quote:

Originally posted by B. Kaylor:
Can this be sent "thru the mail", vac sealed, say along with other gifts and not be kept frozen or chilled? I know that it is cured and smoked and I would like to send to some family members that are a distance away. Thanks!

B, depends. I've done many a perishable food mailings in the winter time, going to cold destinations. I look at the forecast and know how long it will take to get there and just go with what mother nature is giving you. You being in Ohio, cold in winter, to say MD in winter, no worries. I shipped Lance some cheese and pepperoni over to Iraq in early spring when it was really cold here and only 60º over in Iraq. It arrived in fine condition and he and his roommate are still alive. Where do you want to ship to? Some cheap ice packs, lots of newspaper, etc. it can be done. Like if I wanted to ship Shawn some semi perishable items to Calgary, Id look at the forecast here and there and ship it at the right time, so it remains very cold if not frozen. And that might be a hint Shawn.

Thanks for the reply Bryan. Our son is in Edmond,OK, a northern burb of OK City. Temps there seem to be in the upper 40's thru upper 50's. I think that with the ice paks, newspaper, and stuffed in a gallon sized Ziploc, that it would be alright. Like you said, just wait on one of Shawn's "clippers" to chill us down a bit. I've got the loin thawing and will set it in the cure this weekend. I'll wait til after the holidays to send. Thanks.

Well, I"ve say that this stuff is so good! And so easy to make. I wanted to smoke on the 24th., but we had so much rain and wind, I waited until the 25th. Some of the Christmas "bacon" will be a day or 2 late, but well worth the wait.

I used Kevin's dry cure with TQ, doubled the brown sugar, and smoked at 220* for 3.5 hrs. to 142* internal. I also cooked some fatties, so they are getting pork and pork for presents. What better?? This batch will go quick, so I'll be making again very soon.

Thank you to Mary M for asking, and for Keven, Shawn, Bryan and everyone else for contributing. A Happy and Safe New Year to ALL!

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it's strong to nearly the point of me not recognizing back bacon. Not bad strong at all.

To illustrate that comment was personal preference, I've gotten feedback on the back bacon I handed out and everyone was crazy about the herb garlic, liked it more than than the pepper brine except me. So don't be worried about trying the herbs at the strength Kevin suggests.

Shawn,

I love making Canadian Bacon and use a similar recipe to many noted above, but what I can't get over is the crust/outer part of you CB.

What method do you use! Do you air dry and slow/cold smoke and then ramp up to get to a finished temp? Inquiring minds want to know.

Josh

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Originally posted by Josh Z.:
Shawn,

I love making Canadian Bacon and use a similar recipe to many noted above, but what I can't get over is the crust/outer part of you CB.

What method do you use! Do you air dry and slow/cold smoke and then ramp up to get to a finished temp? Inquiring minds want to know.

Josh

I don't really do anything intentional for the exterior. After water soak I get it on on parchment and in the smoker as quick as I can. When smoking this time I tried to keep a grate around 160ºF for as long as I could then bumped up to 200ºF to finish it up. Previously I just kept it under 200ºF though I don't recall ever finishing quicker than 3 or 4 hours. I cool on racks as quick as I can (left outside for a time this year due to cold weather) then fridge and vac pack within a couple of days.

This year I only trimmed dangly bits off the whole loin but otherwise left the fat and silver skin intact. I can see how some might rather trim them but this works fine for me and the fat is pretty darn tasty.

Is there something about the way yours is turning out that you don't like or would like to improve?

Shawn,

I really love my canadian bacon I use the recipe from Charcuterie pretty much but have been using TenderQuick because I ran out of Pink Salt. I have been using garlic, thyme, sage, and this time a tiny bit of rosemanry for flavoring agents in the brine.

I have tried a few different ways, but my last smoke my smoker was chucking along between 275-300 when I put it on and it took only took 2.5 hours or so to finish and got very little crust. I had to put it on with another cook to get it done in time for a party so I couldn't help it.

Next time I think I will try to go a bit slower and ramp it up since you confirmed my suspicion on how you got that great exterior.

Like I said on the turkey post of yours, we seem to be thinking along the same wave lenghts here.

Josh

Tried this again with a modified version of Kevin's cure...decreased the garlic and onion. 7 days of curing in a cold fridge (35-38). Soaked for 2 hours with 4 changes of water. Smoked at 200-225 vent 4 hours, apple wood, GFS lump (20 degrees outside). Ended up with nearly 3 lbs of bacon (don't remember the starting weight ). Sliced by hand and vac-u-sealed in 8 oz packages for New Years gifts for close friends....but saved some for me too....Breakfast 2 eggs from free range chickens, fresh organic raspberry jam from the local Farmer's Market on Brownberry Ovens toast. Fantastic smokey flavor...best I have ever made....Thanks to all here, I think I am getting good at this.

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....Breakfast 2 eggs from free range chickens, fresh organic raspberry jam from the local Farmer's Market on Brownberry Ovens toast.

I'll take an order to go with a side of hash browns please....that looks fantastic Don!

which cure do you guys prefer? wet or dry?

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which cure do you guys prefer? wet or dry?

Leaving seasonings out of it I liked the wet much better this year. I had control of the salt and the end product wasn't too salty for my taste, which is constantly a problem when using TQ dry cure as directed.

I make a lot of canadian bacon and I use a herb infused brine cure.

Shawn,

I did a better job of keeping my temps lower to start and added a bit more smoke wood and ended up with much better outer layer finish. Worked like a charm.

Josh

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Originally posted by Shawn W:

quote:

which cure do you guys prefer? wet or dry?

Leaving seasonings out of it I liked the wet much better this year. I had control of the salt and the end product wasn't too salty for my taste, which is constantly a problem when using TQ dry cure as directed.

do you have a cure recipe you use?

One of the things I do to get the excess salt oout of the dry cure is to soak it overnight..changing the water after the first couple of hours.

I'm curious, has anyone here cured, but then cold smoked their bacon? Using frying to do the actual cooking like american bacon? Just curious.....

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Shawn,

I did a better job of keeping my temps lower to start and added a bit more smoke wood and ended up with much better outer layer finish. Worked like a charm.

Great to hear it worked out for ya Josh!

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Originally posted by john enea:

quote:

Originally posted by Shawn W:

quote:

which cure do you guys prefer? wet or dry?

Leaving seasonings out of it I liked the wet much better this year. I had control of the salt and the end product wasn't too salty for my taste, which is constantly a problem when using TQ dry cure as directed.

do you have a cure recipe you use?

yup, see my post on page 2 ... Kevin Kruger also posted a brine cure recipe on the first page ... maybe Josh Z will add his here too

This is pretty much the recipe from Charcuterie adapted to TenderQuick

I buy the loin at Sam's and then trim it down to just the main muscle, no silverskin or fat here.

I use 1 gallon of Water, 1 1/4 Cups of Tenderquick (because I've run out of pink salt and I'm too lazy to buy more), a bunch 3-4 springs of FRESH thyme and sage, a pinch like 4 needles of rosemary (I like it but its powerful stuff for my tastes), 3-4 crushed garlic cloves. Stir to disolve the TQ in water, bring to a boil, pull from heat, let it come to room temp. Then add the trimmned loin. It takes 3-4 days in the fridge, I then soak it for an hour an hour or so changing the water once or twice, then wipe and air dry, then smoke. The herbs come through in a very nice way.

Pretty simple and easy, but soooo good.

Josh

thanks guys

So I've done two rounds of dry cure Canadian Bacon, varying the aromatics for each batch. Overall content. But now I'm ready to do another @17lb batch and I'm considering doing a wet (brine) cure. What puzzles me is I've seen anything from 48 hours to ten days for the cure duration. My first thought was that it might depend upon the amount of cure in the brine but that philosophy was blown away when one of the recipes I found contained the least amount of cure (per gallon) and was one of the shortest durations! So... thoughts and recommendations? Wet versus dry and if wet how long?

I usualloy go 2.5 days but I keep a constant 39˚ and use fairly small diameter loins. (It's thickness that is operative.) If unsure go with 4. No need to go more than 5 though.

Kevin, That's kinda of what I thought but why the such huge variations in the amount of #1 in the different recipes? Your thought over dry versus wet?