Pork Loin Help!

[SmokinLogs]

i smoked my first pork loin today. I’m happy enough with it, had a pretty good taste, and super tender. Maybe too tender. I started with trimming the fat cap down to maybe a 1/4 inch thick. Then for an injection I melted about a half cup of butter, half cup of white vinegar, a hearty squirt of lemon juice, about half a Tbsp of Cajun seasoning, and a little bit of dried mustard. I injected and put back in the fridge over night. I got my COS setup with a basket full of royal oak and put a log on top of dogwood ( taste and smell remind me a lot of oak ). I kept my temps around 250-260 the whole cook. When the loin hit 140 I put homemade BBQ glaze on it and took it off at 145. Then I let it rest for about 15 minutes wrapped in foil.

My first complaint was the vinegar taste was a little bit strong, I can handle that. Next time I will go a little easier on the vinegar, probably use apple cider vinegar instead.

Next was the meat mainly on the bottom half was so tender to the point it was just barely getting mushy. I cooked it directly over a water pan. Could this have caused it to get a little mushy, or could the vinegar breaking down and tenderizing the meat be the culprit?

Yes I’ve got some Q views coming lol any comments or suggestions are appreciated!

 

[mike243]

I would bet the water pan is the reason for the mushy ,never tried dogwood as its not a nut or fruit wood.I never use vinegar for a baste or injection,apple juice when I do

 

[phatbac]

i recommend next time try injecting with Tony C's creole butter. its cheap and made to be injected heck even comes with a syringe. it tastes great and comes in many flavors. As for the bottom coming out mushy try rotating you loin after an hour or so so it cooks more even.

creolebutter.jpeg

• phatbac
• Dec 15, 2016

Happy Smoking,
phatbac (Aaron)

 

[SmokinLogs]

 

[SmokinLogs]

I would bet the water pan is the reason for the mushy ,never tried dogwood as its not a nut or fruit wood.I never use vinegar for a baste or injection,apple juice when I do

Yeah mike I normally only use vinegar in some marinades and for making sauces but I figured I would give it a shot. As for the dogwood I’d recommend it for most meats. I’ve used it a bunch this past year. It’s a good rich Smokey flavor but not too over powering. It is a hardwood, it’s safe to smoke with.

 

[SmokinLogs]

i recommend next time try injecting with Tony C's creole butter. its cheap and made to be injected heck even comes with a syringe. it tastes great and comes in many flavors. As for the bottom coming out mushy try rotating you loin after an hour or so so it cooks more even.

creolebutter.jpeg

• phatbac
• Dec 15, 2016

Happy Smoking,
phatbac (Aaron)

Phatbac I might have to try some of that Tony C’s. I’ve seen some people recommend it on the forums, but I’ve never noticed it at the store. Where can you normally find it? As for rotating the meat I had thought about doing that but I left a little fat cap on it. I usually leave it on top with other things I’ve smoked and let the juices render down into the meat to help keep it moist. But seeing how tender it was anyway I’d say you are right, rotating might help next time.

 

[SmokinAl]

First off the loin looks great!
You can get Tony C's at Walmart.
In the fall during the holiday season they will stock all the flavors.
So I usually buy a bunch then to last the whole year.
But year round they seem to have the Creole butter marinade in stock all the time.
As far as the mushy meat goes, I would think the cause was using lemon juice in the injection & leaving it in overnight.
That will cook the meat & it probably all leaked down to the bottom of the roast in the fridge.
When I inject, I always do it just before the meat goes on the smoker.
Al

 

[Jerry Onik]

I typically dry rub my loin, I put it in the fridge and flip daily for 5 days, I smoked 5 loins the other day, left fat side up the entire time, smoked at 185 for 8 hours, it came out great, as for the vinegar I have used sometimes after pulling for extra moisture and flavor. There are multiple injector brands out there Tony's is good but there are some cajun brands out there that have different flavors as well, the longer the season on the meat the better I find the penetration.

 

[SmokinLogs]

Thanks for the help guys. I’ve definitely got some more ideas for next time.