eat thrice as much. 

So, from my perspective, it was not a good cook. 

Now, that being said, where did I go wrong? I followed the recipe, cooked it on the Egg to 140° internal, vacuum sealed it, pan fried it using spray and ate it on a toasted whole-grain English Muffin with a soft fried egg. 

Is Canadian Bacon supposed to be tough and dry? If so, I may have nailed it, or at least cooked it to the point where a nail can still penetrate it, depending on the size of the hammer. 

As a comparison, I smoke turkey bacon without brining or adding any seasonings to it. It always turns out moist, tender and smoky flavored, like a very tender ham. 

But here are some pictures of the final test: 

 

 

 

Now you know the rest of the story. 

Spring "Sometimes Things Just Don't Work Out" Chicken 
Spring Texas USA

Darby_Crenshaw

>First of all, the meat looked nice but it was so tough that we needed steak knives to cut it. But to be fair, we needed steak knives to cut the store-bought brands too.

It's twice cooked, first to 140, then again in the pan.  Being loin, that will tend to 'overcook', but that is the nature of loin bacon.  it isn't going to be a moist cut like a slice from a roast, just as say ham or prosciutto a quarter of an incuh thick will not be 'juicy'.  it will be firmer

>Next, it was way too salty

this is a personal thing unfortunately.  can't help here.  not sure what the salt ratio was in your cure.  sugar helps too, in that it retains moisture and cuts the harshness of sugar.  as an example, there is ZERO critical difference in a country ham (which people readily cook and eat like an easter ham) and a leg of prosciutto, which you'd never cook and eat, being too salty.  both are cured packed in salt and allowed to dry for a year or so.  but the country ham has a TON of sugar.  (smoke too, but that's incidental)

>the meat was as dry as cardboard

not sure how much you cooked it in the pan.  hot pan, a little sear and color.  you are basically heating it up.  think how you might pan fry a slice of ham.  just to heat through. but yes, loin is drier to begin with these days, and curing it will make it drier

>where did I go wrong? I followed the recipe

dunno what the recipe was.  should be a fast cure in a sweet pickle brine.  i have always had a bacon which has a glisten to it when you slice it, and pan fries nicely. 

have you ever had actual loin bacon(so-called canadian bacon)?  it would be good to buy some and compare.

blind99

try simmering a few slices with about 1/4"-1/2" of water in your skillet for 15 minutes.  Then drain the water and lightly fry the meat.  I've found that helps cut the saltiness if I've overcured my pork loin bacon.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Hey Leroy- I've never heard of anyone rubbing Canadian Bacon. The flavor comes from the brine. I would assume that is where the salt bomb came from. I cook mine to 155 on the egg then just give it a quick sear before serving. I would cut the thickness down a little and that will help with the texture.

As for why it's on South Beach: Loin is as lean as chicken breast. Belly is not. South Beach is different from other low carb diets because it takes amount and quality of fat in to play when recommending food. 

fishlessman

the salt is an easy fix, take slice and rinse 3 seconds under cold water faucet, then fry in grease. the rinse pulls just enough salt off the surface of the slice and you will still get more flavor as it cooks and the internal salt rises to the surface