I have a pork question !

[acidsorm]

I purchased a 37inch ,pork loin. Its wrapped in a dry rub until tomorrow morning. I am having a feast for my family and friends so they can come worship my Jim bowie :) haha. ANYWAY ! My question is , should I cook it as one piece or should I cut it into two or three sections ? and at what temperature should I cook it at and for how long ? I want to turn it into a pulled pork. Thanks for you're help in advance ! Oh , and I also have a 30inch long pork side rib going in. Can I cook it at the same temperature ?

 

[JckDanls 07]

well lets see... First off, you say it's rubbed already.. did you by any chance brine it first ? Loin's are VERY lean and benefit tremendously from an overnight brine soak.... for the loin, cooking at 225` would be the way to go.. as far as making pulled pork with it, I'm sorry to say that that won't happen... The loin is to lean to take the IT (internal temp) up high enough (200`+) to pull... So my advice would be to just take the IT up to 140` and slice it... You can cook it whole but would be much easier and probably faster to cut it into 3 pieces....

As far as the ribs go.. yes you can cook them at same temp...

 

[acidsorm]

No I did not brine it . I'm very new to this whole smoking and barbequing thing . Is it to late to brine it now after rubbing it ?. ok so you say its too lean to bring the IT to 200. What would happen if I took it to that IT anyway ? Would it still pull apart but just be very dry ? I'm asking because my uncle has this brown sugar and hickory sauce he makes that I was planning on mixing in with the pulled pork before serving. Its the same sauce I cook pork tenderloins in when I make a small batch of pulled pork in my crock pot. Its delicious .

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Acidsorm, Hello.  I feel you can go to the pull stage easy enough... once you get to 165*F IT , wrap in foil and add a bit of Apple Juice to it and return to the grill and go to your temp.  IMHO , I would use the juices in the foil (along with ) your Uncle's Sauce and add to the PP.

I enjoy Loins sliced for sammies , but will go all the way with them now and then for a lean PP for Special People .

Hope you have a good Smoke and as always . . .

 

[marshman71]

I'd definitely cut the sucker in half.   and personally would never use a loin for pulled pork.    

Inject that sucker with a little Tony Chachere's Creole Butter or even some Apple Juice since you cant brine it now.

Happy Smoking.!

 

[rubbin butts]

If you want pulled pork that is edible, buy a butt and smoke it. THE LOIN WILL BE WAY DRY IF YOU TAKE IT TO 205.

Ideal loin finished temp is 145, slice it for sammies.

It's a lot easier to start your cook with the best possible outcome than to start it already fighting to make it work.

 

[daveomak]

To add some fat and flavor to the loin now, you could wrap it in bacon and smoke / cook it....  145 IT, would be the temp I would go to....  If the smoker was at 225 deg F, I would pull the loin at 140, wrap in foil and towels and rest.....   the IT should rise to 145 ish during the resting period from heat "carry over"... 

 

[millerk0486]

I've never smoked a pork loin before, but I have seen on the cooking channel, Bobby Dean make lean PP sandwiches using pork tenderloin. He had a 3lb tenderloin and cut it into 2 or 3 pieces. I don't remember everything he did, but I would definitely take Oldschoolbbq's advice and have it wrapped with Apple Cider/Juice for at least the latter half of it. That will definitely get it moist and tender enough to pull. During the first unwrapped stages I would spritz it with Apple Cider/Juice or 50/50 juice/oil or 50/50 oil/cider vinegar to help keep it tender. If you do use juice be sure it is 100% juice, LoL.

 

[hambone1950]

.
It's a lot easier to start your cook with the best possible outcome than to start it already fighting to make it work.

That is good advice right there....I think I'm gonna have that embroidered on a pillow :grilling_smilie: