Canadian Bacon: the Final Chapter

Yesterday morning, the Canadian bacon was to go into the smoker.  But before that I had to let the smoker heat up to 225F and in the meantime, let the pieces of cured loin rest at room temperature for an hour.

When the hour was up, into the smoker my little babies went.  I had water in the pan of the smoker and left the vents open half way.  After closing the smoker I turned on the smoke and the wood I used was maple.  I didn't touch the temperature control.

My plan was to apply 2 hours of maple smoke but my little chunks of loin reached an internal temperature of 145F before the smoke session completed.  So, I pulled them out. From all that I am reading, cured pork loin is best if you let it go between 140F and 150F, beyond that, it will dry out because it is so lean.  One of the gentlemen that helped me on the Bradley Smoker Forum pulls his at 140F.

 

They came out really pretty, the color made you want to eat them!  I tented them with fold and let them cool down enough to handle them so I would wrap them and let them cool down completely before taking a sample, it wasn't easy to wait!  Later in the evening we all took a taste test and were very pleased with the results.  Cannot wait to make another one and I'm already eyeballing another recipe but this time I want to work with entire loin.

Canadian Bacon Update

Well, 9 days into curing I started thinking and worrying about my Canadian bacon's 21 day cure.  I wasn't worried about the safety of it but more concerned about the how salty it would end up.  So, I posted my concerns on the Bradley Smoker Forum and got some great guidance.

Some of the forum members were not quite sure about the 21 day cure either so it was nice to know I wasn't completely crazy.  One member told me to slice into the meat to see if it cured all the way through.  What he said was that if it was a nice pink color all the way through, it was completely cured to the core.  As you can see it was.

 

Now I knew that it had cured safely, I could rinse off the pieces of loin under cold water.  This washed off any extra cure and maple syrup.

The other quality I was to check for was its saltiness.  By taking a bit off and cooking it, I could taste the level of salt.  I took off three bits for each family member to taste and get their opinion.  Don't those pieces look a lot like regular pork belly bacon?  Our meat processor left a fat-laden strip of meat along the length of the loin which I'm not sure is usually on a pork loin but I don't care because I'm a big fan of pork fat!

Fried up these three pieces and they really tasted GOOD but were a bit saltier than we like.

 

To draw out a little of the salt, I soaked the loins for an hour in 3 gallons of cold water.

After the soaking, I dried them off and tied them with string to keep them together.  They will dry overnight, uncovered in the fridge on a rack.  Tomorrow they go into the smoker. Stay tuned!

Canandian Bacon II: Adding Some Sweetness

One day three of my Canadian Bacon Project, I added 1/3 cup of Grade B Maple Syrup.  I have been turning the pieces of pork loin in their individual bags and they are definitely curing and firming up.

I take back what I said about Grade B Maple Syrup not being for pancakes, too.  I might try it sometime, it's stronger and richer than Grade A but it tastes good.  In the past I have only used it for making pumpkin pies.

The three week cure continues and I will take the pork loins out once a day to turn in their bags then return them to the fridge.  I will keep you all posted though it's a bit like watching paint dry.

First Attempt at Canadian Bacon

Here we go again, curing and smoking some pork.  This time I am going to make my first Canadian bacon. The recipe I'm working is from the Bradley Recipe Site.  This recipe requires a three week curing time which is very different from anything I have ever tried in the pass and is going to make this blog entry into a two or three parter. I'm going with this recipe because it calls for maple sugar cure and grade b maple syrup, two things I have on hand and would like to use.  So, for this recipe you will need only three ingredients:

• Pork loin
• Maple sugar cure, used to the manufacturer's specifications.
• Grade B maple syrup, this is not the kind you put on pancakes but it's best used for cooking.

My pork loin was a half portion weighing in at five pounds and after trimming the exterior fat from it, ended up weighing in at three and a half pounds. I cut this half.

The maple sugar cure was from Cabela's.  Their directions for dry rub application was 0.07lb per pound of meat.  For the amount of meat I had I calculated 3.5 pounds of meat would need about 0.25 pound of cure which would be 4 ounces.  Does that make sense?  I rubbed 2 ounces of cure on each half.

 

Each half was placed in its own one gallon zip loc bag.  Now they are in the fridge and I am turning them everyday.  After 3 days, I will be adding the maple syrup to them and promise to keep every one posted on the progress.

Home-Cured Easter Ham: The Final Chapter

Easter morning arrived, and the ham went into my preheated Bradley Smoker which was 220F.  

 

After putting the ham in the smoker it took an hour for the smoker to reach 200F which is the temperature I maintained for the entire process.  Once this temperature was reached I turned on the hickory smoke.

The recipe called for three ingredients for the ham glaze:

• 1 ½ packed cups/270 grams dark brown sugar
• ¾ cup/185 milliliters Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon/20 grams minced garlic

When my husband heard I was going to be using a ham glaze that contained garlic, he begged me to omit it from the recipe.  It just didn't live up to his ideal of an Easter ham so that's what I did: left out the garlic.

I made the glaze using the dark brown sugar and dijon mustard.  

 

This was applied to the ham after it had smoked for two hours.  Half of this mustard/sugar was reserved to apply after the ham is fully cooked.

The smoking continued for 4 more hours and the ham continued to cook in the 200F smoker until it reached an internal temperature of 155F.  At this time the ham is essentially cooked but I wanted the glaze to carmelize.  The remaining glaze was brushed on and the ham was placed in a 325F preheated oven and baked for 30 minutes.  The glaze was bubbly and beautiful!

This was my fourth home-cured ham and the first time using this ham recipe with which I was really pleased with.  Now I have the ham hock also so I will share with you all my favorite pork and beans recipe soon.

Home-Cured Easter Ham: Part 2

Tomorrow is the big day so today the Easter ham was removed from the curing brine and rinsed with cold water.  It's beautifully cured with a nice pink tone and is much firmer to the touch than an uncured piece of pork.

 

After thoroughly rinsing the brine from the ham, it was dried off using a paper towel and then placed in the  fridge on a roasting pan to dry.  The recipe I'm following recommends letting it dry in the fridge for 12-24 hours.  My will rest for the entire 24 hours.

Tomorrow morning it will be going into my little smoker bright and early so it won't be late for Easter dinner.

Home-Cured Easter Ham: Part I

My ham and its detached hock defrosted so the prepping and brining have begun.  This is only the fourth ham that I ever cured and smoked on my own.  I am still very much working my way through the apprentice level of ham crafting but I want to encourage you to try one sometime, too.  

On the first three hams, I used the method described by Rytek Kutas in his book Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing...a wonderful must-have book.  This recipe requires dextrose amongst its ingredients which I normally keep on hand and for some reason I forgot to replenish my supply.  Luckily my friend pointed me in the direction of this recipe, and it doesn't require dextrose of which I have none. The recipe which I will be doing is in two parts since the brining time is for a week:

American-style Brown-Sugar-Glazed Holiday Ham

The Brine (this week):

• 1 gallon/4 liters water
• 1 ½ cups/350 grams kosher salt
• 2 packed cups/360 grams dark brown sugar
• 1 ½ ounces/42 grams pink salt (8 teaspoons)
• One 12- to 15-pound/5.5 to 6.75-kilogram fresh ham, skin and aitch-bone removed

The Glaze (next week when I smoke/cook it):

• 1 ½ packed cups/270 grams dark brown sugar
• ¾ cup/185 milliliters Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon/20 grams minced garlic

Since it came from the butcher with the skin removed, I trimmed the excess fat from my fresh pork ham and ham hock.  1/4 inch of outer fat was left on.

 

The brine was made with chilled water and stirred until all the ingredients dissolved.

Though the recipe that I provided the link to does not mention injecting cure into the ham, I did it and recommend that you do it, too.  There is a lot of meat between the outside of the ham and the bone so I inject straight in from the outside to the bone just to make sure that cure in getting inside meat. I set the ham in a non-reactive rimmed container and inject about 2 cup of the brine into it.  What ever drains out of the ham is caught in the container and you can add it to the brining container along with the ham.

Now I like to use ZipLoc 2 gallon reseal-able bags to brine my hams but you can use any non-reactive bucket or container.  Just make sure you put the bag in another container in case of leaks.  Brining time is 6 to 8 days, the recipe recommends "half a day per pound).  Mine will be in for 7 days.

Next week I will be smoking, glazing and cooking my ham.  Looking forward to showing you he technique and the results.

Cheddar Brats for Cheaters

This weekend we have a camp out planned at our friend's cabin on Spirit Lake so I am making cheddar brats for all of us to cook over the campfire. When I want to make brats quick and easy I use Penzey's Bratwurst Sausage Seasoning which is a wonderful blend made in Wisconsin.

I also used a cheese product know as Hi Temp Cheddar Cheese. It's a cheese that has an extremely high melting point of around 500F. So it stays intact and does not melt when sausage is cooked or smoked. Cabelas now carries it and it is also available a LEM and Butcher Packer. Here's what I used for my seven pound batch of bratwurst:

• 4 1/2 pounds of ground venison
• 2 1/2 pounds of ground pork
• 7 TBS of Penzey's Bratwurst Seasoning

• 2 cups of Hi-Temp Cheddar Cheese
• 1 cup of cold water
• 16 ft of hog casings (soaked for 30 minutes and rinsed)

The water and the seasoning are mixed together first, then the meat is added and also mixed together. The Hi-Temp Cheddar Cheese is added and mixed after every thing else is well blended.
I used my large Kitchen Aid Pro stand mixer but I have to say that I would not recommend mixing such a large amount in this size mixer, I believe I'll keep it a six pounds or less next time around.
Into my 5 pound stuffer the prepared meat went and was cranked out into hog casings. I twisted the stuffed cases to make links. I'm still working on that skill, it's a balance of not over-loading the casings to the point that there is not room to twist them and form links.

If you have never made any sausage before and want to get your feet wet, this is a great sausage to make especially with the seasoning already measured and mixed for you. Even if you do not have a sausage stuffer you can make patties, too. Enjoy!

Another First:: Smoked Pork Ribs

I thought I'd try my hand at smoking ribs using 10.5's method. Usually, I bake the ribs in the oven for 2 1/2 hours covered at 300F then finish on the grill with BBQ sauce. As usual, my husband is scared I'm going to ruin the ribs by trying something new. So, when they had pork spare ribs on sale for $1.98 a pound I bought two 5lbs racks: one for the old way and one to try 10.5's method.

I used Willingham's Rub from the Bradley Recipe Site the night before and let them marinade overnight in the fridge.

Willingham's Rub

• 4 Tbsp. cumin
• 4 Tbsp. thyme
• 4 Tbsp. garlic powder
• 4 Tbsp. black pepper -- freshly ground
• 2 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 Tbsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. curry powder
• 1 Tbsp. onion powder
• 1 Tbsp. MSG or other flavor enhancer

Smoked them for 3 hrs in hickory @ 225F

Wrapped them in foil with apple juice and cooked them 2 hours longer, then applied a honey BBQ sauce.

And after an hour of cooking without the foil they came out like this.

They came out fantastic, I liked them better than the old way even. Our guest thought they won the taste test, Hubby said I made them too spicy. They were even prettier, too.

They went great with squash roasted with spices, butter and maple syrup...YUM!