Smoked Pork Loin

The last time I made buckboard bacon, I was reading through the directions and decided to cure and smoke a pork loin that was in the freezer. I had made Canadian bacon before, using basically the same idea but with a different recipe and it was good but I wanted to try the one at Playing with Fire and Smoke.

You don’t need a fancy smoker to do this. It can be done on a larger (anything larger enough to get indirect heat) grill. It always aggravates me when I read “YOU MUST TRY THIS!” but seriously, YOU MUST TRY THIS! It is so good, and so easy, and pretty failproof. One day for lunch, I baked sweet potatoes and served this “ham” and we both decided we’ll never buy deli meat again. Vince said “Get several of these and let’s do them and we’ll get out the big slicer, shave it all and freeze it.” I love the way he throws around “we” in that statement. He will have to do the slicing . . that thing scares me.

As you can see, there’s already some missing before I took the picture. I started sampling on the end and then took a couple of slices to a friend to try.

This was only part of the loin. After I had cured it, I sliced off 3 thick pieces for pork chops and we had grilled them.

Aren’t those slices pretty? This would make great sandwiches, ham for breakfast, pizza topping . . whatever you want to use it for.

When I got to the end, instead of slicing off my finger, I just cut those going the wrong direction. I think I’m going to mix the little pieces with BBQ sauce and serve it on buns this weekend.

If you try it, my recommendation is to be sure and don’t skip the following steps:

1. Rinse the meat well and soak in water for 24 hours. You may want to change the water out at least once during that time. This helps remove some of the excess salt. When I had made Canadian bacon before, I rinsed it but didn’t soak it and it was a bit too salty.
2. Let it sit, uncovered in the fridge, for at least 8 hours. According to Playing with Fire & Smoke, the rest helps the cure disperse through the meat. I didn’t allow the first Canadian bacon I made to rest and I think that may have made a difference in the texture of the meat.

Pork loins are often on sale at the grocery stores. I’ll be watching for those next time so I can do several more of these.