I am making bacon again. This time with the addition of Canadian, or back bacon.
The more I ate the first batch the more I liked it. I decided it wasn't too sweet, just different. Nonetheless I am changing the recipe up some. After talking with the butcher today it was determined that the main element to making bacon is the pink curing salt. The rest is just flavoring, though it's recommended to use at least some salt. So this time I am trying another recipe I found for a dry cure and going half and half with the salt and sugar. My ingredients were for 5 lbs, but a 4.51 belly was close enough for me.
2 tsp curing salt
1/4c kosher salt
1/4c white sugar
Same method. Rub the belly down, put it in a ziploc bag and let it cure for a week. This time I am using a center section from the pork belly, so it's a bit more uniform. It was also about $0.50/lb more
I will slice this thinner and use it for wrapping and doing bacon weaves... after it passes quality control
And this section of the belly was noticeably wider than the first, but I really didn't want to cut it in half or section it. No way it would fit inside my lasagna dish, nor my deep dish pizza pan... Some improvisation had me reaching for my oven's broiler pan. It rested in there just fine. It's important to keep the meat in contact with the liquids once they show up in a few days.
Onto the Canadian bacon, being made from a 1.75 lb pork loin.
I found one internet recipe using a dry cure. The rest seemed to favor brining. Perhaps because it's a denser meat? The dry cure recipe also said to cure the meat for about a week, so that's what I went with. It also uses a lot more curing salt/lb than typical american bacon.
The rub per lb is:
1 TBS curing salt
1 tsp sugar
I went 2 and 2 and left some in the bowl. Again, close enough for me.
The loin gets trimmed of fat, rubbed and wrapped up. I used plastic wrap to help it hold a round shape. I read someone tying their loin when brining for the same reason. I will find out if the meat takes a "set" and turns from oval to round this time next week. I also used my foodsaver to help keep things tight to the meat.
And now we wait.
The more I ate the first batch the more I liked it. I decided it wasn't too sweet, just different. Nonetheless I am changing the recipe up some. After talking with the butcher today it was determined that the main element to making bacon is the pink curing salt. The rest is just flavoring, though it's recommended to use at least some salt. So this time I am trying another recipe I found for a dry cure and going half and half with the salt and sugar. My ingredients were for 5 lbs, but a 4.51 belly was close enough for me.
2 tsp curing salt
1/4c kosher salt
1/4c white sugar
Same method. Rub the belly down, put it in a ziploc bag and let it cure for a week. This time I am using a center section from the pork belly, so it's a bit more uniform. It was also about $0.50/lb more
I will slice this thinner and use it for wrapping and doing bacon weaves... after it passes quality control
And this section of the belly was noticeably wider than the first, but I really didn't want to cut it in half or section it. No way it would fit inside my lasagna dish, nor my deep dish pizza pan... Some improvisation had me reaching for my oven's broiler pan. It rested in there just fine. It's important to keep the meat in contact with the liquids once they show up in a few days.
Onto the Canadian bacon, being made from a 1.75 lb pork loin.
I found one internet recipe using a dry cure. The rest seemed to favor brining. Perhaps because it's a denser meat? The dry cure recipe also said to cure the meat for about a week, so that's what I went with. It also uses a lot more curing salt/lb than typical american bacon.
The rub per lb is:
1 TBS curing salt
1 tsp sugar
I went 2 and 2 and left some in the bowl. Again, close enough for me.
The loin gets trimmed of fat, rubbed and wrapped up. I used plastic wrap to help it hold a round shape. I read someone tying their loin when brining for the same reason. I will find out if the meat takes a "set" and turns from oval to round this time next week. I also used my foodsaver to help keep things tight to the meat.
And now we wait.
