Y’all Sweet Tea Brined Wild Pork Canadian Bacon

First, apologies to our north-of-the-border friends, but Canadian bacon is bacon in name only. That said, it is tasty. I love it sliced thin and piled high on a sandwich, hot or cold, pan-seared with eggs for breakfast, layered on a cracker with a slice of sharp cheddar, or spread over a pizza.

This version of wild pig Canadian bacon uses sweet tea in the brine for an unusual but very pleasing flavor. Images by author.

The traditional recipe calls for water and sugar as the brine base. Know what else has water and sugar, plus a ton of great flavor? Y’all Brand Realtree Sweet Tea. Why not use it instead of water?

Substitute Y’all Brand Sweet Tea for the usual water in the brine.

Maybe we should back up a bit. If you aren’t familiar with how Canadian bacon is made, it is simply a pork loin that has been cured in a brine mixture of liquid, salt, sugar, Instacure #1 (a blend of salt and sodium nitrate), and spices. The meat gets submerged in the mixture and cured in the refrigerator for several days. After that, the meat gets rinsed, dried, and smoked until fully cooked. From there, the possibilities are nearly endless. I’ve already listed several of our favorites.

Heat the tea and add the salt, spices, honey, and Instacure #1.

This is one of my favorite ways to prepare the loins from the wild hogs we shoot. I was getting ready to brine a loin from a recent hunt when I reached for my glass of sweet tea. Then it hit me. The tea has about the same sugar ratio as my normal brine, (2 cups per gallon) so why not use it? I gave it a try, and the results were even better than expected.

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The finished product had the sweet and salty blend that everyone loves about Canadian bacon, but it had a more complex flavor, with notes of citrus, honey and caramel.

Start with a rinsed and trimmed pork loin. These were about 2.5 pounds. If you want to do several at once, simply double the recipe.

After the loin is trimmed and rinsed well, place it in a gallon zip-top bag or in a deep, narrow container that will allow it to be fully submerged in the brine.

Pour the cooled brine over the pork in a gallon-sized zip-top bag.

To make the brine, warm 2 quarts of prepared Y’all Brand Sweet Tea in a large saucepan. Add the salt, honey, garlic powder, onion powder, and Instacure #1. (The latter is different than the Himalayan pink salt you find at the grocery and is designed to cure meats. You can find it online, at butcher shops or in many large sporting goods stores.) Stir until the salt has fully dissolved and everything is well blended.

Allow the brine to cool, and then pour it over the pork loin. Seal the bag, place it in a leakproof container in case some of the brine escapes, and then refrigerate for eight to 10 days. I like to move the bag around each day to make sure every part of the pork is coming into contact with the brine.

After the curing period, it’s time to smoke. This recipe came out perfect on the saltiness level, but if you want to test, simply slice off a small piece of pork and fry it in a skillet. Since it is wild pork, I like to cook it to at least 155 degrees internal temperature to kill any Trichinella parasites that might be in the meat.

Brine the loin for eight to 10 days, and then rinse and pat dry before smoking.

Now, give it a taste. If the flavor is too salty, soak the cured loin in fresh water in the refrigerator overnight. If it’s just a little on the salty side, go ahead and smoke. The salty flavor will mellow during the smoking process.

Add a smoke tube to the grill for even more smoky goodness in the finished product.

Heat your grill to 250 degrees. I like to add a smoking tube full of pellets to the grill rack for additional smoke flavor. Smoke the cured loin for one to two hours or until it reaches 155 degrees internal temperature in the thickest part. Allow the loin to cool, and then wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight before slicing. The finished product can be enjoyed as is, seared in a skillet, or used in any number of recipes.

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