First pork smoke - a little dry. What'd I do wrong?

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

mikeintx

Newbie
Original poster
Dec 30, 2012
29
10
Dallas, TX
Last weekend I smoked a boneless pork loin, it was ~3 pounds. I put a little yellow mustard on it and then rubbed it down with a basic SPOG mix and a couple other things. I have a remote thermometer that is going away as soon as I can get a Maverick, but it is pre-calibrated for beef, pork, poultry, etc. I poked it in the pork loin and commenced to smoking over applewood chunks at about 225-250 degrees (according my likely inaccurate Masterbuilt in-door thermometer). According to my remote thermometer, pork is done at 170 but I started getting a little nervous and pulled it at an internal temp of 160. This was after about 3, maybe 3.5 hours on the smoker.

I foiled it and let it rest for maybe 20-25 minutes or so before the wife and I tucked in to it. It tasted great, good seasoning and smoke flavor, but was just a tad on the dry side. It was good but not amazing. What did I do wrong? I see posts of pork being pulled at internal temps of 140-145, which is considerably off of my remote thermometer's suggested temp. What's the magic secret? Do I need to run chamber temps as well as internal meat temps? Pull the pork off at a lower temp? Something else?

Any words of porky wisdom would be greatly appreciated. Thanks folks!
 
Dry pork loin usually means overcooked, as you suspect, but there are other factors which can have some impact on the finished product. For USDA inspected pork, the minimum recommended finished temp is now 145*. If smoked at a higher chamber temp of 250* or so, the carry-over will bring it up several more degrees from where you pull it out of the cooker at, so @ 142-143* finished temp, carry-over will bring it over 145*. I typically finish my loins in the upper 150's giving a carry-over of 160*+ for med-well and it holds it juices nicely at that temp.

Speed (chamber temp) of cooking a loin may or may not play a role in moisture retention in the meat. Pork loin is already tender, so like younger poultry, it doesn't really benefit from low & slow cooking (with the exception of old roasting hens), so if a higher chamber temp may be to your liking, it won't hurt anything, other than give a bit less smoke reaction time.

I have cooked loins indirect on a weber kettle relatively hot and fast (275-300*), and incidentally at well above 160* (upper 170's to lower 180's) and they still had a fair amount of moisture. Two things help these loins out: a dry cooking environment (dry???)...I'll explain below), and a fat-cap.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...gold-w-recipes-hope-you-dont-mind-some-q-view

Was the loin trimmed lean, or was the fat-cap intact? Fat-cap can play a major role in moisture retention by self-basting the loin as the fat renders-down. I've brined loins before and this can help a little, but it's not a huge factor in overall moisture retention...it helps some, but the biggest benefit I've noticed added flavor to the interior meat

Prep methods don't generally effect moisture a lot, such as mustard with dry rub, although a bacon wrapped loin is a tasty way to baste the loin for more moisture retention:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/94631/bacon-wrapped-loins-in-the-vault-q-view

I have noticed benefits from using a dry smoke chamber with leaner meats for better moisture retention. A dry smoker chamber allows the surface meat fibers to dry and tighten-up, sealing in the natural juices. The draw-back to a dry only smoke chamber is reduced smoke reaction time. To offset this, I use a wet to dry smoke chamber for the best of both worlds.

Lots of reading here, but the1st 7 threads are pertaining to dry only, or, wet to dry smoke chamber...when you have some time to read about a new trick or two, these may give you some ideas what you may want to try for juicier meats:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/ne...luvofsmoke&output=all&sdate=0&containingforum[0]=90&replycompare=gt&numupdates=&newer=1&type=all&advanced=1

Chamber temp gauges are also not accurate in most cases. You should be able to verify the chamber temp by placing a digital probe near the door temp gauge stem and most of these gauges can be calibrated by turning a small hex "nut" on the the stem to correspond with your digital probe reading. Your probe should be verified as well by placing the probe tip in boiling water and verifying that the temp is close to what a rapid boil is for your elevation (altitude). Here's a chart listing the temp/elevation:

http://www.hi-tm.com/Documents/Calib-boil.html

A little bit of discussion on thermometer checks, started by Dutch:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...ur-thermometer-and-the-boiling-point-of-water

Anyway, there's generally not just one thing that can make a loin dry-out a bit (if not severely overcooked), but there can be several things going on at once, and everything I mentioned can be a contributing factor at some point...preventing some of them can be a part of your routine, if you want to take a few extra steps, and you can work it into your routine in time.

Good smokes to ya, Mike!

Eric
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: mikeintx
Eric - wow, thanks for the incredibly informative post. I am seriously overwhelmed with the amount of information and knowledge all in one place. The loin was indeed trimmed rather lean, in fact the wife commented on how she wished there was more of a fat cap on it. I have been reading other threads discussing the benefits of a dry chamber and will probably load my water pan with either sand or pebbles for the next smoke. As I mentioned, I'm also looking to get a proper thermometer for both the chamber and the meat, so that should help.

Anyway, I need to read through all of the threads you linked, looks like some good learning to be had there. Again, I genuinely appreciate the time and effort you took to help a smoking newcomer, makes me happy to be a part of this forum. Thanks much!

Mike
 
As usual Eric has you very well covered with the detail of his response.

When you decide to smoke a cut of meat there are a couple paths to go slicing or pulling.

If you are going to slice you are looking at roasts and loins. You will want to cook to 140-145 and alow time to rest and carryover cooking to do its thing. Note: if you decide to slice something with a lot of fat in the meat like a butt. You can cook to 180. I use other cuts for slicing and use the butt for pulling only.

If you are going to go for pulling. You want cuts like butts and picnics that have a lot of fat cap and fat through out the meat. This is what will thrive in the long low and slow cooking and stay moist.

My guide I use: very simplified I use this with beef, pork and any other large animal. Of course some exceptions can be made, but I try to see and use what cooking methods will get best results.

Loins: cook to 140 and allow to rest 30-45 min before slicing
Butts/shoulders: cook to 190-195 and allow to rest 60-90 min before pulling
Ribs: bend test approx 3-2-1
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky