Smoked Pork Loin

This smoked pork loin is the perfect meal to make for your next get together. It’s juicy, easy to make, and tastes amazing. So grab yrou favorite rub and lets let’s fire up the Pit!

Before we get into the recipe too far let’s talk about the meat you will be using. This recipe calls for a pork loin, not to be confused with a pork tenderloin. The pork loin is a thicker cut of meat and is better for cooking low and slow while tenderloins are better for hot and fast cooking. The amount of cooking time for this recipe will be less than normal for a pork loin because I did an experiment with this recipe. I always hear people talking about how much difference injections can make in these types of recipes, so I cut the loin in half and injected one half with creole butter and the other half I cooked as is to see how much of a difference I noticed. I will include the injection as optional steps for you to take if you want to try it out, but this recipe will turn out great whether you choose to inject or not.

Cooking Basics

The first step you will need to complete is to trim up the loin. There is a layer of fat and silver skin on a pork loin, and you will want to remove because it is tough and wont let the rub penetrate into the meat. Once this step is completed cut your loin in half lengthwise. This will allow the cooking to take less time and you can experiment with different rubs or injections in each half.

The next step is optional if you would like to try out an injection. Get your injector out and use the tip with just an opening in the end. Fill the injector with some butter and then inject the pork loin in a checkerboard pattern spacing the injections apart by an inch or two. Careful with tihs step as it can get messy. Once you have done it a couple times you will get the hang of it.

The final step in prepping the pork loin is to add yrou rub. I used a carolina style mustard and vinegar rub which is delicious. Feel free to substitute this with your favorite pork rub. On the half I injected i rubbed the excess creole butter aorund and used it as a binder. On the non injected half I did not use a binder and just applied the rub. Make sure to apply a good amount to all sides and you are ready to Fire up the Pit!

You will want to pre heat yrou smoker or grill to 225 and get it set up for indirect cooking. This recipe is a smoking recipe, but you can choose to cook without smoke and the pork will still teste great. If smoking I would reccomend using hickory or fruit woods to enhance the flavor. When I cook with hickory it almost smells like bacon when it’s done. Once your grill / smoker is up to tmeperature put the pork loin onto the smoker and insert temperature probes if you have them. This will cook until it has reached an internal temperature of 145. Make sure to keep track of the temperature carefully becuase when pork goes much above this it tends to dry out quickly. The amount of time this takes will vary based on the size of the loin, but it will take around 2 hours to cook. Once the pork has come up to tmeperature you can remove it from the smoker / grill and allow it to rest for 10 to 15 minutes to allow the juices to redistribute in the meat. This helps make it even more juicy when you eat. At that point it is ready to slice.

The pork tasted great on its own but if you are looking for a sauce to compliment the pork you should check out my post for Alabama White Sauce. I made a batch to go with this and the flavor combination was amazing.

Final Thoughts

• Injection Experiment - I was a little skeptical as to how much an injection could change the flavor of the meat, but I was pleasantly suprised with the differences I noticed. Let me start out by first saying that the half that was not injected tasted amazing and was very juicy, the half that had been injected was even juicier though. Where I saw some of the creole butter leaking out while injecting, I was wondering if the rest would durring the cook but that did not seem to be the case. I was also impressed with the flavor difference. The half with the creole butter definatley had a kick to it which I loved. Knowing how much of a difference it can make I am now excited to experiment with a few different options for injections next time.

Recipe