Yeah, I've been reading up on them a little more today. I found a couple articles that made the exact point you just made...and different ones that said the opposite. Eventually, I found this one:

http://culinaryarts.about.com/...oring/a/nitrates.htm

Which, among other things, said the following:

quote:

Several decades ago, some researchers raised the possibility that nitrites could be linked to cancer in laboratory rats. This suggestion received a lot of media attention. What received less media attention, however, was when it turned out that they were wrong. Indeed, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Cancer Society and the National Research Council all agree that there's no cancer risk from consuming sodium nitrite.

Maybe I have outdated info?

Bring on the Canadian Bacon!

nice work, its always interesting to me to see nitrate-free products and or people asking for them, when most don't even know the reason why.

regarding your bolded quote, this came to mind:

quote:

A lie can travel halfway round the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

- This quote has been attributed to Mark Twain, but it has never been verified as originating with Twain.

good luck with the bacon. I have not tried canadian style yet, but I will soon. I've made bacon from belly, jowls, but not loins.

Thanks, J. I'll post how it goes (gonna be a few weeks before I get time to do it, though).

I put half a loin in the brine from K's recipe on the first page at about 10am this morning - I was a little short on the dry herbs so I added a few habanero peppers to make up for it

So I'm planning on curing for 4 days in the liquid, prolly slice off a sliver 2 days in & fry it up just to see what I'm getting into.

I finished this up just about an hour ago - a little over 4 days in the soak, dried off with a clean dish towel (had the coals going & noticed it was still soaking).

I rinsed it for about 2 hours, with a couple of water changes early on.

I smoked it along side a spiral sliced ham that was warmed up in hot water. I used a little hickory & some apple.

Mini-minion was not required in these cold temps of about 33F. I had to throw in a bunch more coals & I never reached 200F. It was in for about 4.5 hours at about 160F dome.

Not sure what I'll use it for but it should be fun trying to figure it out.

quote:

Originally posted by Clint:
I finished this up just about an hour ago - a little over 4 days in the soak

And? And and and and? How was it?

pretty good but I'm not real sure what to do with it

I've sliced & fried a bit and ate it with a pickled egg, what's next?

I've only really had it on pizza so I'm going to have to experiment a little with it. I ordered one of those 12" slicing knives, that'll be here Wednesday, so until then I'm going to quarter & vacuum bag 3 of the chunks, & experiment with one I guess on sandwiches first?

I LOVE Hawiian pizza, maybe I'll order a cheese one from Papa Murphy's take n bake & dr it up w/ some pineapple & CB.

Canadian bacon was my gateway drug to the world of charcuterie. I've tried several recipes but a simple maple syrup and brown sugar cure is still our favorite. I use a vacuum seal dry cure process but for quite a bit longer than the times I've read in this thread...3 weeks. I've never had a cure failure and I prefer the texture the extra time gives it. I may have to try a brine cure one of these days.

quote:

Originally posted by Brett Luna:
Canadian bacon was my gateway drug to the world of charcuterie. I've tried several recipes but a simple maple syrup and brown sugar cure is still our favorite. I use a vacuum seal dry cure process but for quite a bit longer than the times I've read in this thread...3 weeks.

That sounds extremely tasty. So I assume you've got salt or maybe other stuff in the cure? I would love to try this in my vacuum sealer!

quote:

Originally posted by Mary M:
So I assume you've got salt or maybe other stuff in the cure?

Absolutely. While I use pink salts for sausages and such, I still use Morton Tender Quick for Canadian bacon...out of habit, I guess. I rub on the recommended amount per weight, then rub on brown sugar, and add maple syrup to the bag before sealing.

quote:

Originally posted by Brett Luna:
Absolutely. While I use pink salts for sausages and such, I still use Morton Tender Quick for Canadian bacon...out of habit, I guess. I rub on the recommended amount per weight, then rub on brown sugar, and add maple syrup to the bag before sealing.

And you used what cut -- a tenderloin or a boneless loin?

quote:

Originally posted by Mary M:
And you used what cut -- a tenderloin or a boneless loin?

My very first attempt was a tenderloin but really, they're far too small. I buy vac-packed whole boneless loins at Sam's or Costco. I trim the exposed silverskin and heavier fat but leave the chain meat intact.

After curing, I rinse the meat well, pat it dry, cut it into two or three pieces, and put it back in the fridge for a few hours to develop a pellicle. After that, it goes in tube netting and gets hung in the smoker with apple wood. I call it done at an internal temp of 145°F, give it a brief rest, then wrap it in plastic wrap and tuck it back in the fridge for an overnight rest before portioning and vacuum sealing.