I cured a 2.75 lb. piece of loin for 8 days using the Ruhlman recipe for bacon.
Removed it yesterday morning:


Rinsed well, soaked in ice cold water for 20 minutes or so, rinsed again, patted dry, and placed in the fridge for about 10 hrs:


Started 4 K briq's, put on top of 4 Rancher briq's, and added sugar maple wood, in the kettle:


Smoked at about 175/f for 2 hrs., added more charcoal/wood as needed, then raised the temp to about 225/f for 2 more hours until an internal temp of 147/f:




Made an egg McBob this morning with goat cheese, and my lightly fried 'bacon.'


I really like the taste, not too salty, nice light smoke flavor, and slightly sweet.
The texture is more firm/dry than commercial CB, different but not in a bad way.
Next time I will rough grind the peppercorns, not much flavor from the whole ones.
And I may tie it to keep a more round shape.


PS, thanks Chris A and everyone else for all the great info found here!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Bob Correll,

Nice work Robert "McDonald"!!
Phantastic Fotos too! Got that new camera all figured out it looks like...

Bob, Beautiful color on that loin! Loving the goat cheese.
Just pulled a package from he freezer this AM and was thinking it was about time to make some more. Had thought about doing a Maple (semi-dry) cure and a an apple cider brined version.

Looks perfect!

Love the low fuel use,if the temp spikes up to sky hight 200 take 1 briq off

Thx for sharing!

Wow, as usual Bob, looking great. Wrap one of those sammies and send it my way please?

That's about the quantity I'd like to make at one time. You just kept it centered in the Weber grill with the briquettes to the side it looks.

Did you reposition at all when adding fuel? Where did you have the bottom/top vents set?

Thanks guys!

Ray,
Actually I had it side opposite for the duration, just centered for the pic.
I turned it a couple of times.
Top vent full open, bottom just cracked until I wanted to bring the temp up, then opened full. It was 100/f here the day I made it.

As a side note, it was more moist, typical ham like, after the first few slices from the ends.

WOW..this post has just blown my mind. I found this site in June after ordering my WSM 22.5. Bought my first Weber kettle in the mid 1970's and have a fair amount of experience, albeit not at the level of some of you like Kruger, Lampe, and Biesinger etc. but can hold my own as a backyard amateur. Finally got around to thoroughly reading this Charcuterie link and when I saw this I stopped what I was doing and ordered Ruhlman's book. I can do beef pork chicken turkey and whatever a hundred ways (and have to varying degrees of success and failure) but this curing has got my attention. WOW again.
Bob, I have no clue why it was this particular piece of meat that slapped me up alongside the head, but thank you. Can't wait to start reading and curing.

quote:

I can do beef pork chicken turkey and whatever a hundred ways (and have to varying degrees of success and failure) but this curing has got my attention.

It really is cool stuff, and opens up tons of new avenues for fun with meat

My local grocery has full (9-10 lb) pork top loins for 2.47 lb, sometimes on sale for 1.99. The cutting chart shows the two ends for roasts and the middle for top loin chops. My question..is this whole cut of meat suitable for canadian bacon or are the two ends best. I ordered my maple sugar and pink salt today and want to do this recipe of Bob's when it all arrives.

I just now saw your post John.
Any portion of the loin is fine.
Just remove all the silver skin from the outside.

Good luck!

Thanks Bob. Ruhlman'sriving Monday or Tuesday. Curing Salt and maple sugar arriving Friday. Saturday I start my 8 day cure to finish the following Sunday. Thanks for the motivation.

John

You're welcome John!

I don't have the Ruhlman book, just used the bacon cure posted here, and the 8 days was a guess on my part.
He may give more exact cure times, and use a different method and/or ingredients for loins.

Great looking bacon Bob.

Love that sandwich.

I am giving this a try , the loins are in the cure right now. My question is how do you know if they are safe to eat? I cant remember the name of the bacteria , but I have read that in the temp range you smoke this , and other sauages also , you make an ideal breeding ground for them. Is there a way to test the friuts of your labor , other than taking a big bite and getting sick or dead?

quote:

I cant remember the name of the bacteria , but I have read that in the temp range you smoke this , and other sauages also , you make an ideal breeding ground for them.

Incorrect.

No pathogens grow at hot-smoke temps (>130˚). The ideal range for most food oriented pathogens is 80-105 (for Clostridium perfringens a bit higher, and growth can occur to 128). These lower temps are what is used for cold-smoking, as is used for cheese, lox, some meats. Most smoked sausages, bacon, many hams, many fish, are hot-smoked.

The nitrate in curing salt, however, prevents growth of Clostridium botulinum, the pathogen that causes botulism, an often deadly disease. It's used in many items that are to be cold-smoked.

Is that the reason then , for the rapid cool down to below 100 degree's to get it out of the dangerous temp range?

It is done to stop the meat from continued cooking.

Refrigerators are not designed to - and do not - cool warm or hot foods very effectively, especially if bagged, wrapped or covered. Warm or hot foods should be cooled to below 70˚ before fridging. For items thicker than one inch it's best (safest) to cool to well below 70 and a cold water bath is perfect for this. Then the food should be fridged for complete chilling. This happens in a more reasonable, safer timeframe because the food is already cool when it goes in the fridge.

Kevin , you are a wealth of information , thank you.