Bacon

Homemade Peameal Bacon

Homemade peameal baconAfter making my own peameal bacon for the first time I decided that I wouldn’t be buying peameal bacon from the store ever again.  The homemade version has much more flavour, and you know exactly what is going into it, and where you got the pork from.  It’s also a simple process with a simple recipe that anyone can do.

The last time I was at Costco, they had whole pork loins on sale for $5 off.  I ended up getting a whole loin for about $10, which is a really cheap price.  I didn’t have any plans for it when I bought it, but by the time I got home, I had decided that I would make both peameal bacon, and hot smoked Canadian bacon. Peameal bacon is a cured boneless pork loin, traditionally coated in dried and ground yellow peas.  Today, corn meal is typically used instead of pea meal. It is lean, but when given a quick fry and not overcooked, it is a delicious and juicy type of bacon.  Here’s the recipe for a great homemade peameal bacon.

Peameal Bacon

Ingredients:

  • Boneless pork loin – 2 pieces approximately 2 lbs each
  • Corn meal
  • 2.5 liters of water
  • 210 g kosher salt
  • 150 g sugar
  • 25 g pink salt / prague powder #1
  • 1 tbsp pickling spice
  • 54 g brown sugar
  • 45 ml honey
  • 5 cloves of garlic, minced

Instructions:

  1. Trim any visible silver skin off the pork loin, and trim any excess fat on it down to about a 1/4 inch layer
  2. Prepare a brine by boiling the water, salt, sugar, pink salt, pickling spice, brown sugar, honey, and garlic together – then allow to cool completely  Tip: to cool it faster, use 1.5 liters of water when preparing the brine, then pour in 1 liter of ice water to cool it off.  If you just add ice to the regular amount of water, you’ll dilute your brine as it melts.Brine for homemade peameal bacon recipe
  3. Once cooled, place the loins in a large ziploc bag or non-reactive container with the brine, ensuring that they are completely covered.lg_IMG_0879
  4. Leave in the fridge for 3.5-5 days.  I did 3.5 days, and the pork loin was cured all the way to the middle.
  5. Rinse the pork loin, then dry, and roll in a dish of corn meal, pressing it in until a nice even layer sticks to it  Note: before coating it in corn meal, you can cut a small piece off and fry it to taste the saltiness level.  If it’s too salty, you can let the pork soak in some cool water for a couple of hours, then try it again.  If it’s still too salty, change the water and repeat until it comes out the way you like it.
  6. Wrap the whole piece of peameal bacon in plastic wrap or aluminium foil, then put it in the freezer until firm, but not frozen.  This makes it much easier to slice.
  7. Slice the peameal bacon to whatever thickness you prefer.  I like thicker slices, just under 1/4 inch thick.

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I like to fry these up until the edges are nice and crispy, but the inside is still a little medium rare.  This keeps the peameal bacon from drying out too much, and the texture and taste are a lot better than letting it cook to well done.

Thanks for reading, and if you enjoyed this article and want more like it, please like the MeatVentures Facebook page to be kept up to date on all future content!  I hope you give this recipe for homemade peameal bacon a try – it’s easy and delicious!

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12 Comments

Ron - 07. Sep, 2013 - Reply

In brining peameal bacon, do you recommend using a brine injector?

salar - 08. Sep, 2013 - Reply

Ron, with the timing I listed the brine definitely went to the middle of the loin as I could see it was an even colour throughout. If you need to cure it in a shorter timeframe, then injecting into the middle will allow you to do that.

Jean Jorgensen - 08. Sep, 2013 - Reply

Trying this recipe out because it is something my husband and both love to eat but can only get to Canada about once a year. How do I tell if it is all the way cured?

salar - 08. Sep, 2013 - Reply

Jean: Awesome – I like this one and I need to make it again – it’s one of the easiest cured meats to make. Let me know how it turns out!

Jim S - 12. Sep, 2013 - Reply

Thanks for this. I am an ex-Pat Ontarian living on the west coast where this bacon is for some unknown reason unavailable and I miss it terribly. Definitely on my ToDo list for this Fall.

salar - 12. Sep, 2013 - Reply

No problem! Hope it brings back a little memory of home!

Sandra - 22. Feb, 2014 - Reply

Just tried the one I made from this recipe, thank you I’m A ontario girl living in North Carolina for 15 years, so I was very happy to find this!

salar - 22. Feb, 2014 - Reply

Sandra – I’m glad it turned out well for you and was able to give you a taste of back home!

Ernest - 28. Feb, 2014 - Reply

After rolling in corn meal can you smoke the loin? Or does this mess up the coating?

salar - 28. Feb, 2014 - Reply

Hi Ernest – I’ve never tried smoking the loin after rolling it in corn meal, but I have smoked the cured loin without the coating to 140, then cut it up and gave it a quick sear on each side – turns out great like that. I’m not exactly sure how the corn meal coating would do in the smoker, but the best way to see is to try both ways and see which way you like better. Smoking times will be identical with and without the coating, cut a piece in half and see what happens. Good luck!

Stan lebiednik - 11. Mar, 2014 - Reply

We used to go to canada a lot and always brought back pea meal bacon. Because of the hassle going through customs now, I decided to make my own using your recipe. This is better than any peameal bacon we used to buy over there. Excellent and easy to make.thankyou,stan

salar - 11. Mar, 2014 - Reply

Stan – thank you, I’m always happy to read that we were able to help spread a little taste of Canada around the world!