Maple Canadian Bacon Food

CANADIAN BACON WITH MAPLE GLAZE (BASIC RECIPE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C).
• Combine vinegar, maple syrup, and brown sugar in a bowl. Set aside.
• Slice Canadian bacon about ½-inch thick. Arrange the slices in a casserole or baking dish, and spoon the syrup mixture over the slices.
• Bake for 30 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature. (To serve as a snack, cut slices into bite-sized pieces and serve with toothpicks.).

MAPLE GLAZED CANADIAN BACON

Steps:

• Combine syrup, brown sugar, mustard, lemon juice and salt in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat.
• Stir until mixed.
• When hot, add bacon slices and gently shake pan until the bacon slices are coated.
• Remove from heat and transfer bacon to serving platter.
• Brush with additional glaze.
• Serve immediately.

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).