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First cook - Boneless Pork Loin

Boatman
Boatman Posts: 854
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
firstporkloin.jpg
<p />Here is a picture of my first BGE cook, a 4 pound boneless pork loin. Stuffed with onions & garlic, then wrapped with bacon. The pork came out great with a nice hickory taste and very moist. I had some trouble (newbie) with the egg and would like to know what I did wrong. I started with a clean firebox, then added lump up to the top of the air holes. Put 1 lump of hickory on top and lit using a fire starter. The meat was out of the refrigerator for 1 hr. 45min at this point. Setup was a placesetter legs up with a drip pan that had about 1" of water then grill on that with pork on a "v" rack. Put the loin on at a dome temp of 250 and rising. After having the bottom vent and the top vent wide open for 1 hour, and the cooker never getting a dome temp above 300, I decided to throw out the water and just use the drip pan. 1/2 hour later the temp is slowly going down and I realized I was out of charcoal! I was using BGE lump. Took everything apart, put in more lump and got going again...this time the temp got up quickly and everything turned out ok. First cook a success....but much gnashing of teeth and head scratching. Thanks to all of the folks who help out everyone here....what a great group.

Comments

  • drbbq
    drbbq Posts: 1,152
    Boatman,[p]Skip the water, rack, drip pan and add some charcoal. A pork loin is quick and easy. Don't make it so hard on yourself
    Ray Lampe Dr. BBQ
  • Boatman,
    You should always fill the lump up to the top of the firebox (above the air holes. [p]Also, I'd recommend starting the fire in 3 places, not just one.[p]The original temp went up due to the firestarters, then when they burn out the temp drops a bit before it starts to climb again. Sometimes if I put the platesetter on before the coals get going, it takes longer to hit the desired temp (I think this is) because the platesetter restricts the flow of air a bit. I usually wait till the starters have burned out and the temp is up to about 200+[p]Give the fire a chance to establish itself and burn off the VOCs (or allow about 20 minutes) before putting the meat on. The smoke should be clear or slightly bluish.

  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
    Boatman,[p]That's a great lookin' roast. You will get the hang of the Egg in no time.[p]Here is my $.02. You did not start with enough lump, fill up the bowl. Second, you really don't need liquid in the drip pan unless it just makes you feel good. If you use liquid, heat it up first, it takes a lot of BTU's to heat a cool liquid. [p]Just an observation here, that meat sat out a long time. It sounds like your roast was out 2 hours and 45 minutes and from a food safety point of view, that amount of time should be avoided..... I usually allow my fire an hour to settle down before putting anything on, and usually go from the fridge to the cooker with all meats.[p]~thirdeye~
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
  • One more thing,
    When you add a cold mass to the egg (like a plate setter, a pan of water or a big chunk o meat, the temp will drop temporarily until the added mass is warmed up.

  • Boatman
    Boatman Posts: 854
    thirdeye,
    good advise....thanks!

  • Boatman,[p]Great looking roast. [p]Just wanted to put in my $.02 worth. If you always start with a full load of lump (almost all the way up to the fire ring--just below the bottom of the place setter), not only will you not have to worry about running out too soon, you can always re-use what hasen't been burnt on the next project. So, there's really no reason not to always fill it up.[p]Happy egging.