Cure question

[NEUT6899]

I am going to try my hand at making Canadian Bacon for the first time. I put a small pork loin in a brine last Sat and was planning on smoking it this weekend. My question is about the cure salt. Do you think that using cure that came in a Jerky Kit is okay or do I need to use a different cure? Do I need to scrap the whole idea and start over with a different cure? I have no problem tossing this loin if its going to be questionable... Any info is appreciated.

[jentz]

If you already put it in a cure,You may as well try it.You dont need to smoke it unless you decide to.Slice a couple 1/8 inch slabs off it, fry it and try it.

Myself I always use a recipe of a cure,I wont pull some packaged cure from some other package and use it for anything it dont state to be for.

[NEUT6899]

jentz,

Yeah, that was my bad... I wasn't thinking that maybe the Jerky cure wouldn't be the same... I guess I can always try it and if it isn't good it goes to the critters...

[Mike89]

cure is cure, smoke and enjoy. always use the amount you need only.

[DonBo]

cure is cure, smoke and enjoy. always use the amount you need only.

That's what I was thinking. As long as you used the correct amount, you should be good to go.

[NEUT6899]

Well I hope that it turns out.. I will do a taste test on it before I throw it in the smoker.. Gonna order some Cure#1 tonight just for future use.

[jentz]

neut6899

jentz,

Yeah, that was my bad... I wasn't thinking that maybe the Jerky cure wouldn't be the same... I guess I can always try it and if it isn't good it goes to the critters...

As long as you used the recommended meat to wieght ratio to match the cure,You'll be fine.No cures are the same,they do the same thing, the extras in different cures make flavors different.Just decide if you like what you made,If not mix or buy a different cure.I never smoke before tasting a sample fried, of any new to me cure.I use some cures that taste better unsmoked.

[delcecchi]

Don't some cures have sodium nitrite, pink salt, in them? It keeps the meat pink instead of gray, and helps preserve it, but otherwise doesn't make much difference or so I've heard.

[thirdeye]

I'm with those that said "try it", although I'm the first to point out that when curing meat.... the important things are weighing, measuring, time, soaking and smoking. They all add up to a good product that you can repeatedly make with constant results.

Do a forum search for Buckbord Bacon. You will find a bunch of information from me as well as others. I use a dry cure on my loins and endorse Hi Mountain brand of cure.... however, after many folks could not get it easily I came up with a good substitute that uses Tenderquick. The cure time is 6 or 7 days, an overnight soakout, 12 hours resting (equalization) and 4 or so hours of smoking. The results are really good.

My cure is:

~~~~~~~~thirdeye's Tenderquick Cure for Buckboard Bacon~~~~~~~~

Per ONE pound of pork loin or boneless pork butt:

1 Tablespoon of Tenderquick

1 teaspoon of brown sugar

1 teaspoon of maple sugar

Sprinkle of black pepper to the meat before adding the curing mixture, maybe a little more after the soak-out.