Thursday, March 24, 2016

Smoking Pork Loin by Malcom Reed

This is a quick and easy recipe that feeds a lot of people as a Pork Loin weighing around 4.5lbs. will easily feed 8.  It’s pretty much ready right out of the cryovac just give it a quick rinse and pat with paper towel. I don’t bother trimming any excess fat off the tenderloin for general eating because it will keep the loin moist and shield heat during cooking.

To season the pork loin, I use 2 layers: First my All Purpose Rub (1 Part Salt, ½ Part Garlic, & ¼ Part Black Pepper) Second a layer of Woody’s BBQ Rub from Sam’s Club.
I want the pork loin to stay moist and have flavor throughout the whole piece of meat, so I use an injection. Butcher’s BBQ makes a pork injection that’s perfect for Pork Loin. Mix 1 heaping Tablespoon with 16oz of Apple Juice and inject it all the way down the loin spacing the injections out about 1”.

Let the Pork Loin sit for about 30 minutes up to 4 hours before placing it on the grill. (Remember it needs to be refrigerated if you let it sit out longer than 30min.)
Place the Pork Loin over the drip pan. For a little added moisture inside the grill I filled the pan ½ full with Apple Juice. This also acts as a heat sink to shield heat from the bottom of the meat.
The cooking temp should be 250 degrees which should give us about a 2-hour cook.  I used Apple wood chips in my smoker.

It’s important to watch the internal temperature on a pork loin because it’s easy to dry them out. Pork loin is done at 145 degrees, so you’ll need a good probe thermometer to keep an eye on it.
At the 1 ½ hour mark the Pork Loin was sitting at 125 degrees, and this is where I brush on the peach sauce for a glaze. (See next page for sauce recipe) The sauce needs about 30 minutes to caramelize and get to that perfect, mahogany color.

I always keep a close eye on the temp and color during the final cooking step. As soon as the Loin hits 140-145 get it off the grill.

Like any piece of meat, the loin needs to rest as soon as it comes off. If you give it 30 minutes, the slices will be extra juicy and you won’t end up with a mess on the cutting board.  When entertaining, I don’t like to be checking the smoker, so adjust the start of cooking so when I pull it off, I can double-wrap it in aluminum foil and place it in a dry cooler with newspaper to keep it warm before slicing up to two hours!

Once you’ve let it rest all that’s left is to slice it and get to eating.

A pork loin like this will feed a lot of people. And since it only takes around 2 hours to cook, add good sides (maybe some grilled veggies) and you’ve got a meal you can write home about.

Peach sauce for Pork Loin
(Serving only four)
·       20        oz. frozen peaches cut into ½” pieces (3 cups)
·       1          cup dry white wine
·       ½         cup sugar
·       1/3      cup cider vinegar
·       4          sprigs fresh thyme
·       ½         teaspoon kosher salt
·       2          Tablespoons whole-grain mustard
Bring peaches, wine, sugar, vinegar, thyme sprigs and salt to simmer in medium saucepan over medium -high heat.  Reduce heat to medium and cook at strong simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 2 cups and spatula leaves trail when dragged through sauce, about 30 minutes.  Remove from heat and discard thyme sprigs.  Reserve 2 Tablespoons of liquid portion of sauce (without peach segments) in small bowl for glazing.  Cover and set aside remaining sauce.

After 1 ½ hours in smoker, glaze by brushing reserved sauce on pork loin.  Transfer to cutting board and let rest for 30 minutes.  Add mustard to sauce and reheat.  Cut loin into ½” slices and serve with sauce.