Homemade Canadian Bacon
I tried my hand at making homemade Canadian bacon! Yes! It came out brilliantly! It’s the perfect recipe if you want to get into curing and don’t want a huge time commitment or if you just want the best damned Canadian bacon on the planet!
Bold statement, but true. At least I think so.
When I told my wife I wanted to make some homemade Canadian bacon, I saw her soul die a little bit. She hates Canadian bacon. But I finally convinced her to give up a little bit of room in the fridge for a few days to make it happen.
It didn’t take long, it was really easy and it was just a short smoke at the end. Let me tell ya, when I sliced that baby up it blew my mind. It was unlike any processed, nasty Canadian bacon I’ve ever had. My wife tried it and I saw her soul come back and might have even fluffed up a little bit!
We ate on this a bit for breakfast but we sliced the bulk of it, vacuum sealed it into servings for two and froze them. We thought man, we have enough Canadian bacon here to last a good while….um, WRONG! It was gone before we knew it.
I mean we ate every bit of it – for breakfast, in collard greens, on pizza, in soup, on sandwiches. It’s a work horse, I’ll tell ya.
So, don’t be afraid, cure that meat! Seriously, this is a great beginner curing recipe. You don’t need any special equipment, except for a vessel large enough to hold the loin and the liquid and Insta Cure #1, and it doesn’t take too much time.
Homemade Canadian Bacon
Ingredients
- 5 pound pork loin, cut in half if you need to fit it in vessel
- 1 gallon filtered or distilled water
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon Insta Cure #1 (Prague Powder)
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
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Mix all ingredients together in a small pot, except the pork loin, over medium low heat until dissolved.
Once it's dissolved, let it cool a bit. Use your meat injector and inject the brine about every 1 inch or so, from the top, about halfway down.
Place the meat in the brine, and top with a saucer to keep it from floating up out of the brine.
Brine in your fridge for 12-14 days.
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After 12-14 days, you'll want to test the salt level: Remove the loin and slice of a piece and fry it up. If it's too salty, soak it in filtered water for a few hours. Test it again. With the mixture above, it was perfect without soaking, but you should test it to be on the safe side.
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If you like what you taste, it's time to smoke it. Fire up your smoker, however you do your smoker, and smoke the loin at 225° for about 1.5 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 145°. Remove from the heat.
That's it! Enjoy!
Want to see how it’s done? 👇
I have done this numerous times with the exact recipe doing normal bacon and also have cured for 12 days and then rolled in Cormeal for the actual real Canadian bacon “Peameal” lol my opinion. Have also done some pork shoulders with this brine and has worked great!!!!
I have made this numerous times and I’m not a smoked loin lover so I bake mine in the oven at the same temp until it reaches 145 degrees. I cool it, stick it in the fridge for a day and then slice it on my meat slicer. My family loves it more than store bought Canadian bacon.
I guess I should have read closer where it said this was unlike any processed nasty Canadian Bacon I ever had because he’s right. It’s more like a smoked pork loin with the very slightest flavor of Canadian Bacon and nowhere near the texture. I was looking to make my own Canadian Bacon, not a smoked loin.
Sorry you didn’t enjoy your “Canadian Bacon”. I have not made this where it tastes like “a smoked loin” but I also was not looking to recreate the processed Canadian bacon you would get in a store (to me the texture of that is not great). I’m not sure how to achieve that texture and flavor of what you would buy in a store but if you come up with a great recipe I would love to hear back from you and give it a shot.
I’ve made this recipe a few times now. I wanted CB for pizzas and breakfast sandwiches so I brined the loin as mentioned, I grind the loin and stuff it into a summer sausage casing and it turns out perfect. Yes, it looks like store bought, but I know what’s in it!😉
Can I use my Big Chief Smoker that only reaches 165degrees?
Paul, I haven’t tried it that low, but I don’t see why not – just get it to 145°. I’m not sure how long that will take or if it will change the texture any, but I would love to hear back on your results!
I use a pit Boss Laredo with the same recipe and it is awesome the only thing I do differently is I rince it well before smoking otherwise it’s just a little to salty for my pallet.
Can the smoke flavor be replaced by adding liquid smoke to the brine if I don’t have a smoker? (Followed by a slow oven cook?)
Or do I just need to go make a friend who has a smoker?? 😂😂
I haven’t tried it but you won’t achieve the same smoke flavor. Make a friend with a smoker!!!
Hi. Someone inquired about whether or not to halve the ingredients for the brine if using half the amount of meat. Do you know? Also, what smoke did you choose to use? Thanks.
I’m assuming if you’re using half the meat you can half the brine, but I have not done it this way. I use applewood for this, as it’s mild and doesn’t take it over.
Of course just make sure the meat is submerged the entire brining process!
What are your thoughts on this working with pork tenderloin cut? Thanks!
You’ll need to cut down the smoking time is all because the cut of meat is thinner and will take less time to reach internal temp! Unless you like pork Jerky
Gave your recipe a try, After 14 days the brine is very cloudy brown , not sure if it smells right. Meat is still soft, not stiff and looks still raw. This is Nov. 30, 2023. does not smell like bacon at all. May be the onion garlic in the mixture? What say Ye?
If it’s a question if it smells it probably does. Your nose will never steer you wrong.
Um, have you smoked it? The brining alone does not do the job.
Yes sir, as per the written recipe (and the video), I did smoke it.
It will be cloudy & brown a) from the brown sugar and b) from the osmolar draw of blood from the meat! If it’s been refrigerated consistently it should be fine! It’s only curing the meat and it will firm up under smoke & temp!
What is the cure #1 (Prague powder) and where can we buy it??
It is also known as curing salt found in most grocery stores. It it a fine, pink powder unlike canning salt. I get it at the local grocer because I can buy a small amount instead of five pound bags.
Princess auto has a Maple Bacon mix…I add a touch more Kosher Salt…yum
Do not use #1 curing salt like table salt…..it will kill you! It can cause cardiac arrhythmias & death! It’s poison to use like table salt! I can’t express this enough!!
That’s not accurate at all, you just have to be careful using it. Ever see the “uncured” meats in the store? Read the ingredients, most will include “celery juice” or “extract”. That’s the same thing, sodium nitrite, just a different source!
To do 80lbs at once do I just increase all the recipe ingredients including the water? Or can we make the brine using less water and more salts with us rotating the meat around in the brine twice daily. Will everything brine correctly before smoking
Man, I’m gonna be honest…I don’t have experience with that amount of meat and brine.
If I have a 2.5 pound pork loin could or do I reduce the brine by half?
After smoking meat and reaching an internal temp of 145 degrees will you be able to eat the meat right from that state or will it require additional cooking, like frying, before eating?
Thank you.
No ma’am, since it’s cured, you can eat it just like that when you pull it from the smoker. I do like to fry my in a skillet before eating, but not necessary.
On a 4 – 5 lb loin cold smoke it at temperatures below 70 degrees for 20 – 24 hours. 12 hours one day, put it in the refrigerator overnight, smoke again for 12 hours, put in refrigerator overnight. Then sous vide it for 3 hours and 45 minutes at a temp of 142 degrees. Don’t worry about bacteria because the prague powder #1 will kill it, plus cooking it in a sous vide will eliminate any bacteria.
Your recipe is for a 5 lb pork loin, if the loin is say 8 to 10 lbs do you increase the ingredients accordingly?
It depends on if you can submerge your loin. There is a lot of brine, I think one batch of brine may be enough, but if you put your loin in there and it’s not fully covered, then you will want to make another batch of brine – but test it first to see if you have enough with one batch.
Your recipe calls for 225 degree smoking, but in your video you did 325 degrees. Did you decide 325 wasn’t required? Also, I’ve not mastered smoking but will meat stall at the lower temperatures? I thought it stalled at a higher temperature, but maybe that’s just for beef. Looks good!
ETA, beef like brisket. I’ve been watching some beef brisket smoking videos.
Not necessarily. The smoking temperature doesn’t really matter all that much. In the video, the smoker I was using runs hot. My other smokers can get low. You want to cook it to the correct internal temperature, so the only real difference the temperature makes is how long the meat will be in the smoker. You can smoke it at 200 if you want and can get your smoker that low, and it’ll have a big smoke flavor from staying in smoke for so long. I’ve done at the 220-ish mark and more in the 300-ish mark and they’re both crazy delicious.
In regards to the stall, I’ve had every kind of meat stall on me. Sometimes I can power right through it, sometimes it takes a bit and honestly, I have never paid attention to when the stall comes for different types of meat.
Thanks for the reply. I’m very new to smoking and from what I’ve seen brisket stalls at about 170 – 175 degrees, so that’s why I asked. I thought maybe pork was different because you only raised the temp to 145 so it never got near the stall stage. I’m just learning.
By the way, I’ve always loved your beard but it is getting even more impressive.