Cow Lick'd Canadian Bacon

Ingredients

- Pork loin roast(s), eye portion preferred
- 1 Gallon water
- Curing ingredients, on plate to the right, clockwise from pink curing agent:
- 3 oz Prague Powder #1 or Modern Cure (available at butcher supply stores or via internet. Morton's TenderQuik can be substituted in amount of 1.25 cups, but omit the pickling salt.)
- 1 cup Pickling Salt
- 3 bay leaves
- 1.25 cups brown sugar
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons Dizzy Pig Cow Lick Steak Rub
- 1 tablespoon juniper berries, slightly crushed
- 1/2 tablespoon black peppercorns
- Cheesecloth, suitable for wrapping the brine ingredients, making disposal easier after brining. This is optional; I didn't use it.

Oh, a quick note on the curing agent; it is intentionally dyed pink so that it is not mistaken for 'regular' salt.....

Bring all ingredients together with the 1 gallon of water and boil hard for about 10 minutes to ensure everything is dissolved and flavors captured from the garlic, bay leaves berries and peppercorns.

Remove pot from heat, strain curing brine if you prefer (I do not), and let cool to 38°F, which is your ideal temp. Add the loin(s) and weigh down with a plate if necessary to ensure they remain submerged in the brine.

If using large loins, you can use a cooks' syringe to inject strained curing brine into the heart of the meat to ensure complete curing. With the ones pictured here, I just did a straight soak for 7 days. Suggested soak time is 5-7 days. If using multiple pieces of pork that might be resting on each other, it wouldn't hurt to flip them within the brine about halfway through the curing process to allow brine to reach all surface area of the meat.

After the 5-7 days of soaking, remove the pork loins from the curing brine. At this point they can be rinsed/soaked in clean, cold water to remove some of the saltiness of the brine (I did this for 30 minutes). Depending on your taste/tolerance of the salt content in cured meat, you may want to skip this step entirely or soak/rinse for up to 2 hours (change the water a couple of times if going this length of time).

Next, pat the loins dry with paper towel or dry cloth. Apply a thin coating of the Dizzy Pig Cow Lick Steak Rub.

Prepare an indirect fire in your cooker, aiming for a temperature of 225°F. Use the smokewood of your choice. As you can see in the picture above, I've chosen to go with a good-sized chunk of cherry, some Jack Daniel oak barrel chunks and a hint o' sweet pecan.

The target internal temperature of the cook will be determined largely by your finished intention for the pork loins. If you are looking for a breakfast bacon to be fried before eating, then an internal of 140-145°F will be ideal. For a finished fully-cooked product, keep cooking to internal of 155-160°F.

The loins came off the cooker at 145°F internal, as it's my intention to use them as a breakfast bacon. After resting briefly, the loins are sliced in 1/4" slices, here using my new Wustof 'Super Slicer', which does a great job with consistent results.

The bacon can be fried up immediately or kept in the fridge with much the same shelf-life as other commercial cured bacons. It also freezes well, especially when pre-sliced with pieces of waxed paper placed between the slices.

For breakfast bacon, fry the cured pork loins using a bit of oil, for 2-3 minutes per side over medium heat until outside caramelizes a bit and loins are heated through.

Give it a try, and Enjoy!

Qfan