Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Peameal bacon.....and the result is

An update.

I boiled the brine by half. Then added cold water for the other half to speed up the cooling. There really wasn't so much salt that it wouldn't have dissolved in cold water but I figured it might help release the flavor of the other whole spices.

Trimmed the fat and silver skin off the loin after cutting it in half. I picked up some 2 gallon Hefty slide-loc bags as I couldn't find Ziploc bags that size locally. I will never use those again as they do not seal. They let the brine leak out even when the tops were rolled and clipped. Good thing I put them in a plastic dish pan rather than just on a baking sheet as I had planned!

I let them cure in the refrigerator from Saturday afternoon the 6th and took them out yesterday morning. I rinsed them in cold water, patted them dry and then rolled them in corn meal. After that back in the fridge uncovered to them the meal form a coating.

Got them out this morning and sliced some off to fry for breakfast. All I can say is I will be doing this again! Very tasty!

I wrapped the rest in foil and have it in the freezer to firm up a bit for easier slicing in a few hours. Then will package and vac seal for use later.

Looks great!!! What spices did you end up using for it?

I used this recipe.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Peameal-Bacon-368929

And I did use 2 tablespoons Prague powder #1 cure. The recipe shows it as optional but I am of the opinion it shoudln't be.

The end product is very tender when fried and makes a heck of a nice breakfast sandwich with an egg

That came out nice.

can I try a slice? please.........

We have a complete kitchen waiting at deer camp !

Did you end up injecting it?

I have a loin in the fridge I plan on starting this maybe tomorrow but I'm thinking of maybe injecting it just a bit and then doing a dry rub on the outside, from there maybe smoke it tell 125-130 F.

Haven't deiced how I'm going to attempt it quite yet.

I did inject mine lightly about every inch or so. Next batch I will smoke some after brining.

Remind me and I will bring some along.

Looks good...

Thank you and it is very good. I would like to look into other spices for the next batch. Even though the maple syrup was in there it didn't make much of an impression.

Other than sitting next to a couple eggs and toast, which I could eat three times a day, not sure what other uses that the Canadians have for peameal bacon, but I'm sure you'll think of something...sandwiches I spose...

Do you have a recipe that uses margarine?

sandwich was how I saw it first used on a hard roll

Question: Can Morton's Tender Quick be substituted for Prague Powder #1? I am not familiar with using either one, but I can get the Tender Quick at a local store ($4.00/2 lb. bag).

Not sure . I had tender quick but just ordered Prague #1 from www.myspicesage.com most affordable fresh spices I have found.

Mouth watering here. I bet that would do a damned fine Eggs Benedict.

looks good

Too much trouble , can buy them on sale for 4 bucks or so. I wash the meal off , hit them with a rub and toss em in the smoker. They make a good boiled dinner to.

Well share a recipe or two!

Not available anywhere near here....so we have to make it. If it doesn't say Oscar Meyer on the package you won't find it in either of our two lame grocery stores.

My recipe's are pretty much standard. Buy food , season , apply heat and eat.

I am wondering from reading other sources if 2 Tbsp of Prague #1 is too much?

Bet you could make a nice hash out of it, too...sounds like great campfire fare...

this recipe uses Morton Tenderquick

http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/search?q=+peameal

Thats the best part of using it for a boiled dinner , the next mornings hash.

I would not use it.

Morton's Tender Quick is a mixture of sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite, whereas Cure #1's are straight Sodium Nitrate. What eh76 used was Prague Powder #1 which is nitrite only and used in most ham crafting. Two completely different things.

I called Morton today and asked their nitrate/nitrite levels and they stated that composition of Morton Tender Quick is sodium Nitrate is 5% and sodium nitrite is 5%. They also put some sugar (I heard it was 2%) and a touch of Propylene Glycol as a moisture desiccant.

The recipe calls for "2 tablespoons Prague powder #1 cure" nitrite in this type is "about" 6%??? So to get the same effects you would need to increase get the Morton up to the same level, which might be too salty. You would have to adjust the total salt content to match. The problem here is the amount of nitrite that's in it.

One issue you could run into is "Over Cure", because the nitrate will convert over to nitrite adding to the total nitrite count.

Some of the # 2 cures (Morton Tender Quick is one type) in the professional world is around the 5-6% areas, fairly close in composition of nitrate/nitrite to each other. Tender Quick is a bit watered down version of sodium nitrate/nitrite if this information is true. However, the recipe does stated that there is no need to cure, however I would use cure because of the immersion in liquid speeds spoilage, not to mention overall safety of the product against Staph Aureus and Clostridium.


I see this in a lot of different forums and searches for cure. People are under the perception that all of these curing salts are the same, and they are not. They have different amounts of active curing agents and different kinds for different meat products, not to mention different recipes for the same type of end compounds. What I mean by this is one companies #1 cure can have a different % than another companies #1 cure %.

There is actually a science behind their use. You simply can't just substitute one for the other and everything will turn out the same way.


Hope this clears up some miss conceptions out there.

Thanks for that! It answers my question too!

noodlz please explain "boiled dinner". That is something we don't hear down in Wyoming. How long are you boiling the meat. Is it whole? Are you adding vegetables at different stages?

My guess is he's referring to a corn beef style meal...

This.... Meat for a couple hours or so depending on size then toss in veggies till done. The liquid makes for good bean soup stock.

That is exactly what I do with the liquid from boiled corned beef...

One from the smoker. I use a rub with a lot of heat , it goes good with the sweetness of the cure.

Thanks noodlz!

Dang that looks good!!!

I trimmed almost all of the fat off mine to get to the silver skin that was left. Next time I am leaving it on I think since I am injecting it. You gents see any problem with doing that?

The stuff I use says 1 Tsp. per 5 lbs. of meat

That is what I was wondering Chris. In 3 qts of water it didn't seem like much but I am a novice at this.

Well not all the cure is going into the meat if your brining it the way you did. I would assume you are actually quite low in overall ppm.

The point of the matter is, you should follow the manufactures instructions. If they say 1 tsp in a brine of 3 qt water then that is what you should be using. Quite possibly their cure salt recipe could be of a higher nitrite level not needing as much as the other brand.

I'm going to do what they call a "combination cure". What this means is I'm going to do and injectable and then apply a dry rub then let it sit for about a week or so under refrigeration then wash it off. I will take my cure to lb. ratio according to the manufactures directions and divide it in half. One of these will go into the rub, the other into the injectable.

When I inject flavorings I put all the spices into a large coffee cup, add about 1/3 water and heat. Let her boil a few times then for a few minutes between then pour the mixture into an old reusable coffee filter that I sit in a measuring cup. I use the back of a spoon to remove the excess water from the spices and then discard the spice. Then let it cool back down tell nice and warm and add my cure and stir a few times until it's dissolved and inject.

The instructions were in the recipe not on the pkg of Prague #1. Thanks for the tips.

I've never heard of it Keith, but it sure looks and sounds good. What purpose does the corn meal serve?

Mike

Holy schit ..... Gonna start smuggling it . Hunk like that can be bought on sale for five bucks or so.

Now you know why we are making it...not too much trouble at all

I picked up on it on one of the food shows that was filmed in Quebec. It sounded good so I searched for a recipe. I can't remember the reasoning behind the cornmeal. They used meal from crushed yellow peas originally.

keep it up and eventually you'll be a hoser, eh...

Take off eh!

very upset that thou hast peameal bacon and I have not...may have to find my passport and embark on a road trip

If you're gonna make the drive I'll trade for Pappy Van Winkle's.

I'm in for trade, but dunno what that is...

Here's what I bought, when not scarfing peameal at a restaurant. Weren't cheap either...

Schneiders Country Naturals Peameal Style Back Bacon

Pappy Van Winkle's

Get your check book out

Did ya notice "celery extract" and they call it " free of artificial ingredients and preservatives" well Celery is actually a natural Nitrite.

Technically the industry has to label it as an ingredient but they can still claim preservative free, which technically it is NOT. It is all a big load of crap. Always laugh my a$$ off every time I go into a health food store an pick up products then explain them to consumers.

Most of the health nuts eat vegetables that have far more natural Nitrite then any bacon or hot dog could dream of.

Just my 2 cents on those products.....

Remember that is disclosed in accordance with Canadian law...perhaps identical to the US provisions.

Be worth a trunkload of these though.

I'll betchya the LCBO charges a pretty penny for that...

They don't even know what it is.

why do they even call this stuff 'bacon'. It's not.

Bacon is cut from pork belly, and is fatty. The flavor is in the dang fat.
Might have known this would be a Canadian product.

All true, but it is a tasty alternative...

The flavor is from the cure and smoking, otherwise it's just nasty plain pork.

One reason the describe it as bacon may be because its often fried and put next to eggs and toast.

That looks really good. Ive never heard of this type of meat before.

The flavor is from the cure, the smoke, the fat, and any other ingredients added. For instance if you wanted a Honey Cure then you would add a slightly higher salt content, honey, water and any other spice you want. After they cure you end up condensing these flavors all together while cooking.

Actually bacon is a "type" not just a particular portion. If you just say bacon then yes, however this is Peameal Bacon. Here's a cut out of the USDA Labeling Guideline which describes it very well.

BACON:
The term �bacon� is used to describe the cured belly of a swine carcass. If meat from other portions of the carcass is used, the product name must be qualified to identify the portions, e.g., �Pork Shoulder Bacon.�