I like the taste of ground dry chipotle on bacon. Chipotle is made from dried ground jalapenos and add a nice taste with a mellow heat. I have made it before but I make it here with a video on the process.
Canadian bacon is called back bacon here in Canada. It is made with pork loin and is lean and tasty.
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.
Some pork loins have a thick fat cap. You can trim the fat or leave it on depending how much bacon you like on your bacon.
Weigh your piece of pork. For each kilogram of meat, mix together:
- 3 grams (2 ml) Prague powder #1
- 30 ml brown sugar
- 15 ml kosher salt
If you work with US measures, for each pound of meat, mix together:
- 0.05 ounce (1/5 teaspoon) Prague powder #1
- 2 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Make sure you adjust the proportions to the weight of the pork. If you have kilograms of meat, double the rub ingredients.
Put the meat on a plate or tray. You will be rubbing the cure rub into the meat and you want to catch any that falls off.
Rub the cure rub into all surfaces.
Put the meat in a resealable bag or a vacuum bag sealed on one end. Get as much of the rub that fell onto the plate or tray into the bag as you can. Seal the bag. If you are using a vacuum bag, seal it but do not suck the air out.
Put the bag in the fridge. Some people use the calculation of three days for each inch of thickness plus one day. I like to let it sit for about 12 days. Turn the meat every day or two and rub the meat. There will be a lot of liquid form in the first day or two. That is normal.
Take the meat out of the bag and rinse it under cold water. Soak it in cold water for 1 hour, changing the water once. Put the meat on a rack and pat it dry with paper towel.
You need to get the surface of the meat very dry. You can put it in front of a fan or in a ventilated smoker or oven without smoke at 140 to 150 F. I find what works best for me is to put it in the fridge, uncovered, overnight.
When the surface is dry, rub the chipotle powder on all surfaces. I used 10 ml per kilogram or 1 teaspoon per pound. This gives a mild heat. You can use up to twice as much if you like spicier.
I preheated my smoker to 180 F and smoked the bacon to an internal temperature of 140 F. This took about 3 1/2 hours.
I let it cool and put it in the fridge overnight.
I sliced it up and gave it a try!
The Verdict
This is great bacon. Of course it has the salty sweet taste of bacon but the chipotle adds great undertone of mellow heat that I just love. This is a favourite and makes a great breakfast and is super on a sandwich!
Here is the video of this process.
The Old Fat Guy
Ingredients
- Metric Measures:
- 1 kg pork loin
- 3 grams (2 ml) Prague powder #1
- 30 ml brown sugar
- 15 ml kosher salt
- 10 ml dried ground chipotle
- US Measures:
- 1 pound pork loin
- 0.05 ounces (1/5 tsp) Prague Powder #1
- 2 1/2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp dried ground chipotle
Instructions
- Mix the Prague powder, brown sugar and salt together.
- Put the pork on a plate or tray.
- Rub the mixture over the pork.
- Put the pork in a resealable bag or vacuum bag. Put any of the mixture that fell onto the plate into the bag.
- Seal and put in the fridge for 12 days, turning and massaging every day or so.
- Remove the pork from the bag and rinse under cold water.
- Soak in cold water for 60 minutes, changing the water once.
- Pat the pork dry with a paper towel. Put it on a rack and refrigerate, uncovered, overnight to dry the surface.
- Rub the chipotle onto the pork.
- Smoke the pork at 180 F to an internal temperature of 140 F.
- Let the pork cool overnight.
- Slice and freeze any bacon that won't be used within a week.
4 Responses
very nice Dave,,, wife likes sweet .. thats why the maple buckboard bacon made me the baconator at the house .. lol
My missus agrees with her but you have me thinking. What about Maple Chipotle Bacon! It must be tried. Thanks for the inspiration.
lol ……………………. I am watching
Thanks