Pork Loin -Tasty BUT Chewy

Capital Egg

Pork Loin - I BB -Egged a nice 6 lb piece of pork loin at 300 degrees with Apple wood chips & my home made interpretation of a "Caroline BBQ Rub" - put it on at 1:30 in the afternoon till it was 150 degreees on the meat thermometer -at 4:39 -I shut down the Egg till my guest arrived at 5:30 - then put the Pork in the oven to keep warm at 200 deg - for only 25 mins approx -while I made roasted veggies in the Egg -& we carved it at approx 5:30

The pork came out looking wonderfull - was very tasty & had the smoky flavour BUT----the meat was no amazing as far as texture -tenderness -cooked it on my V Rack with a drip pan under - I didn't baste it either -where did I go wrong?

Cory430

Rusty,
I cook my pork loins at about 400 direct and have never had an issue with texture. Maybe the shorter cooking time is the difference.

Richard Fl

When you shut down the BGE, was the loin still in it? I usually pull mine at 145F and let rest for 15-20 minutes. Sounds like you just dried it out.

stike

i take it off at 145. a roast that big will keep cooking as it rersts, rising ten degrees or more. you probably would have had 165 degrees simply resting. putting it in the oven continued to cook it....

it would have been perfectly acceptable to let it rest on the counter for the 25 minutes. no safety issues.

if it comes off at 145, it will cruise to 150/155 and be perfect when carved.

Photo Egg

We normally do our large pork loins hot and fast.
425-450 dome and pull at 125, rest for 15-20 minutes and eat. I think the added salt solution they put in most of the loins will make them chewy if you cook them slow. Even ribs will get chewy at times if they are packaged with sodium solution. Cooking hot and pulling at 125 will get the temp up to safe levels with the rest. I have never let mine rest as long as you did and I think the internal temp was a little high.
Give the high heat a try.
Darian

Essex County

I always do pork loins at a low temp and they come out great. I did a little 2 pound pork loin yesterday. I cooked it at 275 for a little less than 2 hours. Pulled it at 145 and then did a quick sear. It was great. I'm guessing that the larger loin just got to too high a temp before serving. Try it again but keep the internal a bit lower.
Paul

Broc

Butterfly the loin -- open it like a scroll.

Stuff the insides with wonderful stuffs! Like cheeses, sausage, apricots, raspberries... and don't forget some par-fried bacon inside, too!

Roll it up, tie it --

650F sear on all sides --

Roast until 140F internal.

Double-wrap in HDfoil, towels, and put it in the "cooler," which insulates the meat.

At this point, you can let the roast rest for up to four hours... Then, when company arrives, slice and serve. Juicy, tender, yummy...

It sounds to be that you overcooked the meat -- get some fat [bacon] and juiciness inside the roast. And, if you like pig as I, you can even wrap the exterior in bacon...

Yum!

~ Good luck!

~ Broc

Capital Egg

I did sghut the BGE down & let it sit for 25 mins & then it came in the house for 25 mins in the conventional oven - BUT it was chewy but not dry - hmmmm - needs more experimentation -

thanks to all for the suggestions -

Little Steven

Try one at 250 til 135* internal then sear and rest. It could have been a tough roast but doing it this way will fix it.




Steve

stike

most pork comes with "solution added" to keep it from drying out.

the only real thing that could go wrong is just the finsihed internal cook temp. it just sounds like it was overcooked.

don't feel bad, i learned on a prime rib

amini1

Like everyone else says, probably overcooked. Also, if it's not an "enhanced" loin, always brine pork. I slow smoked a pork tenderloin yesterday to 145 degrees. Even the next day, the pork was tender and moist.