Peameal Bacon?

Does anyone know of any local suppliers of peameal bacon ? Haven't ever seen it outside of Canada myself.

Thanks !

According to my brief use of google, "peameal bacon" is what we in America call Canadian bacon. It should be available under that name many places.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon

Canadian bacon is fully cooked and smoked, peameal bacon has been brined but is unsmoked and raw, and has been rolled in cornmeal.

I do not know of anywhere outside of Canada and maybe the Detroit area to find peameal bacon.

Gleam's description is correct. Guess we just don't have a taste for it here. Found some online sources though.

i'm certain there are other threads here describing what "real" canadian bacon is... (search for "back bacon" maybe you'll get a more direct thread than weeding through others).

also, i'm certain you can get it in the detroit area, i've seen it in the stores there... and the Townsend (hotel) in birmingham MI (detroit area) uses peamill bacon in their eggs benedict... i think it's the best i've had.

but it's not that exotic, i'd be suprised if nowhere here had it... hmmmmmm. cornmeal is a common substitute for peamill too, and more prevalent.

I have also seen it in the Detroit/Windsor area as that's where my family is from. I get it occasionally when I am there, but have yet to find it in Chicago anywhere. Will post if I ever find it here.

To clarify, peameal bacon is NOT Canadian/Back bacon. It is made from back bacon, but is cured:

from wikipedia:
"...peameal bacon, which refers to a specific variety of unsmoked lean bacon that has been sweet pickle-cured and coated in yellow cornmeal (originally, as the name suggests, peameal was used)."

gleam wrote:I do not know of anywhere outside of Canada and maybe the Detroit area to find peameal bacon.

Ed,

Good call on the Detroit area for peameal bacon, I was at Detroit's Eastern Market this weekend and bought a 1-1/2 pound pack from R. Hirt Jr, a serious vendor of cheese and cured meat of all types.

Peameal Bacon


One small problem, we were visiting friends in the Detroit area and I left the peameal bacon, along with various cheeses, in our friends frig. And I was really looking forward to trying peameal bacon.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:One small problem, we were visiting friends in the Detroit area and I left the peameal bacon, along with various cheeses, in our friends frig. And I was really looking forward to trying peameal bacon.

That's too bad and, unfortunately, something I have some experience with myself. The question I have is -- how far along on the road home were you when you realized you left it? And what would have been the cut-off point for returning if you had remembered at an earlier phase of the trip home (assuming you drove)?

Matt wrote:And what would have been the cut-off point for returning if you had remembered at an earlier phase of the trip home (assuming you drove)?

Matt,

Yes, we drove, a not bad at all 4.5-hour drive (Chicago/Detroit). I realized I had left the peameal bacon and other assorted items from Eastern Market at our friends house the moment I walked into Zingerman's. It was about 45-miles back and getting late in the day. I never really considered going back.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:

Matt wrote:And what would have been the cut-off point for returning if you had remembered at an earlier phase of the trip home (assuming you drove)?

Matt,

Yes, we drove, a not bad at all 4.5-hour drive (Chicago/Detroit). I realized I had left the peameal bacon and other assorted items from Eastern Market at our friends house the moment I walked into Zingerman's. It was about 45-miles back and getting late in the day. I never really considered going back.

Enjoy,
Gary

I'm sure they will enjoy it.

Gary--

Sorry to hear your lost hence forlorn news. But I will tell you this to cheer you up: I got back to Montreal last (= Sunday) night, and my local Costco has peameal bacon. Just what you want to hear, eh?! : )

Actually, it's a *very* mild bacon, quite unlike any other I've tried. No smoke, obviously, and not much cured flavor, either. You could probably do just as well yourself (knowing YOUR talents!!) with a pork tenderloin and some Tendercure (TM). But I can understand your desire to try The Real Thing. Sorry I can't help you there.

Geo
PS. We missed you like crazy Friday night. But the eats were great, nonetheless.

R. Hirt Jr. is a great vendor of all things Canadian and a wide variety of fine cheeses. The owner introduced me to the joys of a fine stilton.

If I were in Detroit, I would cross the border and head to the Windsor Public Market. They have a very fine selection of peameal bacon and other fine Canadian meats.

My wife and I had the distinct please or hosting Gary and Ellen this last weekend and YES, I have enjoyed his peameal bacon and other assorted cheeses that he left at my house.

Looking forward to Gary's thorough review oh his 48 hours in Detroit. I think he was pleasantly surprised by what he experienced.

Well, I found some Peameal bacon in Cleveland at the Westside market over Thanksgiving weekend. Sorry, cant remember the vendor there, although we just asked a couple of the butchers there and they were happy to point us in the right direction. They didn't have it rolled in cornmeal, but they did that for us on the spot upon request. Doesn't help anyone in Chicago, but I thought I'd mention it.

HI,

I am planning to make peameal bacon for an upcoming program. I found a suggested recipe here: http://www.ehow.com/how_5555725_make-peameal-bacon.html

Does it have an authentic ring to anyone familiar with it? If someone has made it, what is your recipe?

Regards,

That's exactly the recipe I used when I made it after not being able to find it anywhere in Chicago. It was missing the slight sourness/tang that the stuff I find in Canada has, but was still quite good. Not quite sure what the sourness would come from, maybe some vinegar in a brine instead of a dry cure? Would love to hear about your results.

C2--that recipe sounds pretty close to what I'd reverse-engineer from the peameal bacon I've tasted. It's a pretty simple taste, quite clean and porky, with only a moderate amount of 'cured' flavor. I'd have to say: Go for It!

Geo

Geo,

Do you have a sense of tang in peameal bacon that Wheattoast suggested?

Regards,

Actually, Cathy, I don't. When she noted that, my immediate thought was "hmmm, I must have missed that". It seems to me that, until you grill it or brown it, about the only flavor peameal bacon has is porkiness.

But YMMV! I've only ever had one brand, the one they sell at Costco.

Geo

Hi,

I will be at Woodman's tomorrow evening. I am going to see if they happen to have any in their freezer case. Otherwise I will make it, because it is not any more challenging than making corned beef. Just season as described and watch chemistry do its magic.

Visiting Costco in different regions is certainly worthwhile.

Regards,

You can purchase Peameal Back Bacon online at www.realcanadianbacon.com

HI,

Thank you, I appreciate the information.

I had seen some, but my temptation stopped at the price:

Intro - Two 1lb Trays Sliced Canadian Peameal
Code: SLICE2
Price: $43.95

It was what inspired me to try to make it myself. Fortunately, I have cured and pickled meat, so I am not intimated to try.

Again, thanks!

Regards,