Canadian Bacon Recipes

WAKE-UP CASSEROLE - CANADIAN BACON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Arrange hash brown patties in a single layer in the prepared baking dish; top with Canadian bacon. Sprinkle Cheddar-Monterey Jack cheese over Canadian bacon.
• Whisk egg substitute, milk, salt, and mustard together in a bowl; pour over cheese layer. Cover dish with aluminum foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Remove aluminum foil and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean and edges are golden brown, about 15 minutes.

HOMEMADE CANADIAN BACON

Steps:

• Bring all ingredients except loin to a boil for 10 minutes.
• Trim fat from loin.
• Cool the brine to 38 degrees F and strain if desired.
• Add loin and put a plate on top to keep submerged.
• Cover,Put in fridge and let sit 7 days turning once at 4 days.
• Remove and rinse in cold water. Soak for 45 minutes in cool water.
• Get smoker to 225 Degrees F. Use a good hardwood of choice.
• For breakfast bacon cook to 145 degrees F.
• For finished bacon cook to 155-160 degrees F.
• Cut to desired thickness. 1/4" for me.
• Keeps in fridge same as commercial bacon.
• Keeps in freezer longer if left unsliced.

CANADIAN BACON RECIPE

Steps:

• Use your knife and make sure that you trim away any and all unwanted fat, as well as the "silver skin" found within pork.
• Do your best to trim the meat down to whole pounds for easy math down the road.
• The less your boneless pork loin weighs, the quicker it can finish cooking.
• Weight is incredibly important when it comes to assessing just how much seasoning is required for the meat.
• Place your meat on the scale and zero in on its weight as soon as you can.
• While you can still have acceptable Canadian bacon if you hiccup on the seasoning, the same cannot be said when it comes to the amount of cure you apply to the meat.
• Because the meat's weight is so important to proper curing, many people who cure meat tend to measure by weight, usually down to the gram, instead of relying upon measuring spoons.
• Combine your cure and sugar into a single bowl.
• Grab a big handful of the mixture and rub it all over the pork loin, making sure to get it into every crevice.
• Once you have saturated the loin with sugar and cure, toss it into the gallon Zip-Lock bag along with any remaining cure.
• Take the bagged pork loin, push out every molecule of air that you possibly can, then seal the bag.
• Lay the bagged loin within a pan to minimize the fallout from a leak.
• Put the panned-and-bagged loin into your refrigerator.
• Ensure the fridge's temperature is set between 33° and 40° Fahrenheit; anything colder inhibits curing and anything warmer could spoil your loin before it can properly cure.
• The loin requires a number of days to cure equal to half its thickness in inches, divided by four; for example, a 3" thick pork loin would require six days of curing because 0.25 goes into 1.5 six times.
• Make sure to flip the loin each day, this will ensure that the cure maintains an even distribution across and within the pork loin.
• If you are still leery of under-curing the loin, give it an extra two days.
• Once your pork loin has been given the appropriate amount of time to cure, remove it from its bag and rinse it free of any remaining cure using cold water.
• Slice off a small piece of the loin and fry it to an even brown using a pan and either a pat of butter of 1 teaspoon of oil.
• Once you've properly cooked the loin, give it a taste to gauge the salt content; if you detect too much salt, you can soak it in cold water, possibly with some quartered raw potatoes, for half an hour.
• While you may not need to do this, it is a handy trick to know.
• You've got a basic Canadian bacon; feel free to add the various seasonings on the ingredients list at this point, seasonings like paprika, onion powder and black pepper.
• Once everything checks out with the cured loin, start your smoker up and get it around 180° to 200° Fahrenheit.
• For wood you can use anything you like as a smoky flavor, like applewood. Put your Canadian bacon into the smoker and cook it until you reach the desired internal temperature.
• Stop once the meat reaches an internal temperature of 140° Fahrenheit.
• While this will preserve some moisture, you must cook this bacon through before consuming it.
• Stop at an internal temperature of 160° Fahrenheit.
• This is the ideal approach for keeping it primed and ready within the fridge for sandwiches, pizza, omelets or whatever you might want to add it to.

MAPLE CANADIAN BACON

Steps:

• Mix the tender quick, sugar, pepper, pepper flakes, and hickory seasoning in a bowl.
• Coat the pork heavily on all sides with the dry rub. Vacuum seal the bags, wrap them in several layers of plastic bags, or use plastic curing trays. Cure in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days. You'll know the cure is done when you slice a piece of pork and it's no longer pink.
• Rinse the pork under cold water and pat dry. Return it to the fridge for 12 to 24 hours, so it can develop a sticky skin (called a "pellicle"). This will help the smoke penetrate the meat.
• Preheat the grill to 150 degrees F (66 degrees C). Light a wedgie with maple pellets.
• Smoked the pork for 6 hours until it reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees F (63 degrees C).
• Let it cool before slicing, thick or thin.

MAPLE-CURED CANADIAN BACON

Steps:

• Stir together water, salt, brown sugar, Instacure, and vanilla in storage tub until solids are dissolved, about 3 minutes, then add maple syrup and stir until dissolved. Add ice and stir until cure is cold (ice may not be completely melted; keeping liquid cold slows salt absorption).
• Add pork to cure, then weight with a large plate to keep submerged. Chill, tub covered with a lid or plastic wrap, 36 hours.
• Rinse pork and pat dry, then discard brine.
• Prepare grill and smoke bacon:
• Open vents on bottom of grill and on lid. Remove lid and top rack from grill, then center disposable roasting pan on lower rack. Add 6 cups hardwood sawdust to pan.
• Light 5 briquettes in chimney starter. When briquettes are fully lit (covered completely with gray ash and glowing), transfer with tongs to sawdust, spacing evenly.
• When sawdust begins to smolder, replace top rack and arrange pork pieces on rack about 1 inch apart. Cover grill with lid, then insert thermometer into a vent hole in lid to monitor air temperature, which should be 80 to 120°F. (If temperature rises above 120°F, remove 1 or more briquettes or uncover grill slightly until temperature falls. If temperature falls below 80°F, light 1briquette and add to sawdust.)
• Smoke pork, adding 1 cup sawdust to roasting pan and stirring with tongs every 11/2 hours to ignite unburned sawdust, 8 hours. Cool completely, then chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until ready to use.
• Cut finished bacon crosswise into 1/8- to 1/4-inch-thick slices (or roast whole; see cooks' note, below) and fry in a nonstick skillet over moderate heat, turning, until browned. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
• Available at The Sausage Maker (888-490-8525).