I found a huge pork loin on sale for $1.80/lb and I want to do the Candian Bacon recipe.
Given that it cures for a full two weeks and the amount of salt used, my instinct would tell me it should be desalinated like the pastrami recipe. Has anyone done this recipe before? Did you desalinate? How was the salt level?
The few I have made did not require desalination, as the Prague powder does the real curing, so less salt is required for flavor. Follow a good ham cure recipe, as the technique is pretty much the same. With the Prague powder, salt is just another seasoning for all practical matters.
FWIW: The Canadian bacon recipe I have used (Mark Ruhlman in Charcuterie) calls for brining/curing the loin for only 48 hours. Even then it calls for a rinse before smoking. I usually stretch that rinse to a 30 minute soak. Cure has completely penetrated the loin in that 48 hours and the end result is great!
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Meathead's recipe simply calls for a good surface scrub but no soak (I'm sure you know this). In the comments he favors not desalinating with a soak. Also in the comments some folks seem to think a soak is needed. My suggestion is if you're not a big fan of salt, you may wish to cut back some on the Kosher salt, which is what Meathead suggests to the commenters asking about desalinating. If salt is good with you I'd follow it exact and skip the soak, at least for the first attempt.
Cool, thanks Strat50, HorseDoctor and Huskee. I will try it as per MH's recipe and see. I like properly salted foods, not too much and not too little. In MH I trust!
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