Rack o' Pork Suggestions (pics updating as I cook)

r270ba · January 11

Cooking my first Rack o' Pork tomorrow for some friends.

1. Any ideas on mins/lbs?

2. Should I brine (wet/dry/or no)?

Mama Roneck · January 12

If it's from Costco, it's already brined. 350 indirect to about 140 internal. You can rub it, glaze it, or mangrate it...

Check out this thread for some ideas

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/1258138/ 

Z_Eggineer · January 12

If you want your food to taste better, you should use the mangrate. IDK how else to make it taste good now...

r270ba · January 12

Don't take this the wrong way but that did not answer my question. Not sure what is going on with Mangrate around here. Seems like the forum has been flooded with posts about it and I am starting to wonder if they are paying everyone to post about it.

Even if it is the best thing to happen to grilling, I don't have time to purchase and receive the Mangrate before my cook tomorrow afternoon.

Soooo....

How long will it take to cook mins/lbs? @Mama_Roneck did answer my question about the brine.

Mama Roneck · January 12

will probably take about 2 hours. I always cook to temp so can't help with the min/lbs. I just put a simple rub on them - salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil, etc. Then finish with the glaze of our choice. A little fruitwood smoke (apple, cherry, whatever) will go a long way on these. Maybe one or two chunks.

and Mangrates are just the meme of the moment around here. Everyone's just having a little fun with 'em.

1cajuncook · January 12

I cooked one last week at 300 dome. They cook quickly so keep an eye on the thermometer. Mine took about 1.5 hours. One of the best thing I've ever egged.

nolaegghead · January 12

What mama_roneck said.

Brining is a technique to keep the moisture level higher when cooking to relatively high temperatures - over 150F. A rack of pork is basically a loin, which you want to cook medium rare to medium (I like it on the MR side). it's going to be moist without brining. You can marinate if you want - overnight if you don't have a lot of acid in your marinade. Acid (like vinegar, lemon, etc) can denature the meat protein and make it gooey. Probably not a bid deal with a loin since it's not going to penetrate very much and there's all kinds of fat and bone around most of it.

Eggcelsior · January 12

Mama said there'll be cooks like this,
There'll be cooks like this Mama said...

njl · January 12

I haven't kept track of the weights...but at 300-350F, figure on 2-3 hours to get to 140-145F.

OTOH, the ones I'm seeing now in Costco are Kirkland brand (not what they used to sell) and thinner/smaller...so maybe less time.

Boomer · January 12

r270ba said:

Don't take this the wrong way but that did not answer my question. Not sure what is going on with Mangrate around here. Seems like the forum has been flooded with posts about it and I am starting to wonder if they are paying everyone to post about it.

Even if it is the best thing to happen to grilling, I don't have time to purchase and receive the Mangrate before my cook tomorrow afternoon.

Soooo....

How long will it take to cook mins/lbs? @Mama_Roneck did answer my question about the brine.

@r270ba

You're gonna do just fine, Just next time use the mangrates :)

Eggcelsior · January 12

njl said:
I haven't kept track of the weights...but at 300-350F, figure on 2-3 hours to get to 140-145F.

OTOH, the ones I'm seeing now in Costco are Kirkland brand (not what they used to sell) and thinner/smaller...so maybe less time.

FYI, they are still either swift or Smithfield pork. Costco just Co-brands the item with the Kirkland brand.

r270ba · January 12

Thanks guys. Getting ready to fire up the egg in an hour or so. Last question...If I want to, for the sake of my buddy who wants to see the egg in action, make the cook longer is there a problem cooking indirect 250 for a little longer, glaze it about 120, pull it about 130, and then maybe reverse searing at the end to 140?

r270ba · January 12

Getting ready to fire up the egg

r270ba · January 13

Pics aren't uploading but DAMN it was good! Will post pics from computer later.

r270ba · January 13

Here is my cook...

Eggcelsior · January 13

Mmm, Mmm good. Looks like pork lollipops.

gte1 · January 13

Looks great, hard to go wrong with the rack of pork. I wish they would stock them all year long.

r270ba · January 13

@gte1 can you not buy a bone in pork loin and do the same thing?

This may have been one of the best meals I have cooked on the egg yet!

r270ba · January 13

Oh and just for the record...

That is an apricot chutney that the pork was glazed with and then drizzled with on the plate.

njl · January 13

Eggcelsior said:

I haven't kept track of the weights...but at 300-350F, figure on 2-3 hours to get to 140-145F.

OTOH, the ones I'm seeing now in Costco are Kirkland brand (not what they used to sell) and thinner/smaller...so maybe less time.
FYI, they are still either swift or Smithfield pork. Costco just Co-brands the item with the Kirkland brand.

Well, all I can say is when I noticed they were Kirkland brand, the bones were much thinner...like they were using different/smaller pigs.

SmokeyPitt · January 13

That looks outstanding! Looks like you knocked that one out of the park. Love the presentation.

calracefan · January 13

Firebox and ring look "virgin"!

500 · January 13

That looks very good. So what temp did you end up going with? I've yet to do one, but my thoughts are since there's a rib in there, it should go low and slow indirect. And why is rack of pork not available year round? I would think a true butcher shop could get it. Is it not available at Sam's or Kroger year round?

The Cen-Tex Smoker · January 13

looks awesome. gott try that soon.

gte1 · January 13

r270ba said:

@gte1 can you not buy a bone in pork loin and do the same thing?

This may have been one of the best meals I have cooked on the egg yet!

You can, but you need to remove the chine bones which I a little bit of a pain.

thetrim · January 14

That is one of the greatest "non-mangrate" cooks I've ever seen on here

Aviator · January 14

Here is my personal 0.02$ :: I like to buy fresh non frozen (cryo packed) stuff from publix or similar for far better outcomes. I have done several comparable grills with costco and sams stuff and they ended up just not TASTING right. This is anecdotal and non scientific and take it for what its worth.

Membrane or not, my daughter and I have decided on "asking" the butcher @ publix for what we want to cook.

r270ba · January 14

calracefan said:

Firebox and ring look "virgin"!

Yea so this is actually a funny story. Last weekend I cooked pizzas and for the first time in my life I burned them. I mean stuck to the pizza stone burned! I could not figure out what I had done so wrong until I went to fire up the egg this weekend for this cook and I couldn't find my platesetter anywhere. It quickly knew the reason my pizzas burned...750 degrees and no platesetter :)). Oh well we all make mistakes right. The fire had at one point gotten up to about 900 degrees and burned off the inside of the egg.

thetrim said:

That is one of the greatest "non-mangrate" cooks I've ever seen on here

Wow..thanks a lot!

Aviator said:

Here is my personal 0.02$ :: I like to buy fresh non frozen (cryo packed) stuff from publix or similar for far better outcomes. I have done several comparable grills with costco and sams stuff and they ended up just not TASTING right. This is anecdotal and non scientific and take it for what its worth.
Membrane or not, my daughter and I have decided on "asking" the butcher @ publix for what we want to cook.

Well I can say that, while I would have preferred to brine this myself, the Costco pork was EXCELLENT! All my guests commented on how we haven't been to a restaurant (and they like to go to some pretty expensive restaurants) with food any better than the pork. I am also a big fan of Costco meats in general. I have always felt like they were just as good if not better quality than my Publix meats and a hell of a lot cheaper.

Just for the record here is an article that will show you how to take a pork loin and make a rack of pork:

http://www.thehungrymouse.com/2009/11/11/garlic-ginger-encrusted-rack-of-pork/

Ron

r270ba · January 14

SmokeyPitt said:

That looks outstanding! Looks like you knocked that one out of the park. Love the presentation.

Thanks and thanks for your help (as well as everyone elses)!

caliking · January 14

Makes me want to try this even more. I almost picked one up last week.

r270ba · January 15

caliking said:
Makes me want to try this even more. I almost picked one up last week.

You have to. Super easy and super awesome...wife said it was one of the best meals I have ever cooked.

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