My Project = success

[BuffaloParrot]

For my Family reunion tomorrow last week I got an 8 pound pork loin (aka back bacon, Canadian Bacon).  Wanted to make like a cross flavor of bacon and ham.  So I brined and injected it and it sat for 5 1/2 days to cure.  The brine was water, kosher salt, brown sugar, pink salt, ground cloves and ground allspice.  Today I smoked it with apple wood for 4 1/2 hours and basted it towards the end with a combo of apple juice, maple syrup, honey, ground cloves, allspice, and a little cinnamon.  It turned out great!  A ham and slight bacony flavor.

I will be a bbq pitmaster before you know it  :smokinjoe:

[Debz]

  

[BPMar]

I just had me a little samich....   I didn't have the lettuce and tomatoe cuz I didn't see it and thought it was for tomorrow but it was tasty!!!

[grey782163]

Yummers!

[Nakia]

First I got one question: What the Hell is 'pink salt'? 

Did Mar's nail polish kinda' fall in your salt shaker while she was watching you cook? 

I mean I ain't no connoisseur like you, but I have cooked a few thangs in my life. I've heard of iodine salt, sea salt, salt licks, & salty sailors. But I ain't never heard of  PINK SALT!!   

It does look good, guess that pink color the meat has on it is from that there pink salt...

[steptoe91(tozie)]

pink salt?   nope not a clue.   

uh..yeah...d...looks...good... uh...where did we leave those crackers? 

[BPMar]

It helps to give the pork it's pink color (at least i don't think it's from my nail polish  )....like in "ham"...all this stuff is confusing ...pork, ham, bacon....all from the same animal, guess it just depends on what part and how ya cook it :cstars:

[BuffaloParrot]

Pink salt is sodium nitrite(aka prague powder, modern cure, Insta cure #1).  It is in all meats you see like sausages, bacon, ham, corned beef etc that have a pink or red color to the meat and helps the curing process.  A chemicle reaction in the meat from the pink salt creates the pink color same as a smoke ring does from the smoke penetrating the first 1/2 inch of smoked meats.  I did both yesterday cause most hams or bacons need the smoke flavor and long/low cooking time.  Sodium nitrite is a naturally occurring compound found in many foods in nature.  It is dyed pink so we do not mistake it for regular salt or sugar.  Large amounts can kill you and many butchers hesitate to sell this because too many nut bags would try killing folks with the stuff I guess  

[BrilliantFids]

Omg that looks great!

[Sondra]

Pass the crackers please.

[Nakia]

Thanks for the info' D. I have heard of sodium nitrite, and know it is in lots of foods, just never heard it called 'pink salt'. 

Around here the ham is said to be sugar cured, but I would venture a guess it is the same or similar ingredients ans the 'pink salt' mixture. I wouldn't really know, I buy mine already cured & ready to bake/eat.

 :confused:Hmmm, death by pink salt. Wouldn't need to be embalmed. He'd be well preserved & ready to go.  :deer:

[BuffaloParrot]

Pass the crackers please.

The only crackers you will get here are smashed, mixed into a meat mixture and smoked. :smokinjoe:  Just an FYI in case any of ya'all cracker crack addicts are here someday and ask to pass the crackers and in turn get a mouthful of smoked loafed meat mixture  Kito of course will get the original cracker in it's original state

[BuffaloParrot]

I wonder if he would like it smoked?  Or if it is ok for him to indeed eat a smoked cracker? 

[grey782163]

Parrots have been know to eat charcoal to counteract foods with high acidity or alkaloids. Charcoal is, in a sense, smoked. I would say yes

[BuffaloParrot]

I am not going to chance it.  Smoked foods and more common grilled/charred foods can end up containing PAHs that are known to cause cancer in humans.  Though it takes much and a constant diet of it I would be not comfortable giving to a sensitive parrot