A simple Canadian Cured Smoked Bacon Ham recipe that is delightful in taste and a great personal triumph.
This Simple Smoked Canadian Cured Smoked Bacon Ham is a delightful treat and an alluring project.
It doesn’t require a lot of ingredients to make tasty smoked bacon ham, and it's only a fraction of the cost of what you pay outside to get smoked ham. The brining process is so simple; you can literally do it in a matter of minutes.
Smoked meat is a fun experience, and the results are often better than store-bought. Just the smell can make your mouth water, and a small taste can make you crave more. Smoked meat is so deeply ingrained in our DNA that it is very hard to say no to it.
This recipe is so EASY and much tastier than store-bought. You will never buy Canadian Smoked Bacon Ham again, but I guarantee you will buy pork loins to make your own.
***Curing meats, such as homemade bacon, ham, or pastrami, is fun, and the results are often better than store-bought. However, curing is very different from any other recipe because you are using a preservative, sodium nitrite. It is essential to read and thoroughly understand the process before attempting to cure meat ***
A patriotic remembrance of the vast and beautiful land of Canada. A polite recipe to recollect my fond memories there, and a surrender experience where the past and present lives beautifully together.
This post is all about cured ham recipe. It's a simple Canadian Smoked Bacon Ham recipe.
My Story
Honestly, this is my first time making Smoked Bacon Ham. Usually, first-time experiments never go well, and there’s tons of trial and error before I get anything right. I feel so confident and satisfied with this recipe that I’m literally sharing my first smoked bacon ham experiment with you. The result is surprisingly good and tasty!
This is not a 'wing-it' kind of project – I did an extensive amount of research before I started the project. From blogs to books, and books to YouTube videos, I’m here to give you a summary of what I’ve found that is important for you to get started, both delicious and safe.
At the same time, I don’t want you to be scared away from this project. I promise you it is very easy and hands-off. If you can boil water and turn on the oven, you’re good to go!
My Inspiration to my Canadian Cured Ham
I miss walking into Superstore in North Vancouver. My favorite place to visit is the deli section right next to the meat section at the back of the store. I feel like they’re always smoking ham because the store constantly smells like smoked meat. I really miss that smell now that I am away from home. Buying ham in Canada is one of those memorable moments filled with fondness, like Mexican people buying tacos on crowded streets in Mexico. There’s a cultural, personal experience to it.
My first love is (and I think it still is): smoked salmon. I LOVE smoked salmon, and I believe it is the best-tasting food in the whole world! Cold-smoked salmon is definitely a food that takes me down memory lane, and I believe that love brought me toward my next love affair with smoked bacon ham.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
The full Canadian experience is all here. It’s an easy homemade cured ham recipe to follow, and the ingredients are not hard to find. If smoking sounds too intimidating for you, I also provided instructions on baking the ham in your oven. Both methods will result in delicious outcomes!
After you’re done, the amount of food you can create with this Canadian smoked bacon ham is endless! A sandwich with ham and cheddar, pasta with ham and cream sauce, or cured ham with pineapples on toothpicks – you see what I mean? Endless options for what you can do with your ham!
Another thing I love about this recipe is that Canadian bacon is leaner. All Canadian smoked bacon ham is made with pork loin. In a way, it is much healthier than American bacon. Most of the time when we say bacon, we imagine the American version: thinly sliced pork belly with 50% fat. Canadian smoked bacon ham is very different – it is boneless pork loin, cut thick, grilled, and served like ham steaks.
Canadian smoked bacon ham is exactly what you want to make Egg McMuffins or eggs Benedict!
Pro Tips
Yes, this homemade cured ham recipe is easy, but there’s a few pointers to keep in mind. I’ll be sharing with you all my research and tests I did to ensure this recipe is delicious yet safe at all times.
Pink Curing Salt is NOT Pink Himalayan Salt
First and most important emphasis! Please do not mix up Pink Curing Salt and Himalayan Salt together – they are NOT THE SAME THING!
Pink Curing Salt is salt prepare where 94% is salt and 6% is nitrite. This mixture is specially made for curing meat. This curing salt really helps in preserving the meat and preventing spoilage by inhibiting the growth of fungus or bacteria. Also, it ensures that the cured meat will keep its beautiful pink color. Without it, the meat would likely turn an unappetizing shade of grey. The amount used is so minimal that I personally don’t have a problem with it.
If you’re shopping for pink curing salt, it is also known as Praga #1 Curing Salt. The salt is pink colour to visually cue people it is not salt and should not be consume like salt. You can buy the Praga #1 Curing salt here: Curing Salt No.1 Quick Cure Premium Prague Powder
When I store my pink curing salt, I write in large letters with a Sharpie around the bottle that it is curing salt and NOT regular salt. I also draw a black skull icon to show it is not something to play with. I would also put it somewhere high and unreachable for small children or for anyone to reach. If consumed in high quantities, it can be a serious matter.
And if you don’t like using nitrites in your meat, you could experiment with celery juice powder instead.
I personally have no experience with celery juice powder, so I can’t offer any advice if you decide to use it versus curing salt. I would suggest you do your research, as there are many articles on the internet with people who have experience with it.
Meat Selection
for ham I love using pork loin, pork butt, or pork leg. If you manage to find yourself a piece of large meat that is more flat than round is not a problem. Brine the meat as usual, and when you’re ready to smoke/bake the ham, simply secure the meat with butcher’s twine tightly.
Brining
Once you gather all the ingredients together for the brine, boil the brine until the salt and sugar has melted. Take it off the heat and it let it cool off. Place the brine water in a non reactive container.
Non reactive is anything that is NOT METAL! Not even a metal spoon. I use a large plastic mixing bowl or even a plastic container with a lid will do just fine. Once cooled, place the meat inside the brine. The meat will float, so I put a ceramic dish on top to keep the meat submerged. Place the meat in the fridge to brine.
If you don't have a brining bowl try this brining plastic container: 6 QT Round Container.
How Much Smoke is Enough Smoke?
My rule of thumb with smoking is this: if you can smell the smoke, you can bet your meat is absorbing the smoke as well. I've also experienced some bad smoking projects myself, and ventilation is the absolute key to beautifully smoked meat.
When there’s poor ventilation, the meat will taste very bitter due to the formation of a substance called creosote. Have you experienced something like that before? It is a thick, oily coat created when smoke sits on the meat for too long. To prevent it, smoke needs to ventilate out and not be trapped inside the smoking chamber.
Do not add too much fuel or wood to smoke the meat. You don’t need a chimney of smoke piling up the vents. If you see some smoke coming, trust me, it's enough.
How Do You Know It is Done?
Using a thermometer to measure the doneness of the meat is essential. When the internal temperature reaches 150°F it is done. It is the total hour of 2.5 hours. Try this thermometer: Professional Digital Instant Read Meat Thermometer.
Cooking/smoking time may vary, so be sure to go by the internal temperature of the meat and not by time.
Cured Ham Recipe Oven
Baking a freshly cured ham is equally as delicious as smoke ham, minus the smoke flavour. It is the easiest way to prepare meat. Most hams these days are baked anyways.
Meat Storage
You can refrigerate it for up to two weeks or freeze it for longer. If you vacuum seal, it will keep longer still.
Amazing Canadian Smoked Back Bacon Ham
Equipment
- meat thermometer
- grill / smoker
Ingredients
- 1.3 kg pork leg / pork butt
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup sea salt
- 3 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 4 litre water
- 1 tbsp Prague Powder #1
Instructions
- In a non reactive pot, put all the ingredients inside (except the meat). Bring it to a boil until the sugar and salt has melted. Let it cool and transfer to the curing container.
- Clean and rinse the meat thoroughly. Pat dry with paper towel.
- When the brine is at room temperature submerge the meat into the water and place a dish on top or anything heavy to hold the meat under the brine. Refrigerate for 1 day. ***You can add 20% longer time if you want to. The meat will be saltier and absorb more nitrite if safety is a concern***
- After the cure, rinse the ham with clean water to wash off access salt. Dump the brine water out, and bring fresh water back to the bowl. Fully submerge the ham in clean water for 30 minutes to let de-salt the ham. Pat dry.
- Now the ham needs to be smoked or baked. Below are your options.
To Smoke
- Smoke the ham at 325°F for 2.5 hours until the internal temperature is 150°F in the deepest part of the center.
- Serve. Unfortunately, you can’t cut into your Canadian Bacon just yet, if you do, it will dry it out and won’t be as fantastic as it should be! Its very important to let it rest on the counter uncovered until the internal temperature gets down to 100 degrees. Afterwards you can slice into discs and sear it on the grill or in a medium hot frying pan with a little bit of oil.
To Bake
- preheat oven to 350°F.
- Take ham out of the brine, and rinse the meat with water to take the access salt out of the ham. Pat dry.
- ***OPTIONAL*** To add more flavour to the baked ham, you can roll your ham in some freshly grind peppers, chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Wrap ham with aluminum foil and place on baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, remove the foil and increase oven temperature to 425°F. Return pan to the oven and roast for 12-15 minutes or until roast is golden brown. Check internal temperature with a meat thermometer that it has reached 150°F in the deepest part of the center.
- Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
- Serve. Unfortunately, you can’t cut into your Canadian Bacon just yet, if you do, it will dry it out and won’t be as fantastic as it should be! Its very important to let it rest on the counter uncovered until the internal temperature gets down to 100 degrees. Afterwards you can slice into discs and sear it on the grill or in a medium hot frying pan with a little bit of oil.
