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Homemade Peameal Bacon and Back Bacon - they're both are ubiquitous in Canada, but hard to come by elsewhere. Luckily, they're easy to make!
Originally published November 6, 2014, Updated on 10/29/20
As I've mentioned before, one of the annoying things about living away from my homeland is the lack of availability of many of the grocery basics, treats, and general comfort foods of home.
For the most part, they're easy enough to make, once I put my mind to developing a recipe (Tiger Tail Ice Cream, or Honey Garlic Cooking Sauce, for instance!)
Recently, I was disappointed with a purchase of "Canadian bacon" (we don't call it that - it's back bacon!). I lamented the lack of availability of not only GOOD back bacon, but also peameal bacon.
My husband had never even heard of peameal, and had only ever had "Canadian Bacon" as they sell it here in the USA... anemic, flavourless, very blah ham product. This was a situation that needed to be rectified!
So, I did some research on recipes and techniques, and created a recipe of my own, using the flavours I wanted.
I ordered a few necessary items - including Prague Powder, which I'd never even heard of before that point - and then called my husband to let him know that I was taking up a new hobby - curing meat.
You know you've married well when such a declaration isn't met with some variation of "WTF? Because we don't have enough hobbies?", but with "Awesome! I've been meaning to take up smoking meats! We can do both!"!
While back bacon requires smoking - usually requiring special equipment / technique - pea meal bacon is ridiculously easy to make, and requires no special skill or equipment. I was really kicking myself for not having done it sooner!
Peameal Bacon vs Back Bacon
Anyway, both bacons start out the same - soaking in a flavourful brine for a few days - and then veer off in different directions from there:
What is Peameal Bacon?
After soaking in the brine for a few days, the pork loin is then rolled in cornmeal (Back in the day it was crushed up dried peas), wrapped, and chilled.
It's then cut into thick slices and fried up as needed, usually served in sandwiches. So far as I can tell, these sandwiches are mostly a Toronto thing... I have no idea why. They're fantastic!
What is Back Bacon?
Back bacon skips the cornmeal, and gets smoked until fully cooked.
You can serve it as-is, though it's usually reheated in some form: fried as part of breakfast or in a sandwich, or thinly sliced and used to make pizza.
Says Porter: "It has a better texture than the stuff I've had - firm but not stringy or chewy. Much better flavor, more character. I definitely see a big difference, and I'm not going back".
Peameal Bacon
This style of bacon has been around since the 1800s, though it’s changed a bit in concept since its inception.
Originally, it was originally rolled in ground up dried peas - hence the name. That changed after the first world war, when people started rolling it in cornmeal instead.
How to Make Peameal Bacon
The whole recipe follows, but as a general overview:
1 - Get a nice looking pork loin roast.
2 - Trim back the fat so there’s only a thin layer remaining on the roast.
3 - Prepare the brine, bringing it to a boil and allowing it to cool.
4 - Put the brine and pork loin into a plastic bag, stick it in your fridge, and wait 5 days.
5 - Discard the brine, rinse the pork loin, and pat dry with a paper towel.
6 - Roll cured pork loin in yellow cornmeal.
7. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill it for a bit before slicing it up.
How to Serve Peameal Bacon
This bacon is very easy to cook and serve: Just slice it up and fry it! Cook it like you would any other bacon (I like to use a little oil, as it’s low in fat itself... unlike regular bacon).
I generally cook it in a nonstick pan, but you can cook it on a griddle or outdoor grill also.
From there, it’s usually served in at least somewhat of a breakfasty setting - alongside eggs and toast, maybe with some canned beans.
That is, it’s usually served as a breakfast when it’s not being ascended to its true calling:
Peameal Bacon Sandwiches
Pea meal sandwiches are GLORIOUS, full stop.
While I’d had peameal back home in Winnipeg, I had not ever had it in a sandwich until I moved to the Toronto area as an adult.
Early on, I happened across the St Lawrence Market (Which is my absolute favourite market I’ve EVER been in, anywhere!). Not only is the St Lawrence Market where I first discovered Kozlik’s Mustard (The one true mustard, IMHO, I’m completely in love with the stuff)... it’s where I had my first peameal sandwich.
So. Good.
In its purest form, this sandwich really only needs a good bun, piled high with fried peameal slices... maybe a bit of mustard. (Especially Kozliks, obviously!)
Personally, I like to mix it up when making a peameal bacon sandwich. Sometimes I’ll fry and egg and eat it as a breakfast sandwich.
My favourite is basically doing a Canadian BLT. Sort of, anyway: Peameal slices, tomatoes, spinach instead of lettuce, and mayonnaise... but add in some red onion rings, a slice of sharp cheddar, and a bit of mustard.
Heaven!
Back Bacon
Canadian Bacon vs Back Bacon
On paper, the stuff that Americans refer to as “Canadian Bacon” is what we call “Back Bacon”.
In reality - as any Canadian living in the US will tell you - they’re not the same. This goes double for the “Canadian bacon” that ends up on pizza, in my experience.
What’s the difference? Well, it’s hard to say.
Generally, “Canadian bacon” is just... ham. I suppose technically back bacon is “just ham” as well, but it definitely has a different flavour and texture profile than what I would consider “just ham”.
Does American “Canadian bacon” just not flavour the brine? Is it just that the meat they start with isn’t as good? I don’t know.
What I CAN tell you is that if you’re living anywhere other than Canada and make my Back Bacon, it’ll likely ruin you for what you know as “Canadian bacon”!
How to Make Back Bacon
The whole recipe follows, but as a general overview:
1 - Get a nice looking pork loin roast.
2 - Trim back the fat so there’s only a thin layer remaining on the roast.
3 - Prepare the brine, bringing it to a boil and allowing it to cool.
4 - Put the brine and pork loin into a plastic bag, stick it in your fridge, and wait 5 days.
5 - Discard the brine, rinse the pork loin, and pat dry with a paper towel.
6 - Hot smoke it until it’s fully cooked.
How to Serve Back Bacon
SO, after all of my smack talk about American “Canadian bacon” on pizza... my favourite way to serve back bacon IS on pizza.
Sure, you can fry it up and serve it as a breakfast bacon - same as any other bacon - or in a sandwich (fried or not - it’s fully cooked, so you can serve it cold!)... but IMHO, pizza is where it really shines.
And yes, that includes on “Hawaiian” pizza... which is actually a Canadian invention!
I promise you, making a pizza with this will wreck you for all other “Canadian bacon” pizzas. I like to make a spicy Hawaiian- back bacon, pineapple, thinly sliced jalapenos, and a drizzle of Sriracha.. spectacular!
Sometimes I’ll use candied jalapenos... augh so good!
This recipe is one of many fantastic Canadian recipes in my cookbook, "More Than Poutine: Favourite Foods from my Home and Native Land”.
"More than Poutine" is a Canadian cookbook like no other - written by a Canadian living away, it includes both traditional home cooking recipes, as well as accurate homemade versions of many of the snacks, sauces, convenience foods, and other food items that are hard to come by outside of Canada!
Order your copy here on this site, through Amazon, or through any major bookseller!
More Canadian Comfort Food!
Whether you’re a Canadian in the US or not, we could all use some comfort food these days. Here are some Canadian Favourites!
Back Bacon / Canadian Bacon
Beep
Canadian Popcorn Seasoning Recipes
Clodhoppers
Confetti Bars
Dill Pickle Dip
French Canadian Pea Soup
Homemade Deep N Delicious Cake
Homemade Wunderbars
Maple Butter Tarts
Montreal Bagels
Persians Recipe
Poutine, My Way!
Puffed Wheat Squares
Replica Swiss Chalet Sauce
Tiger Tail Ice Cream
Looking for even more Canadian recipes? Check out our full Canadian Recipes list!
Share the Love!
Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you instagram it, be sure to tag me - @CelebrationGenerationCA - or post it to My Facebook Page - so I can cheer you on!
Also, be sure to subscribe to my free monthly email newsletter, so you never miss out on any of my nonsense.
Well, the published nonsense, anyway!
Anyway, on to that Peameal Bacon Recipe... and the Back Bacon Recipe!
How to Make Peameal Bacon and Back Bacon
Peameal and Back Bacon are ubiquitous in Canada, but hard to come by elsewhere. Luckily, they're both easy to make, here's how!
Prep Time30 minutes mins
Cook Time2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins
Curing Time5 days d
Total Time5 days d 3 hours hrs
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Canadian
Servings: 16 servings - 4 Lbs of finished bacon, approximately
Calories: 216kcal
Author: Marie Porter
Equipment
Smoker (For Back Bacon)
Wood chips of choice (for Back Bacon)
Ingredients
- 1 Pork Loin About 4 lbs
- 12 Cups Cold Water Divided
- 1 Cup Maple Syrup
- ½ Cup Pickling Salt
- 2 teaspoon Prague #1 Cure
- 2 tablespoon Mustard Seeds
- 2 teaspoon Black Peppercorns
- 4 Garlic cloves Pressed
- 3 Whole Cloves
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 Lemon Sliced Into Wedges
Instructions
Cut pork loin into 2 approximately equal sized chunks (crosswise, NOT lengthwise!). Trim most of the visible fat, if you’d like. Some people don’t both, I don’t like the extra fat on mine. Set aside (in fridge).
Measure 4 cups of of water into a large pot, add remaining ingredients (aside from rest of water!). Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add remaining water, stir to combine. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Place one chunk of pork loin in each of 2 gallon sized freezer bags. I like to manually divide the lemon wedges and bay leaves equally between the two bags before pouring half of the brine into each bag. Push out most of the air, seal the bags, and put them in the fridge – I put both bags into a 9 x 12 cake pan, just in case of leakage, etc.
Allow the pork to brine for 5 whole days, turning once daily to ensure the pork loins are completely submerged.
After 5 days, discard brine, and rinse pork loins with cold water. Use paper towels to pat dry.
For Peameal Bacon:
Pour a generous amount of yellow cornmeal onto a plate large enough to accommodate the chunk of pork loin.
Roll loin in the cornmeal, pressing to form a uniform crust.
Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, chill for at least an hour before slicing and frying/grilling… if you can handle the wait! (I was unable to!)
For Back Bacon:
Hot smoke it with your choice of wood chips until it reaches an internal temperature of 145-150 F. I left this completely up to Porter, here’s what he has to say about how he did it. (This was the very first thing he’s ever smoked!):
“First I put it in the propane grill at about 225°F for one hour. Then I transferred it over to the charcoal grill for about 2 ½ hours. The charcoal grill was about 250°F (that wasn’t intentional, was trying for 225°F). While on the charcoal grill I put on soaked applewood chips about every twenty minutes or so, just a small amount each time. I put the wet chips directly on the coals.”
Nutrition
Calories: 216kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 67mg | Potassium: 499mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 1mg
