A few weeks ago there was a good deal on pork loin at Costco ($3 off) and a bought two of them. I basically divided the loins into 3 pieces, with the two ends kept whole for roasting/smoking, and the center piece sliced into pork chops.
This weekend I smoked one of the loins: 4 Hour brine with Dr Pepper and Kosher salt. Then lightly seasoned with Italian seasoning (no salt). Made a glaze out of mostly cherry preserve. The roast was done at 275F, and basted every few minutes towards the end of the smoke. I had two probes in the meat. The loin was removed and rested when one probe was reading 149F and the other probe 142F. I wasn't concerned if it was going to be a bit dry because I had a nice glaze.
This is what it looked like when I started slicing into it:
The meat was very juicy and the taste was good. The problem was that the meat was tough and felt dense. I'm not sure if it was the brine or what, but this is definitely not how I like my pork loin. I know fat can make the probe read higher than what it should be, but could it be that the brine and moist gave a false probe reading? I don't think the meat was over done. Could it be underdone due to a false reading?
Next time I am going to just put a rub on it and smoke it at 225F until an IT of 145F. A few weeks ago I did a rack of pork with just a rub up to an IT of 145F, and it was so tender.
This weekend I smoked one of the loins: 4 Hour brine with Dr Pepper and Kosher salt. Then lightly seasoned with Italian seasoning (no salt). Made a glaze out of mostly cherry preserve. The roast was done at 275F, and basted every few minutes towards the end of the smoke. I had two probes in the meat. The loin was removed and rested when one probe was reading 149F and the other probe 142F. I wasn't concerned if it was going to be a bit dry because I had a nice glaze.
This is what it looked like when I started slicing into it:
The meat was very juicy and the taste was good. The problem was that the meat was tough and felt dense. I'm not sure if it was the brine or what, but this is definitely not how I like my pork loin. I know fat can make the probe read higher than what it should be, but could it be that the brine and moist gave a false probe reading? I don't think the meat was over done. Could it be underdone due to a false reading?
Next time I am going to just put a rub on it and smoke it at 225F until an IT of 145F. A few weeks ago I did a rack of pork with just a rub up to an IT of 145F, and it was so tender.