Maple Cured Canadian Bacon Food

MAPLE-CURED CANADIAN BACON RECIPE

Steps:

• To make the cure, combine 1 quart of water, kosher salt, maple syrup, brown sugar, pink salt, bay leaves, garlic, and peppercorns in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve salt and sugar. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Transfer to a large container and stir in remaining 3 quarts of water. Place in refrigerator until completely chilled. Fully submerge pork loin in cure and let sit in refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
• Remove pork from cure and place in large container. Add enough fresh water to fully submerge loin. Let sit for 30 minutes, then remove pork from water and pat dry with paper towels.
• Fire up the smoker or grill to 225°F (107°C), adding chunks of smoking wood when at temperature. When wood is ignited and producing smoke, place pork in and cook until an instant-read thermometer registers 140°F (60°C) when inserted into thickest part of the pork loin, about 2 to 3 hours.
• Let pork cool for 30 minutes. Slice and pan fry before serving.

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).

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 MUSTARD-GLAZED CANADIAN BACON

Steps:

• Preheat broiler.
• In a small bowl stir together mustard, syrup, and cayenne. Arrange bacon slices in one layer on rack of a broiler pan or in a jelly-roll pan and brush 1 side of each bacon slice generously with glaze. Broil bacon about 4 inches from heat 3 minutes. Turn bacon and broil just until golden around edges, 3 to 4 minutes.

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.