Pork loin advise.

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djom1cincy

Fire Starter
Original poster
Apr 10, 2013
31
11
Cincinnati oh
Hey guys. I'm in charge of smoking 4 loins weighing around 10# each for a work party on Friday. I have a few questions for my plan of attack.

1. Do I trim the fat off of them? They have a good layer on the one side.

2. To rub or no rub? I could even do two with and two without. On the rub ones do you use a base like mustard? On my butts I don't use mustard but I use red wine vinegarette. I've had real good results with that. Also for the rub they purchased McCormick Montreal chicken. I could use that or suck it up and use my personal jack daniels pork rub. What do you think?

3. I plan on cooking Thursday night then refrigeration over night. Warming the next day at work. Another option is I could take my smoker to work and do it the morning of. I might be a little bit of a pain to do it like that but it can be done. Will it reheat good if I do it the night before?

4. How long will 4 ten pounders take to cook? If I do them at work I could have them on by 7am at the earliest. We plan on eating at 11am. I'm using a Cajun injector electric smoker with a max temp of 265 or 275. It has worked good for my past smokes but I've never done anything on this large of a scale.

Thanks for taking your time to help me out. I'm wanting to make a good impression with this.
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Hey guys. I'm in charge of smoking 4 loins weighing around 10# each for a work party on Friday. I have a few questions for my plan of attack.

1. Do I trim the fat off of them? They have a good layer on the one side. I do not trim the fat off of my pork loins and I also try and smoke with the fat "up" on the smoker.

2. To rub or no rub? I could even do two with and two without. On the rub ones do you use a base like mustard? On my butts I don't use mustard but I use red wine vinegarette. I've had real good results with that. Also for the rub they purchased McCormick Montreal chicken. I could use that or suck it up and use my personal jack daniels pork rub. What do you think? I do a rub that is a brown sugar, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, and pepper mix.  You can use any seasoning you feel will work well.  Heck, sometimes I just use a McCormick rub...

3. I plan on cooking Thursday night then refrigeration over night. Warming the next day at work. Another option is I could take my smoker to work and do it the morning of. I might be a little bit of a pain to do it like that but it can be done. Will it reheat good if I do it the night before? It will re-heat just fine!

4. How long will 4 ten pounders take to cook? If I do them at work I could have them on by 7am at the earliest. We plan on eating at 11am. I'm using a Cajun injector electric smoker with a max temp of 265 or 275. It has worked good for my past smokes but I've never done anything on this large of a scale. Smoke until IT, not based on time.  I'd run my smoker around 250 (like I do on most of what I smoke) and take it to an IT of 145-150, wrap in foil, and let rest before you put it in the fridge.

Thanks for taking your time to help me out. I'm wanting to make a good impression with this.
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If you are cooking 4 loins, why not experiment? Other than the IT of 145, everything else is preferential. Personally my best loins have been brined because the loin had no fat for moisture or flavor. I would not brine for over 24, I brine for 12 to 18.

My normal pork brine:

Pork Loin Brine

1 qt.   Water

1/4t.   Chipotle

1/2t.   Ginger

1/3C   Salt

1/2C   Brown sugar

Tiger sauce

1/4t.   Thyme

1C       Apple cider

1/4C   Maple syrup

Also sweet glazes work exceptionally well loins. Bourbon and peach jelly? Rum and orange marmalade? Or just the jellies heated with a little butter to thin 'em. Disco has a great maple glaze and Apple sauce goes good also.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/146105/maple-glazed-pork-ribs-apologies-to-the-traditionalists

I normally cut a full loin into 3 pieces, clean the silverskin (which normally means the fat has to go too), and then tie it.

Other than the IT, its all in what you like. Remember it will increase in temp after its pulled, the very worst tenderloin is a dry one from being over cooked.

Hope you blow 'em away with your smoke.
 
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You've already gotten some good advice. I usually do pork loins at a bit higher temp, 275˚-300˚ and usually plan on right around 4 hours. If you can swing taking your smoker to work, there's nothing like putting on a little show for the co-workers. The meat would reheat just fine, but it'll be off the charts straight off the smoker with a 15-20 minute rest.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I haven't decided yet if I will cook at home or work yet. Either way it should turn out good. Smoked pork and deep fried turkey. :sausage:
 
I'm thinking you have the pork loins.....not tenderloins.....so, personally, I'm hoping you can get your smoker into work so it comes off fresh and does not need to be re-heated. With little internal fat loins tend to dry out quickly, especially, IMO, if held overnight in a fridge. I do a lot of these at work and and leftovers just seem to lose any appeal overnight.
 
If have to reheat, plan on having some sort of liquid like apple juice in the pan that you are using to reheat. Foil the pan and reheat slowly.

I would take to an IT of 145*, especially if you are reheating.
 
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I decided to cook two tonight and two tomorrow night. First one is finished with the second one at 138. It looks tasty.
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My next two loins are seasoned with jack Daniels BBQ pork rub. My family really likes that seasoning. It should turn out real good.
punazame.jpg
 
I take mine no higher than 135 to 140.  With resting when tented with foil, they will easily reach the recommended 145.

I don't like dried out pork like my mom fed me?

Assuming intact muscle meat.  No injection, no mechanical tenderizing.  No stuffing?  Then higher temps would be required.

Good luck and good smoking.
 
Well all turned out good today. Lots and lots of compliments. I reheated the pork to 120 I.T. Let rest the cut. There was very little scraps left from 40# of pork and 15 pounds of turkey breast. Not to bad for around 65 people.
 
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