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Covid Bacons – Bacon, Buckboard Bacon & Canadian (Back) Bacon

One of the things I did in my COVID 19 isolation is go through my freezer. I found a pork belly, a pork shoulder and a pork loin roast. It was obviously time to make bacon.

Each of these pork cuts make a different kind of bacon but the process for each is the same. Pork belly makes regular side bacon. Pork Shoulder makes buckboard bacon. Pork loin makes back bacon. As for back bacon, Americans call that Canadian bacon.

To make dry cured bacon you need to understand the process of curing. You make a mixture of salt, curing salt and a sweetener.

The salt pulls the moisture out of the meat.

The curing salt is a mixture of salt and sodium nitrite that gives the bacon its cured flavour and red colour. It also inhibits bacterial growth. Bacon is cooked at low temperatures and cured for a long period of time. Without the curing salts, the meat may spoil. The curing salt usually used is called Prague Powder #1, Instacure #1 or many other names. Whatever it is called, you are looking for a product that is 93.75% salt and 6.25% sodium nitrite.

It is important that you don’t use too much curing salt as excessive sodium nitrite is bad for you. It is important to not use too little or the pork may spoil during smoking.

To make each bacon you must prepare the meat.

For the pork shoulder, remove any skin and cut the roast into slabs. For the pork belly, remove the skin. For the pork loin, you do not have to trim unless you want to remove some of the fat cap.

After this, each piece of pork can be prepared the same. Start by weighing each piece of pork.

You will need to make a cure mix for each piece of pork. Work with one piece at a time.

If you are working in metric, for each kilogram the piece weighs, mix:

  • 30 ml/25.8 grams of brown sugar
  • 15 ml/19.2 grams of kosher salt
  • 2.3 ml/3 grams Prague powder #1

In pounds, for each pound piece weighs, mix:

  • 2 1/2 teaspoons/0.35 oz brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon/0.3 oz Kosher salt
  • 1/5 teaspoon/0.04 oz Prague powder #1

So, multiply the amounts above by the weight of the meat (for example 2 kg of pork would need 60 ml (51.56 grams) of brown sugar – 2 times 30 ml (25.8 grams))

Put the meat on a plate or tray and rub the cure mix in.

Put the meat in a resealable plastic bag or a vacuum sealer bag. Scrape any rub the fell onto the plate into the bag. Seal the bag but do not suck the air out.

Repeat for each piece of meat.

Put the meat in the fridge. Measure the thickest part of the pieces. You will need to leave the meat in the fridge for 4 days per inch (2.5 cm) of the meat plus 2 days. So, a 2-inch (5 cm) thickness will need 10 days (4 times 2 plus 2). Turn the meat and massage every day or two.

Take the meat out and soak it in cold water for an hour, changing the water once.

Pat the meat dry with paper towel and put it in the fridge, uncovered, overnight for the surface to dry.

I smoked at 200 F to an internal temperature of 145 F in my Traeger Timberline.

I let it cool and then refrigerated for a day and sliced.

Of course, you must try some!

The Verdict

I love home made bacon! The Canadian (Back) Bacon is very lean. The belly bacon has that great bacon crunch. The Buckboard bacon is between the two. They all have a nice mild smoke taste and a great balance of salt and sugar!

The Old Fat Guy

Covid Bacons – Bacon, Buckboard Bacon & Canadian (Back) Bacon

Covid Bacons – Bacon, Buckboard Bacon & Canadian (Back) Bacon

Ingredients

  • pork loin, shoulder or belly
  • Metric per KG of pork
  • 30 ml/25.8 grams of brown sugar
  • 15 ml/19.2 grams of kosher salt
  • 2.3 ml/3 grams Prague powder #1
  • US for each pound of pork
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons/0.35 oz brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon/0.3 oz Kosher salt
  • 1/5 teaspoon/0.04 oz Prague powder #1

Instructions

  1. If using pork shoulder, remove any skin and cut into slabs.
  2. If using pork belly, remove any skin
  3. If using pork loin, trim fat cap if desired.
  4. Work with one piece of meat at a time.
  5. Mix the remaining ingredients together.
  6. Put the pork on a plate or tray. Rub the curing mix into the surface.
  7. Put the pork in a resealable bag or a vacuum sealer bag. Scrape any mix that fell onto the plate into the bag. Seal the bag but do not suck the air out.
  8. Measure the thickest part of a slab. The meat needs to be in the fridge for 4 days for each inch plus 2 days.
  9. Turn the meat and massage every day or two.
  10. Remove the meat from the bag and soak in cold water for one hour, changing the water once.
  11. Pat the meat dry with a paper towel and put it in the fridge, uncovered, overnight to dry the surface.
  12. Smoke the meat at 200 F to an internal temperature of 145 F.
  13. Let cool to room temperature.
  14. Refrigerate overnight and slice.
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4 Responses

  1. I’m curious as to why you say not to suck the air out of the vacuum bag when curing? Thanks for the great site, it is inspiring.

  2. Hi,
    I’m curious why you’re not using the standard .25% cure and 2.5% of sodium in your Back Bacon recipe? I have your recipe for wet brining (turned out really good thanks) i put together the meat and water and weighed, did the math for the salts and it came out being .3 on the cure and 1.9% salt. I compared it with your dry cure recipe for Back Bacon and they’re the same. My question is why do you vary from the standard? Forgive me if there’s a range for both as i’ve not been able to find it.
    Thank you for your time.

    1. First, “standard” is a relative term. Both US and Canadian health organizations allow up to 200 ppm for surface curing like brine soaking and curing rubs. My cure levels are within that range. As for salt content, you need salt to bring out some of the moisture but as long as you have enough for that purpose, you can cut back a bit which I choose to do because it I like a little bit less salt just by personal preference.

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