Annie, that is absolutely beautiful! Hopefully I'll be able to make Canadian Bacon and Peameal Bacon soon using your brine. The nearest place that I know of to get pork bellies is in Cincinnati and now that I'm not working, I'll be able to get over there and be able to use your bacon recipe. I still haven't found the smoker that my late husband got me for Christmas a year before he died, however, I haven't checked the attic. He stored/hid it very well. Both it and the one I bought last year use charcoal. I had been wanting a propane one and lucked out about a week ago. Where I worked had a nice portable propane smoker for $59. They were having an 11% off sale and the manufacturer had a $20 rebate so it was calling my name. It is big enough to do a turkey or ham in. They hype it as being great for RVs or tailgating. So, if I can still afford the meat. I should be able to smoke quite a bit at one time. And you were the inspiration.

By the way, Annie, you inspired me to get a meat slicer and the sausage stuffing attachment for my Kitchenaid, too. I had already gotten a meat grinder due to something I read about grinding your own beef and adding a certain number of bacon slices per pound of beef. I think it has a sausage stuffer, too. See, you've caused another one to venture into new experiences. Oh, and the Apple Pie Jam in 12 oz. jars is cooling on the kitchen counter.

Madonna

Wow, Madonna, that's a great buy on that little propane smoker, I wouldn't have been able to pass that up either.

My stepsons are big fans of grinding bacon into our grassfed burger, it's a little too lean for their taste. They got the idea from a restaurant in California where the burgers are half beef and half ground bacon. Nothing you can buy, of course, is as good as home grown or home made.

Pork bellies never go on sale here, so we make Canadian Bacon more than we do the traditional stuff. Pork loins are often on sale here for less than $2 a pound so you'll be much more likely to find that. We use more of it than I thought we would. Toss a slice in the pan and in a minute it's ready to put on a breakfast sandwich. The grandkids love it on pizza and in homemade "hot pockets" with pizza sauce and mozzarella. I chop it up and add it to corn waffles along with cheese, we use it in a lot of things.

Congratulations on that jam, it's going to make great gifts for some very lucky recipients. I'm more than happy to get other people "hooked" on my own personal addictions, LOL, so can away, then smoke something, then make some sausage. At our age we deserve the "good stuff", so much better than I can buy here!!

Annie

I've never cooked a pork loin to that temperature, but I guess to make Canadian bacon it's a requirement. Your finished product resembles one of my favorite pig products - Taylor pork roll and now I'm hungry again.

Ricky, that's what Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn "tell" me to do, and I'm not going to argue with them. I figure I'll probably never write a book called "Charcuterie" and so I'll defer to the experts, LOL.

I'm not quite sure at which point it stops being pork loin and becomes Canadian Bacon, but it does...

Annie

Count me as another of your converts... hmm, perhaps you should start Annie's Cult of Brined and Smoked Meats! LOL! I was amazed when I first saw your 'from scratch' corned beef... and I've still yet to do that one. But the Canadian Bacon - tackled it while in the midst of our remodeling, remember?

I've only made this one time, and it was half a pork loin, but hope to smoke a whole loin soon to food saver and enjoy. I can't thank you enough for opening new culinary doors to me, Annie!

I'd love to grind my own meats, and intend to someday as well. BTW, you also inspired me to buy a meat slicer - which I also use for bread : )

Those pork hock pic's... to die for! I can just imagine how it tastes! Thanks for more inspiration!

I love pork loin and Canadian bacon, but Kevin won't eat it, and so it is not worthwhile for me to make it. Too bad you didn't have this when I was there! Maybe next time...

We use our smoker mainly for turkey breast and sausages, but we have not used it lately, as Kevin prefers to use the Big Green Egg, but that generally gets or stays too hot and is difficult to control for a low temperature. The smoker is electric, and so it is much more user friendly.

Ricky, Taylor pork roll? I've never heard of that, I'm going to have to go google after this. We buy a local pig every year and so I'm always looking for ways to use up all the "parts".

Darn, Lars, if I had known that, I had some in the freezer, but I was making sure that I didn't make it while you and Kevin were here. I should have made that AND the chicken sausage and we'd all have been happy!

You could brine/smoke just a small piece of pork loin, it freezes really well and a slice or two will cook in a skillet in a minute or so.

2many, I remember you made that, and yours looks delicious. It's amazingly simple, isn't it? So is the corned beef, as long as you have the room in the refrigerator to keep it for the days it needs to cure.

Yes, indeed, I'm always happy to share my addictions.....um.....hobbies, LOL.

Annie