Try this shaved thin on pizza.
Curing meats such as homemade bacon, ham, or pastrami is fun and the results are often better than store bought. But curing is very different from any other recipe because you are using a preservative, sodium nitrite. You must read and thoroughly understand my article on the Science Of Curing Meats before attempting to cure meat or before you ask any questions.
In Spain and Mexico, lomo is cured pork tenderloin. Sometimes it is smoked, sometimes it is served raw. I smoke it for flavor and safety. Note, this is made with tenderloin, not loin. Loin is a big thick muscle used for Canadian Bacon, as much as 9 pounds. Typically they are sold in sections about 3 to 5 pounds each. Tenderloin is small, about 1 pound, and the size of a baby’s forearm. They often come two per package but they are sitting on top of each other so they look like one muscle.
The beauty of tenderloin is that it is very lean and, you guessed it, tender.
Spanish Lomo: Cured Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients
Adjusting Curing Ingredients
Cure time: 0.8 days
Method
- Prep. Put everything except the meat in a very clean nonreactive pot (stainless, enamel coated, glass). Dissolve the salts and sugar. The garlic will not dissolve thoroughly. Let it cool in the refrigerator. Scrub the exterior of the meat thoroughly (don't use soap).
- Cure. Put the pork in the pot and keep it in the fridge for the length of time in the calculations above (you can go about 20% longer if you have to). If necessary weigh it down with a dinner plate or something else.
- Cook. After the cure, it is time to smoke. Before smoking, rinse the surface really well because there will be a heavier concentration of salt on there. Smoke at 325°F (163°C) until it is 145°F (63°C) in the deepest part of the center. Depending on how thick your meat is, this will take about 1 hour. The reason we cook at 325°F (163°C) is to prevent the stall which will happen at lower temperatures and that can result in a much longer cook and drier meat. You can refrigerate it for up to two weeks or freeze it for longer. If you vacuum seal, it will keep longer still.
- Serve. I like to shave it thin and use it on top of pizza or flatbread.
Before you can post a comment or question you must sign into our commenting partner, Disqus. This helps make sure everyone hanging around the grill is civil. We do not tolerate nastiness, racism, porn, inappropriate language, or attacks on others. All comments are the property of AmazingRibs.com and we reserve the right to quote them, edit them, delete them, and block people from making future comments.
Please leave comments and questions on the same page that is devoted to that subject so others can see questions and our answers when they are reading about the subject. You must enable JavaScript to use the comments section, and you must accept cookies to post comments. Note: the software that runs Disqus is different from the Pitmaster Club, so members need to sign into the Pitmaster Club separately.