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Peameal Bacon / Back Bacon

Peameal bacon, also known as Canadian bacon or back bacon, is a type of cured pork originating from Canada. Unlike traditional bacon made from pork belly, peameal bacon is made from lean pork loin, which is trimmed, cured, and rolled in cornmeal (historically, it was rolled in ground yellow peas, hence the name "peameal").
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Prep Time 10 days 30 minutes
Total Time 10 days 30 minutes
Course Breakfast, Main Course
Cuisine Canadian
Servings 10 servings
Calories 140 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 Boning Knife or Sharp Chefs Knife
  • 1 Cutting Board
  • 1 Vacuum Packing Machine Or Zip Lock Bag to fit
  • 1 Bowl
  • 1 Kitchen Scale
  • 1 Jewellers Scale Must have at least 1 decimal place ( x . x )

Ingredients
  

  • 1000 gram Pork Loin, Lean
  • 40 gram Maple Syrup or Brown Sugar
  • .5 gram Cloves ⅛ tsp
  • 25 gram Kosher Salt or Sea Salt https://eatcuredmeat.com/bbq-hot-smoking/how-much-curing-salt-per-pound-of-meat-dry-or-wet-curing-tool-calculator
  • 2.5 gram Pink Curing Salt #1 (Prague Powder #1) https://eatcuredmeat.com/bbq-hot-smoking/how-much-curing-salt-per-pound-of-meat-dry-or-wet-curing-tool-calculator
  • 168 gram Cornmeal

Instructions
 

  • You will need the following website.
    https://eatcuredmeat.com/bbq-hot-smoking/how-much-curing-salt-per-pound-of-meat-dry-or-wet-curing-tool-calculator
    To ensure you are using the right amount of cure according to the weight of your Pork Loin. You will substitute the Kosher Salt and Curing Salt measurements found on that site after entering the actual weight of your Loin and seasoning (Meat + Sugar + Cloves).
  • If you have a large loin cut into pieces the size you would like to have when you are done. I will cut a full pork loin into 4 pieces.
    1000 gram Pork Loin, Lean
  • Once you have cut the loin into the sizes you would like. Remove the fat from the outside and all the silver skin you can see. You will have some silver skin go below the surface of the meat, that can remain, it’s a very small amount and you will not notice it.
  • Weigh each piece of meat individually, go to the URL provided, Click on “Equilibrium Dry Curing” , enter the weight of your meat, sugar and spices in the meat field. Immediately below those boxes a field will say how much salt and cure you will need to use for each piece of loin you enter. Weigh the salt and cure out and mix that with your sugar and spice amount.
    Make sure you don’t mix them up, we do a bowl for each piece of loin. Use whatever system you want to ensure it works for you. This is what works for me.
    40 gram Maple Syrup or Brown Sugar, .5 gram Cloves, 25 gram Kosher Salt or Sea Salt, 2.5 gram Pink Curing Salt #1 (Prague Powder #1)
  • Put each piece of loin in your ziplock or vacuum pack bag, and then coat the meat inside the bag. Try to get all sides of the loin covered ensuring that all (as much as possible) of the mix gets into the bag. Once all the meat is covered, remove as much of the cure as you can, if vacuum bag just make sure it seals.
  • Place in fridge for 10-11 days. Turning over every 2nd day to ensure even distribution of the curing agent.
  • Remove from fridge, open bags and wash the remaining cure from the outside of the peameal bacon. Slice 2 pieces from one end, keeping in mind which was the second piece. Cook them both up, eat the second piece in first. Your doing this to check on the salt content.
    If the salt content is too high for your taste you can put the loin in a pot with cold water and let it sit from 30min to 1 hour inside the cold water. This will help to equalize the amount of sale in the meat. I have not had to soak this recipe yet.
  • If you are happy with the results you can take the peameal bacon and roll it in cornmeal making sure to cover the entire outside minus the ends. This isn’t actually 100% necessary but it does add a flavour to the peameal bacon, and most Canadians will say it’s required
    168 gram Cornmeal
  • Final step, cut off slices that are about 3-5mm each (.25” ) and fry up in a frying pan. I usually put butter in the pan for frying, medium heat at most. It takes 3-5 minutes on a side to cook it. I like mine less cooked than my wife does, she likes it a bit dryer. You will have to experiment to see what you like.

Notes

Final notes: You will find other recipes online for peameal / back bacon. This is the one I have worked with for many many years. I don’t feel like it needs more flavour than is provided by the maple syrup and cloves. There is also another method for making it that is an equilibrium wet brining, this is a water bath method and I just don’t find it as enjoyable.
Peameal bacon is fantastic on its own, or with eggs. Use the slices on a burger, or just have peameal bacon on a bun. If you do peameal on a bun try it with cheese slices, it’s surprisingly great.
Keyword Back, Bacon, Breakfast Staple, Cured Meat, Lean, Peameal, Pork Loin, Sweet and Savory, Traditional Canadian Cuisine