SmokeBarbecue
Smoked pork loin
A lean roast that dries if you treat it like shoulder. Fruitwood, 275°F, pull at 140. Blush is the point.
Made it?
2 hr 30 min · 20 min hands-on · pull 140°F · rest 15 min
Ingredients
3 lb on the fire · ~2.1 lb to the table · 4 plates at 8 oz
- center-cut pork loin, tied3 lb
- kosher salt1 tbsp
- black pepper2 tsp
- paprika1 tsp
- granulated garlic1 tsp
- thyme, or 1 tsp dried3 sprigs
- chopped rosemary1 tsp
Method
- 1
Tie so it cooks as a cylinder. Salt overnight if you can. Pepper, paprika, thyme, and rosemary before the smoke.
- 2
275°F, apple or cherry, until 138–140°F in the center, 90–120 minutes.
- 3
Rest 15 minutes. Carryover to 145. Slice ½-inch. Do not chase 160°F.
If you don’t have it
- Center-cut loin → Pork tenderloin, or a small sirloin roast of pork. Tenderloin is faster — use that recipe. A bone-in loin roast takes longer and stays juicier.
- Apple → Cherry or a maple/oak mix. Straight maple can read as ham. Mix it.
Same cook, different day
Herb-crusted
A Sunday roast. Mustard, herbs, after a 250°F smoke to 135, then a 400°F blast 8 minutes.
Stuffed
You want a show. Butterfly, a thin layer of sausage or herbs, tie. Probe the meat, not the filling.
Chops from a roast
Leftovers. Chill, slice thick, and reheat in a skillet with drippings. Do not microwave a lean roast.
On the plate
With this, try
- With this dish, try making pinto beans.
Start when a packer wraps, or at the beginning of a shoulder. Soaked beans, smoked hock, onion, chili. Simmer until creamy. Salt late.
2 hr 30 min
- With this dish, try making pot liquor collards.
On with a shoulder or a ham. They want time, not a grate. Strip the stems, simmer with a hock until the leaves give and the pot liquor is the sauce.
1 hr 30 min
- With this dish, try making mashed potatoes.
Start when the roast has 30 minutes left, or while a steak rests. Russets, salted water, drain hard. Rice or mash. Butter first, then warm cream. Do not put them on the fire — they want a pot.
35 min