Canadian Bacon

[Papa Tom]

1 half pork loin
2 qts water
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup non iodized salt or 3/4 cup kosher salt
2 Tablespoons cure #1
1 cinnamon stick or 1 t ground cinnamon in cloth bag
8 whole cloves
8 whole allspice berries
12 juniper berries
1/2 t ground ginger

Combine all ingredients except pork in a gallon size pot and bring to a boil and remove from heat. Chill mixture to refrigerator temperature 38°. Thoroughly inject the pork loin with the mixture then put the loin in a large zip lock bag and pour in the remaining brine. Refrigerate for 3-4 days turning daily. Remove from brine, discard brine and rinse thoroughly, pat dry and coat with vegetable oil, smoke at low temps to internal temp of 150°.

[DATsBBQ]

Looks pretty good from here!

[JamesB]

I've never tried to make any kind of bacon... Gonna try this very soon.

[OSD]

That looks really good.

[honu41]

Thanks again PT... Looks ono (delicious).

a hui hou,
joe

[NewBQ]

Thanks Papa Tom!

Definitely worth a try

[Bluz]

I bet that will make great snacks for those long times in the deer blind. Thanks Papa

[ChileFarmer]

PT, that is some fine looking bacon. I will be trying that for sure. CF

[dilley340]

What is cure #1?

[Papa Tom]

What is cure #1?

It is the nitrite curing compound that gives the pink color to cured meats AKA Prague powder #1 or Instacure #1 or Modern cure #1 here is a Wikipedia explanation:
In the sausage industry the nitrites and nitrates are pre-formulated into a product called Prague powder #1 and Prague powder #2. Prague powder #1 contains 6.25% sodium nitrite and 93.75% sodium chloride and is used for the preparation of all cured meats and sausages other than the dry type. Prague powder #2 contains 1 ounce of sodium nitrite (6.25%) and 0.64 ounces sodium nitrate (4.0%) per pound of finished product (the remaining 14.36 ounces is sodium chloride) and is used for the preparation of Cured dry sausages. Prague powder #2 should never be used on any product that will be fried at high temperature (eg. bacon) because of the formation of nitrosamines.

When using cure, it is very important to never exceed the recommended amounts: This is 4 ounces of Prague Powder #1 in 100 pounds of meat (2.5 g/kg). Equivalently this is 2 teaspoons for 10 pounds. Note that the maximum allowable amount of sodium nitrite and potassium nitrite is governed by regulations and is limited to 0.25 ounces per 100 pounds of chopped meat. Since Prague powder #1 is a 1:15 dilution (in a pound of Prague powder #1 one ounce is sodium nitrite and 15 ounces are common table salt), we get the proper amount at a rate of 4 ounces added to 100 lb of meat.

Sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate are limited to 2.75 ounces per 100 pounds.

Sodium and potassium nitrite are quite toxic to humans with the lethal dose being about 4 grams. As little as 22 mg/kg of body weight can cause death. This is about 2.2 grams for a body mass of 100 kg. Thus, there is enough sodium nitrite in 2 ounces of Prague powder #1 to kill a person.

[DATsBBQ]

Sounds like an episode of "Bones" or "CSI". C.O.D. = Curing Don't think you could enough MTQ to be lethal, but I could be wrong

[Papa Tom]

In my recipe it probably sounds like I'm calling for a near lethal amount of nitrites but no. The method is a brine method where a much smaller amount of nitrite is ingested as compared to a sausage recipe where all of the included cure is eventually eaten.
And DATS I agree if someone could eat enough MTQ to get nitrate poisoning they would surely die of salt poisoning first.

[DATsBBQ]

1 half pork loin
2 qts water
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup non iodized salt or 3/4 cup kosher salt
2 Tablespoons cure #1
1 cinnamon stick or 1 t ground cinnamon in cloth bag
8 whole cloves
8 whole allspice berries
12 juniper berries
1/2 t ground ginger

Combine all ingredients except pork in a gallon size pot and bring to a boil and remove from heat. Chill mixture to refrigerator temperature 38°. Thoroughly inject the pork loin with the mixture then put the loin in a large zip lock bag and pour in the remaining brine. Refrigerate for 3-4 days turning daily. Remove from brine, discard brine and rinse thoroughly, pat dry and coat with vegetable oil, smoke at low temps (200°) to internal temp of 150°.

Do you think I could sub 1/2 tsp of ground allspice for whole berries? Fixing up a pickle tonight.

[Papa Tom]

I would think so. I keep the berries around for brines and apple cider but I have done a similar substitution and it worked out fine. If you don't want the powder all over just put it in a little piece of cloth.

Good luck Dave and let us know how it turns out.

[atcNick]

That looks good! I think I think this will be the first thing I try in my cinder block smoker.......just as soon as the county lifts the burn ban