- Jun 28, 2015
- 483
- 296
Still working on my mission to have plenty of MREs in the freezers before we go into travel mode for most of April.
Yesterday was Porkapalooza, a full pork loin, 2 1/2 racks of ribs, and a large pack of Boneless Country Style Ribs.
I have always believed the theory that a full smoker is a happy smoker, so the last 2 smokes should have made my MES30 really happy.
In case you are counting there are only 4 1/2 racks in there, I had to wait until I pulled the loins to put the last half in.
Now for the bad news, you often see advice about not using water in the pan with the MES because they are so tight and don't need the extra moisture. Well that much pork turned my MES into a steam cabinet for the first 2 hours until it finally started drying everything out some. So my loins did not have a set park, as you will see later. Saddly this will be the last Porkapoolza in the MES30, in the future I will have to think more about what I fill it with to keep down the moisture some.
So on to the smoke, as always everything done in MES30 at 225, with AMPNS filled with 40/40/20 Apple/Cherry/Pecan.
Pork Loin
==================
We recently joined Costco on the hopes of have access to better meat. While shopping the other day the had a whole Loin for 1.99 a pound. I never cooked a Pork Loin before but I said that is a great price and I bet Bear has a step by step for it. Sure enough, he does! I did a bit more searching and decided to do half of it following Bears Apple Pie filling stuff version, and half of it injected with Mojo.
For the stuffed half I decided to go with the "map fold" version of butterflying, instead of trying the "jelly roll" version. Here's what it looked like after cutting and beating the hell out of it with a rolling pin.
Sorry there aren't any step by step pics of stuffing it with the Apple Pie Filling. By the time I was done I think there was pie filling on the ceiling, and I found it in spots it shouldn't have been when I took a shower. About 1/2 way through I said, there is no way this is going to taste good enough for me to ever want to do this again.
Here is the ugly thing ready for the smoker.
The other half I injected the night before with Mojo sauce, I was prepared to make my own but I found Goya brand at Wally world so I used that and added some pineapple juice to it. I didn't apply rub the night before, not by plan but I ran out of my rub and had to make a new batch the next morning. Turned out to be a good thing, because overnight a lot of the mojo seemed to make it was out and turned into a marinade. The next morning I applied my fresh rub.
I pulled the loins @140, the reach that temp within a couple of minutes of each other at right around 1 hour 45 minutes. I wrapped in foil, then towels and in my cooler for 2 hours the same as I would a brisket.
You can see how loose the bark is, so I have them a quick sear in my Carbon steel pan.
Here is Mojo version with the first test slice taken. Man is it good!!
BTW, my Chefs Choice 615 came in this week also, so after a few hours in the fridge I turned the Mojo halve into this plate of goodness. I am loving the slicer, we like our lunch meat thin, and it could have gone thinner than this. Can't wait to see how it does shaving a top round.
If you look closely at the center of some of the slices you will see some gray marbling, this is the Mojo spices and these slices are flavor BOMBS, they are unbelievable good.
I stacked the slices into 4 10oz stack and vacuum seal them and into the freezer. I held out enough for a couple of sandwiches in a ziplock in the fridge. And of course ate quite a while slicing, I am a big believer in Quality Control!
I SEE SOME GREAT CUBANS IN MY NEAR FUTURE!!!
I sliced the apple stuffed into 1 inch slices. Saved 3 for dinner and put 3 bags with 2 each in freezer. The slice you see is not representative of the entire loin, most have little to no filling. I think I squeeze half the filling out trying to truss the thing up. This half is definitely drier than the Mojo version, and less flavorful. But with just a very light brushing with Deli mustard, they still made a heck of a dinner. But I was right I doubt I will ever do this again, especially after how well the Mojo version came out, I will definitely be doing the Mojo version again!!!
I will cover the Ribs and Boneless Country Style Ribs in separate post.
Yesterday was Porkapalooza, a full pork loin, 2 1/2 racks of ribs, and a large pack of Boneless Country Style Ribs.
I have always believed the theory that a full smoker is a happy smoker, so the last 2 smokes should have made my MES30 really happy.
In case you are counting there are only 4 1/2 racks in there, I had to wait until I pulled the loins to put the last half in.
Now for the bad news, you often see advice about not using water in the pan with the MES because they are so tight and don't need the extra moisture. Well that much pork turned my MES into a steam cabinet for the first 2 hours until it finally started drying everything out some. So my loins did not have a set park, as you will see later. Saddly this will be the last Porkapoolza in the MES30, in the future I will have to think more about what I fill it with to keep down the moisture some.
So on to the smoke, as always everything done in MES30 at 225, with AMPNS filled with 40/40/20 Apple/Cherry/Pecan.
Pork Loin
==================
We recently joined Costco on the hopes of have access to better meat. While shopping the other day the had a whole Loin for 1.99 a pound. I never cooked a Pork Loin before but I said that is a great price and I bet Bear has a step by step for it. Sure enough, he does! I did a bit more searching and decided to do half of it following Bears Apple Pie filling stuff version, and half of it injected with Mojo.
For the stuffed half I decided to go with the "map fold" version of butterflying, instead of trying the "jelly roll" version. Here's what it looked like after cutting and beating the hell out of it with a rolling pin.
Sorry there aren't any step by step pics of stuffing it with the Apple Pie Filling. By the time I was done I think there was pie filling on the ceiling, and I found it in spots it shouldn't have been when I took a shower. About 1/2 way through I said, there is no way this is going to taste good enough for me to ever want to do this again.
Here is the ugly thing ready for the smoker.
The other half I injected the night before with Mojo sauce, I was prepared to make my own but I found Goya brand at Wally world so I used that and added some pineapple juice to it. I didn't apply rub the night before, not by plan but I ran out of my rub and had to make a new batch the next morning. Turned out to be a good thing, because overnight a lot of the mojo seemed to make it was out and turned into a marinade. The next morning I applied my fresh rub.
I pulled the loins @140, the reach that temp within a couple of minutes of each other at right around 1 hour 45 minutes. I wrapped in foil, then towels and in my cooler for 2 hours the same as I would a brisket.
You can see how loose the bark is, so I have them a quick sear in my Carbon steel pan.
Here is Mojo version with the first test slice taken. Man is it good!!
BTW, my Chefs Choice 615 came in this week also, so after a few hours in the fridge I turned the Mojo halve into this plate of goodness. I am loving the slicer, we like our lunch meat thin, and it could have gone thinner than this. Can't wait to see how it does shaving a top round.
If you look closely at the center of some of the slices you will see some gray marbling, this is the Mojo spices and these slices are flavor BOMBS, they are unbelievable good.
I stacked the slices into 4 10oz stack and vacuum seal them and into the freezer. I held out enough for a couple of sandwiches in a ziplock in the fridge. And of course ate quite a while slicing, I am a big believer in Quality Control!
I SEE SOME GREAT CUBANS IN MY NEAR FUTURE!!!
I sliced the apple stuffed into 1 inch slices. Saved 3 for dinner and put 3 bags with 2 each in freezer. The slice you see is not representative of the entire loin, most have little to no filling. I think I squeeze half the filling out trying to truss the thing up. This half is definitely drier than the Mojo version, and less flavorful. But with just a very light brushing with Deli mustard, they still made a heck of a dinner. But I was right I doubt I will ever do this again, especially after how well the Mojo version came out, I will definitely be doing the Mojo version again!!!
I will cover the Ribs and Boneless Country Style Ribs in separate post.
