Stuffed Pork Loin

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GaryHibbert

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Stuffed Loin

Friday was Remembrance Day up here, and Miss Linda had the day off.  So, I had decided to fire up the smoker and do a loin, stuffed with fruit, herbs and breadcrumbs.  I had taken a 2 pound piece of loin out of the freezer to thaw so it would be ready to prepare.


Friday morning, bright and early, I trimmed up the loin, removing all the excess fat. 


Then it was time to filet the loin—wasn’t really looking forward to that, as my previous attempt ended up looking like I had used a dull machete on it.  Well, the Lord hates a coward, so I dug out my best and sharpest knife and had at it.  All I can say about the finished product is…..WOW!!!  Will YOU LOOK AT THAT!!!   It was, and I say this with all due modesty, beautiful.


After trimming up the loin, removing the rib meat (this will soon become Burnt Ends), I applied a fairly heavy coat of Teddy’s Happy Hog Butt Rub to all sides, wrapped it in plastic wrap, and returned it to the fridge.



 I wasn’t planning to fire up the MES 30 til later in the afternoon, so I had lots of time to prepare the stuffing.

Stuffing Recipe:

2 apples cored, peeled and chopped (for a little bit of crunch)

½ cup raisins, soaked to rehydrate

¾ cup breadcrumbs

1 Tbsp brown sugar

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp salt

1 tsp ground cloves (tried ½ tsp and couldn’t even smell it in the stuffing)

2 Tbsp melted butter

1 can Apple Pie Filling

In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients, except the Apple Pie Filling (it goes in later).  Let stand for a while (no set time here) to allow the flavors to blend.  I covered the dish and just let it be until I was ready to stuff the loin.  I knew the chopped apples would discolor, but I wasn’t overly concerned about that—they would soon be cooking INSIDE the loin.

About 2 PM, I fired up the MES, set the temp at 240* and let it start warming up.

Then it was time for the loin--out of the fridge, unwrapped, and laid out on the cutting board.  Now it was time to add the Apple Pie Filling to the stuffing.  I wanted a very moist stuffing, but definitely not a semi-liquid, so I added the pie filling bit by bit, while Miss Linda stirred the mixture. In this case, it took about ¾ of the can to reach my desired texture—wet enough to keep everything moist while cooking, but firm enough to stay where I put it until I had the loin rolled and tied.  Yes, I actually remembered to buy a roll of butcher twine, so no toothpicks this time.

The stuffing mixture was spooned onto the loin as thick as I could get it and still have a reasonable hope that not too much would ooze out.  If I’m going to stuff something, I want LOTS of stuffing—a total lack of subtlety here.  After I managed to get the loin all “rolled” up, I got Miss Linda to do the honors with the twine while I kept a death grip on the roll.  Surprisingly, not too much of the stuffing exhibited a desire to depart.  I knew when I was preparing the stuffing mix that it would be way too much, but it freezes well and makes a great meal of stuffed pork chops.



Leaving the loin on the counter I got the AMNPS fired up.  I had planned to use apple wood, but since there was none to be found, I filled the AMNPS with cherry wood.  Now, cherry has always been a pain to burn unless mixed with another wood.  But I said to myself “Since adding DaveOmak’s legs to my AMNPS all the other woods I’ve tried have burned better than ever, so the cherry might too.  Ha!  Famous Last Words.

At 3 PM the MES was holding 240*, the AMNPS was smoking nicely, and the Mav 733 was on and ready, so the loin went into the smoker.

Dave’s legs aside, I didn’t really have much confidence in a good cherry wood burn, so for the next 2 hours I kept a pretty close watch on everything—my Mama didn’t raise no fools.  Good thing too.  The MES was holding fairly constant, varying from 230 to 250*, but the cherry pellets went out repeatedly, requiring a relight about 5 times.  Now admittedly they weren’t Todd’s pellets (my supplier was out) but they were a good brand that I have used before (hickory and pecan) when I wasn’t able to buy Todd’s.  Oh well, I tried and now I know.

After almost exactly 2 hours in, the Mav 733 was reading 140* IT.  A quick check with my Weber “instant” read therm confirmed that all parts of the loin were up to temp.  The loin came out and was transferred to the cutting board.  While it rested, I turned the MES off, put the grate in the sink to soak, and separated the good pellets in the AMNPS—naturally, now that I wanted it to go out, it was smoking away beautifully.  Go figure.


Since everything else to be served was ready and waiting, the loin got an abbreviated rest.  I sliced it about 1 inch thick, and it looked GREAT.


Dinner that night was stuffed loin, steamed turnip, and fresh garlic bread.  I served up the leftover apple pie filling on the side—it made a delicious condiment for the loin!  Desert was to be Miss Linda’s Tomato Soup Cake (I know, it sounds disgusting, but is really very good.  Here’s the link to her cake:   http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/254169/miss-lindas-tomato-soup-cake


The stuffed loin was fantastic--pink, moist, very tender, with a light to medium smoky flavor.  I loved it, although I prefer a heavier smoke.  Miss Linda, however, always says “Just a bit too much smoke”, so the lighter smoke probably had a lot to do with her critique of the meal.  Absolutely delicious, was her verdict.  Thank you, Lord!!

Would I do this again?  Absolutely.  Would I change anything?  Probably, but only to cut the loins a lot bigger before freezing next time.

Thanks for looking.

Gary
 
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