Homemade Canadian Bacon {Smoker Optional}

This homemade Canadian bacon made of cured pork loin with mild maple and sage flavours eclipses any commercially available Canadian bacon I’ve ever had in my entire life.

It’s no secret that my house is a big fan of meat in general and pork specifically. Within the subset of pork, bacon of all sorts makes my guys sing with joy.

When I made homemade bacon a handful of weeks back, one of my kids walked by happily munching a strip of crispy bacon wondering aloud, “I wonder if mom could make Canadian bacon, eh?”

They followed up that statement with a quick, “That was a Canadian ‘eh’, not a Michigan one.” and then some manic giggling. Glad to see my kids are working on their regional accents.

That challenge, even though it wasn’t directly delivered to me, got me to thinking. If I could make regular old American bacon, why in the world couldn’t I make some fabulous North-of-the-border bacon?

Canadian Bacon is a many splendored thing. Because it’s so lean, you really only need to heat it through rather than fry it up like our beloved American bacon making it a faster, more convenient breakfast on-the-go option.

And honestly, it’s not even really Canadian. The Canadians make pea meal bacon.

You wanna know what’s nuts? How ridiculously easy MAKING Canadian bacon is.

Mercy, though, the ease with which this is prepared pales in comparison to how insanely delicious the end product is. Cured pork loin with mild maple and sage flavours eclipses any commercially available Canadian bacon I’ve ever had in my entire life.

My unofficially official taste-testing panel of my husband and sons agreed completely. In fact, this Canadian bacon has been added to not one, not two, but THREE birthday meal requests!

What Is Canadian Bacon

The perfect Canadian bacon starts with a good chunk of readily available boneless pork loin. I’m not talking about pork tenderloins, I’m talking about center cut, lean pork loin.

Many grocers sell this in a vacuum sealed package in large amounts. This recipe makes enough brine for 4 pounds of loin, but you can upsize the brine if you get a monstrous huge loin, eh? (And I’m sorry, but that really was more of a Michigan ‘eh’ than a Canadian one…)

I feel obliged to make Canadian bacon pretty Canadian so I added a goodly slug of Grade B dark maple syrup to the brine. It gives it that something special!

If you can’t get the dark Grade B, go for a good A. The darker the syrup, the stronger the maple flavour!

If you can’t get maple syrup at all, feel free to sub in our brown sugar homemade pancake syrup. The result will be delicious if different.

Fresh sage is where it’s at, folks. Grab a bundle from the grocery store, or a handful from your neighbor’s garden (with their permission, of course!) but do splurge on the fresh sage.

And hot on the heels of my fresh sage argument, I’m going to tell you that dried whole leaf thyme is a-okay here! Fresh thyme is nice, but not quite as crucial to the finished product as the fresh sage.

Before dunking the pork loin into the brine, trim as much fat off as you can. You don’t need to be surgical, as it will be easier to remove from the Canadian Bacon AFTER it’s smoked or cooked in the oven. You can reserve the cured, smoked or roasted fat to render and add to beans.

I prefer to cut the pork loin to pieces that are a size that fit comfortably into a gallon freezer bag so they stay submerged in the brine like good little bacon.

Smoking the brined Canadian Bacon over applewood is FABULOUS and preferable, but if you have no access to a smoker, you can put it in a very low temperature oven (with a little smoke box if you own one!) until the internal temperature reaches 150°F. I’ve included instructions for both methods in the recipe.

This keeps in the refrigerator for up to 10 days (courtesy of the pink salt used in the brine) but keeps far longer if tightly wrapped and stashed in the freezer.

Speaking of pink salt. I did choose to use it here.

I adapted my recipe from Michael Ruhlman’s “Charcuterie” and he makes a pretty powerful argument in favour of its use. If you choose to omit this, understand that it will shorten the shelf life in the refrigerator as well as alter the colour to more of a brown than a pink.

It also increases the risk of bacterial growth in the meat. Please note this means curing powder pink salts not Himalayan. The technical term for this is Prague Powder #1.

Homemade Maple Canadian Bacon {Smoker Optional}

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Rebecca Lindamood

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 25 minutes mins

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This cured pork loin with mild maple and sage flavours eclipses any commercially available Canadian bacon I’ve ever had in my entire life.  Barely adapted from and with thanks to Michael Ruhlman’s Charcuterie.

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 gallon water 4 liters
• 1 1/2 cups Morton’s kosher salt 350 grams
• 1 cup raw sugar 250 grams
• 8 teaspoons pink salt 42 grams
• 1 cup Grade B Dark Maple Syrup 236 ml
• 1 bunch fresh sage
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 2 garlic cloves peeled and smacked with the side of a knife to lightly crush
• 4 pounds boneless pork loin excess fat removed

Instructions

 

• Combine the water, salt, sugar, pink salt, maple syrup, sage, thyme, and garlic cloves in a stockpot. Bring to a simmer and stir to dissolve the sugar and salt. Remove from the heat and refrigerate until chilled all the way through. Trim the pork loin down to fit into two or more gallon sized resealable freezer bags. Insert the pork loin in the bags, then pour the cooled brine into the bags to cover the loins. Squeeze as much air as possible from the bags, then place the filled bags in a high-sided roasting pan and place the pan in the refrigerator for 72 hours.
• After 72 hours, drain the brine, rinse the pork loins, and place on a rack over a baking sheet. Put that back into the refrigerator for 24 hours to air dry.

To Smoke the Canadian Bacon:

• Hot smoke at 200°F over applewood chips for 2 to 3 hours, according to your smoker manufacturer’s instructions, or until the internal temperature of the pork loin reaches 150°F.

To Roast the Canadian Bacon:

• Preheat your oven to 200°F. Take the air-dried pork loin and put it in the oven still on its rack over its pan, and cook until the internal temperature reaches 150°F.
• Trim any remaining excess fat, then allow to cool to room temperature. Wrap the pork tightly and refrigerate for up to 10 days or wrap in a double layer of plastic wrap then a layer of foil and freeze for up to 6 months.

Nutrition

Calories: 127kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 12gFat: 2gCholesterol: 35mgSodium: 5921mgPotassium: 236mgSugar: 12gVitamin A: 5IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 24mgIron: 0.5mg

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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Need a little help finding some Pink Salts for curing your meat? Here’s a handy-dandy Amazon affiliate link to some Prime eligible Pink Salt!