Whole Pork Loin

[Creosote]

I have an 8 to 10 pound Pork Loin and would love suggestions on smoking and not having it turn out like shoe leather. Thought I would cut it in half and/or thirds and cook one piece rubbed and wrapped in bacon. Totally open to suggestions on how to keep it moist. Should it be brined? Approximately how long and what temperature on the smoker? Oak and/or Pecan? Oh by the way this is gonna be my first cook on my Bell Fab. I have been out of touch and not had a chance to fire it up yet so I need some help folks.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Probably the best secret to good pork loin (chops included) is to not over cook. The loin should be cooked to minimum 145* IT and don’t go past 150* IT. This will yield a medium to medium well finish and should be juicy.

 

[Sven Svensson]

Yes, brine it. Always brine a loin, in my humble opinion.

 

[thirdeye]

Brining will work.... but I prefer an injection -or- you could use a combination cure method, i.e. injecting and covering with the same liquid. Too strong of a brine plus your BBQ rub can make the meat too salty, so be mindful of that.

Using a basic brine with water, salt and sugar is fine, but I prefer using apple juice (or white grape/apple juice) and salt. The apple juice will bring some sweetness to the party.

I buy the small bottles of juice, which are 8oz or 10oz depending on the manufacturer. My ratio of salt is 1 gram/ounce of liquid. This can be mixed (shaken) right in the bottle, then injected. Smoking at 275°, my times are around 90 minutes, but let your thermometer guide you. This one was pulled just shy of 145°

 

[bauchjw]

I love getting those pork loins from Costco. I either make them into medallions and wrap in bacon to grill with a bit of S&P or do a basic pork rub and smoke whole, I use lots of different woods, at 275. As said, IT of 145 is the key, don’t overlook it.

 

[YooperSmoker]

Made Canadian bacon out of the last pork loin
low salt batch
6 tsp cure1
1.25 cups of brown sugar
2/3 cup of pickling salt
per 1 gallon of water

used a 2 gallon batch to do a whole loin [cut into 1/3s]
injected all 3 pieces
brined 7 days in cooler
sliced 1 piece into 1'' chops

smoked for 4 hrs with maple branches and let set

sliced 2 pieces into bacon

not considered ''fully cooked'' so we pan fried some of it up
man was that good

Mike

 

[pineywoods]

How about something a little different for a first cook on that new smoker
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/bacon-wrapped-stuffed-pork-loin.223890/
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/stuffed-pork-loin-w-qview.260691/
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/sweet-n-savory-stuffed-pork-loin.287760/
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/stuffed-pork-loin.276405/

 

[Hijack73]

I like to cut the ends into chops for either frying or air frying (a la shake and bake!) and the take a few nice 1.5 lbish centers for roasting or smoking. I don't like my pork pink, so I slice it thin. I have actually taken the fattier ribeye end and made chopped bbq and it's great. You can take that end to a much higher temp.

Agree on a 24 hour soak in a brine.

 

[Creosote]

Is mustard or anything required to hold the rub on, never cooked one and don't know. Will be starting in a couple of hours. They are still in the fridge being brined.

 

[JLeonard]

Is mustard or anything required to hold the rub on, never cooked one and don't know. Will be starting in a couple of hours. They are still in the fridge being brined.

What I do....Especially after a brine soak is...Rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Then a binder of choice (mustard or whatever I pull outta the fridge) and then the rub. Others may do it different.
Jim

 

[TNJAKE]

I never use a binder but that doesn't mean you are wrong if you do. Imo just rinse and don't pay dry......water will be your binder.

 

[thirdeye]

I like to cut the ends into chops for either frying or air frying (a la shake and bake!) and the take a few nice 1.5 lbish centers for roasting or smoking. I don't like my pork pink, so I slice it thin. I have actually taken the fattier ribeye end and made chopped bbq and it's great. You can take that end to a much higher temp.

Agree on a 24 hour soak in a brine.

Bingo, the rib end contains a couple of additional muscle groups which are a little fattier, moister, and because those muscles contain more myoglobin.... they appear darker. (When cured they get a distinct color too). Here is the companion photo to the one I posted above. This loin only had my apple juice injection and was smoked to 145°-ish.

 

[SmokinEdge]

I never use a binder but that doesn't mean you are wrong if you do. Imo just rinse and don't pay dry......water will be your binder.

I don’t use a binder either usually, but if one is needed, spraying the surface with apple cider vinegar gives a little base flavor and sticks the rub decently.

 

[chopsaw]

Is mustard or anything required to hold the rub on, never cooked one and don't know. Will be starting in a couple of hours. They are still in the fridge being brined.

I would get them out dry them off , then back in the fridge for a bit .
Since you brined , I would watch the salt content of whatever you put on the surface .

 

[thirdeye]

Is mustard or anything required to hold the rub on, never cooked one and don't know. Will be starting in a couple of hours. They are still in the fridge being brined.

What I do....Especially after a brine soak is...Rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Then a binder of choice (mustard or whatever I pull outta the fridge) and then the rub. Others may do it different.
Jim

I never use a binder but that doesn't mean you are wrong if you do. Imo just rinse and don't pay dry......water will be your binder.

I don’t use a binder either usually, but if one is needed, spraying the surface with apple cider vinegar gives a little base flavor and sticks the rub decently.

I don't normally use a binder, but if I do on something that is a pretty quick cook, I'll mix some mustard (and it can be a coarse or Cajun mustard) with dill pickle juice until it's quite thin.

I would get them out dry them off , then back in the fridge for a bit .
Since you brined , I would watch the salt content of whatever you put on the surface .

Yes, the old stand-by flavor brine recipe that calls for 1 cup of Kosher salt to 1-gallon of water works out to be about 1.9 grams of salt/ounce of liquid. This is borderline salty if you add a rub.

In comparison, my lite injection/brine I use on loins or chicken is only 1 gram of salt per ounce of liquid.

 

[chopsaw]

I don't worry about all that . I just use the 100% common sense method . Hasn't failed me yet .

 

[schlotz]

Brining is a good option, and it helps. Our goto recipe uses a rotisserie and a smoke tube. See it in the sig below.

 

[chopsaw]

Our goto recipe uses a rotisserie and a smoke tube

Dang Matt . That's awesome .

 

[schlotz]

Dang Matt . That's awesome .

Wait till you try it Rich. Two things that will help insure success. Brine it with simple water & salt. If you brine, back off on the salt amount in the rub. Also, watch the IT and make sure you pull it around 140º as the carry over will get it to 145º. The photo is a 4 lb loin cut in half and tied together with the fat caps on the outside. It was cooked entirely indirect, no heat above or below just on both sides, ie middle burner off.

 

[thirdeye]

Brining is a good option, and it helps. Our goto recipe uses a rotisserie and a smoke tube. See it in the sig below.
View attachment 631956

You nailed that.