WILD HOG CANADIAN BACON

Canadian bacon is a great way to utilize your loins. It's excellent eaten thinly sliced in sandwiches, with eggs for breakfast or even diced and crisped in a pan for adding to your dinnertime dishes. And you can go ahead and forget about what you know about store-bought bacon, this stuff is light years ahead.

Like most Canadian bacon recipes, this one delivers the majority of the flavor through the brine. When you buy the store bought version, the brine is usually under seasoned with aromatics, over salted and the meat is lacking real smoke flavor. Make this and you'll be a fan of making your own Canadian bacon for life.

Ingredients

• 1 wild pig loin

• 2 quarts of water

• 6 tablespoons kosher salt

• 1 tablespoon sodium nitrate

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup real maple syrup

• 4 garlic cloves (smashed)

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 bunch of sage

• 6 sprigs of fresh thyme

• 1/2 of a lemon

Directions

1. Combine all of the ingredients except the pork loin in a pot and bring to a simmer. Stir and make sure that the salt and sugar dissolve. Remove from the stove and allow to come to room temperature. Place the brine in the refrigerator until thoroughly chilled.

2. Place the pork loin into the brine, weighing down with a small plate if needed to keep the meat from floating. Place in the refrigerator for 48-72 hours.

3. Remove the pork loin from the brine and rinse it with cold water. Completely dry the meat off and refrigerate uncovered for 8-24 hours.

4. Hot smoke the loin (around 200 degrees F) to an internal temperature of 150 degrees F. Allow the meat to completely before covering and storing. This will keep in your refrigerator for up to 10 days.