Did you know you can make peameal bacon at home? Forget over-salted and over-priced store-bought peameal bacon, and make your own with oodles more flavor at a fraction of the price! It’s not hard, and the flavor is incredible!
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Chances are that if you know what peameal bacon is, that you love it. There’s nothing quite like it, and it’s so versatile. You can slice it and put it on sandwiches, serve it griddled for breakfast or brunch, or smoke the whole chunk for a delicious roast.
Typically only available in Ontario, Canada, peameal bacon is a provincial treasure, but you can make peameal bacon at home, and it’s more delicious and flavorful than anything from the store!
What you’ll love about Making Peameal Bacon
- Much cheaper than store-bought!
- Control the salt; control the sugar.
- It’s so much more delicious than any purchased brand!
What Is Peameal Bacon
A close relative of back bacon, peameal bacon isn’t really bacon at all. It’s pork loin – cured pork loin, to be exact. Created in Toronto in the 1850s, the story goes that a meat packer by the name of William Davies trimmed pork loin, cured it, and then rolled it in ground dried yellow peas to help extend its shelf life.
Cured in a brine of Prague Powder #1, salt, and sugar, and then rolled in cornmeal (nobody uses dried and ground yellow peas anymore) peameal bacon is a thing of beauty. It is easy to make, and once you’ve tried it homemade, you’ll never want it any other way! Just don’t call it back bacon – back bacon is similar to peameal, but it is smoked and not rolled in cornmeal.
Ingredients
- Boneless Pork loin – This batch is scaled for about 5 pounds of pork loin in one solid piece. Trim off excess fat, but leave a 1/4-inch layer of fat on the top.
- Water – Use distilled or boiled and cooled water to reduce impurities and keep the flavors clean.
- Kosher salt – You can’t have a wet cure – or brine – without salt. I use kosher salt, but if you use table salt, use half as much.
- Sugar – White granulated sugar does the trick. Don’t worry, the meat won’t be sweet tasting.
- Peppercorns – Whole black peppercorns.
- Bay leaves – Whole dried bay leaves.
- Garlic – Fresh garlic cloves, and give them a good smash.
- Prague Powder #1 – Don’t have a clue what this is? See below.
- Cornmeal – Peameal bacon was traditionally rolled in pea meal (ground yellow peas). These days, we use cornmeal.
What Is Prague Powder #1?
Many, many years ago, I tried to make my own corned beef without Prague Powder #1. It was a nasty disaster. Then, I learned from an expert how to cure meats, and I’ve never looked back. The secret ingredient to a successful cure is Prague Powder #1. Also called tinted cure or pink curing salt, it is a combination of 6.25% sodium nitrite and 93.75% sodium chloride.
Prague Powder #1 is the secret behind cured meats keeping their flavor and long shelf life. This curing agent inhibits the growth of bacteria and helps preserve flavor and color.
**Warning – Prague Powder #1 is NOT table salt! DO NOT use it in place of pink Himalayan salt or any other salt. Keep this product out of reach of children and label it appropriately.
How To Make Peameal Bacon
For a full list of ingredients and instructions, please scroll down to the recipe near the bottom of this page.
- Trim off all but about 1/4-inch of fat from the boneless pork loin if it isn’t already trimmed.
- Mix the distilled water with the kosher salt, sugar, peppercorns, garlic, bay leaves, and Prague Powder #1 until dissolved.
- Add the pork loin to the brine and refrigerate for 5 days, turning it over and giving the mixture a stir once a day.
- Remove the pork and drain the brine down the sink. Refill the container with cold tap water and put the pork loin into the clean water, and refrigerate for 2 hours. After 2 hours, drain the water and replace it with clean water, and soak for another 2 hours in the fridge. You are desalinating the pork, so it’s not too salty.
- Pat the pork dry and roll it in the cornmeal pressing down lightly for even coverage.
- Cook and enjoy!
How To Cook Peameal Bacon
Peameal bacon can be prepared in several different ways. Here are some suggestions:
- Slice it into 1/4-inch thick slices and grill them over low heat.
- Slice into 1/4-inch thick slices and pan-fry them.
- You can roast a whole peameal bacon at 350-F until it reaches 145-F, then rest for 5 minutes, slice, and serve.
- You can pop the whole thing onto the rotisserie.
- You can also smoke peameal bacon.
Serving Suggestions
Wondering what to serve with peameal bacon? It’s really quite versatile and can be used as an ingredient in other dishes or just be cooked and served. Here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy cooked peameal bacon:
- Pan-fried and served with eggs, toast, and all your favorite breakfast dishes. Don’t forget this Bloody Mary recipe and make it brunch!
- Forget an Egg McMuffin, make your own at home with peameal instead of ham!
- Fried or grilled slices piled high on a sandwich with fried onions. Insider secret: peameal bacon and fried onions is knock-your-socks-off good!
- Roasted and served with au gratin potatoes and all your favorite sides.
- Smoked – Smoked peameal bacon is a thing of beauty!
Storage
Cured peameal bacon will keep for a week or more in the fridge if tightly wrapped. I like to freeze smaller portions of it so that I can thaw one for breakfast or brunch. You can also freeze individual slices to heat up whenever you’re hungry for it. To freeze peameal bacon, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then pop it into a freezer-safe plastic bag for up to 3 months. To keep it longer, vacuum seal it.
Step By Step Process
How To Make Peameal Bacon
Ingredients
- 5 pounds boneless pork loin
- 1 gallon distilled water or boiled and cooled
- 3/4 cup kosher salt or half as much table salt
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
- 4 bay leaves
- 3 cloves garlic smashed
- 2 teaspoons Prague Powder #1
- 2 cups cornmeal
Instructions
- Trim off all but about 1/4-inch of fat from the boneless pork loin, if it isn't already trimmed.
- Mix the distilled water with the kosher salt, sugar, peppercorns, garlic, bay leaves, and Prague Powder #1 until dissolved.
- Add the pork loin to the brine and refrigerate for 5 days, turning it over and giving the mixture a stir once a day.
- Remove the pork and drain the brine down the sink. Refill the container with cold tap water and put the pork loin into the clean water, and refrigerate for 2 hours. After 2 hours, drain the water and replace it with clean water, and soak for another 2 hours in the fridge. You are desalinating the pork, so it's not too salty.
- Pat the pork dry and roll it in the cornmeal pressing down lightly for even coverage.
- Cook and enjoy!
Notes
A Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for this recipe is provided as a courtesy and is calculated based on available online ingredient information. It is only an approximate value. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site cannot be guaranteed.
This was delicious! I had never heard of peameal bacon until I saw your recipe, and I knew I had to try it. It came out perfectly and I’ve been enjoying it alongside my eggs in the morning.
You pretty much just solved a life problem haha As a Canadian, peameal bacon is my THING but I never thought to make it at home. Thank you!
I’ve been looking for an alternative to bacon since it has been so expensive. I was able to make this for so much cheaper and it was reallly good! I had never heard about it before your recipe. Thanks
So glad to have this recipe. This peameal bacon is absolutely perfect for my morning egg sandwiches!
Love this recipe! So juicy and yum! Thanks x
Can recipe be halved? Only husband (Canadian) and self and we live in an RV meaning we have a really small frig.
You can halve the recipe but you need to ensure that there’s plenty of water in with the pork loin as it cures. Good luck! ~Jenn
I live in Canada where we use litres rather than gallons. 1 gallon of water is stated in the recipe. Are you meaning 1 gal = 3.78 litres or 4.5 litres? Thanks.
Great question! Use 3.78 litres for this recipe. Enjoy! ~Jenn
Great recipe, thanks! I grew up loving peameal bacon and I’m from British Columbia. Just further evidence that Canada does not end at the Ontario border ;o)
For sure! ~Enjoy!
This is awesome! I have an event where I need to make a LOT of peameal bacon. My first attempt is in the fridge now, and I am in the desalinating stage. Does the brine penetrate completely through the loin or just the surface? And, is this recipe appropriate for larger quantities? Does anything change other than multiplying the ingredients? Anything else I should know or consider? And lastly, if I am serving this at a public event, do you have any suggestions for slicing, cooking, and serving? It’s just ME at the event serving this, and there is likely to be 100-150 people… aaaack! Help, need advice!!!!
Hey there,
The amount of Prague powder to meat to liquid is pretty set. If you’re going to make more than what’s called for in the recipe, I would have the pork loins in separate containers for the brining. It WILL penetrate through the whole loin, but it takes days to do that so give yourself plenty of time!
If I were doing this, I’d prep the meat, desalinate it, and then pop it into the freezer for an hour or so to firm up then slice it. It’ll be so much easier to slice thinly if the meat is starting to freeze. Do you have a Blackstone griddle? That’s the best way to cook peameal – throw it all on the outdoor griddle. Or, slice it and grill it. You can also cook the loins whole (in the oven, on a smoker, etc) and then slice it. I guess it depends on what you’re going to do with the meat and if it’s the star of the meal or not.
Good luck! That’s a lot of people to feed! ~Jenn
Thanks Chef Jenn! Anything you would suggest as a dollop of something on the side? Slaw? Potato Salad? More for appearance than anything else, definitely not a side dish by any means, just a little something so it looks good. Thoughts? Recipe?