Preparing a loin

rico13gt said:

Smoking my first pork loins Saturday and had some questions. Do I need to trim any fat? I'm gonna do one with a dry rub and one with a brine. Any suggestions? Thanks.

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Are you looking for proven brine recipes and methods and/or rub recipes, also?

There will be a few mixed opinions on preparing the fat-cap, and mine will include with brine and without brine. I seem to get a bit better penetration into the meat where there is no fat-cap, however, with the fat-cap scored in a cross-hatch pattern and the loin placed fat-cap up, you get a self-basted loin, and a really nice presentation, even after it's sliced. I trim back the heaviest portions of the fat-cap, leaving at least 1/4-3/8", if I trim at all...then score it and apply dry rub, working it into the scoring a bit, then another dose just to cover it well.

Speaking of brining, using a rub with the brined loin is great, too...do it that way all the time. Try to match the rub with the theme of the brine ingredients for the best resulting flavor profile.

For the cool-factor of presentation, and self basting, I still leave the fat-cap on for brining.

Smoke @ 250* to internal temp of 140-142* measure with thermometer...carry-over while resting should get you to the minimum recommended temp of 145*. I don't go that low myself...I'm a med-well pork guy (160* with carry-over)...still plenty of juices in the loin.

Smoke wood should be a sweeter.milder wood such as apple, but if the rub will carry it, you could use some sharper/heavier woods like hickory/mesquite, sparingly. Pork loin has a mild flavor, so smoke wood should enhance it, not cover it up. Also, loin is a tender cut, so low & slow is not necessary...275-300* chamber temp is fine if you want a faster cook.

Eric

This sounds familiar...maple for the start with the ham, them adding apple when the loins go in...should be great!

I do...I've brined a few butts, loins, pork ribs, chops, CSRs, chickens...can't remember all of it now, so I had to do a search...methods and recipes posted in all of these threads, I'm sure...there's gotta be more in the pork forum, as well, but I haven't followed it much lately. BTW, brining pork is not a widely practiced method for prep, so there's not much posted about it. I will say I have enjoyed my time with swine-brine.

The ancho chili brine is good for a spicy mix. Here Piggy-Piggy brine and Hawg Heaven rub is great for pork if you can gather the ingredients. Look the others over to be sure what you like best, though. Some of these I haven't made for quite some time and would need to review the thread to remember what they're really like, but I generally give a detailed review at the finish. Some are simple, with a basic flavor profile, while others are a bit more complex and developed while I was searching for that extra something or another at the time...decent brines. The second I mentioned above was my latest, a brine and dry rub combo, blended to work together as a duo, and they sing in perfect harmony...this was among the most unique and flavorful combinations I've ever created for pork, thus far.

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

Enjoy!

Eric

I don't do a lot of brining or injecting on something like that.  So I will let others address that subject.

I like the fat on. They are usually pretty well trimmed anyway.  I can trim it later, even at the plate?

Good luck and good smoking.