BRING THE ADVICE: First time with pork loin...how to?

HeathCave

I'm firing up the egg tomorrow morning for a pork loin...hopefully for lunch. I grabbed it at Costco today. 7 pounds. 

Never done pork loin in any way...ever. On any grill. Or oven. Or egg. I just saw it and decided we needed to try it. So, I need some advice! 

What temp? How long? Rub? Glaze? (I'm hoping rub since I have rubs and most common spices at my disposal already)

Who's got suggestions? Thanks ahead of time for the advice! 

jcaspary

So many different ways to do them. Being your first time go easy. I've never had anything to do them raised so I do them 350-400 indirect until done. I've also used rubs. S&P, garlic powder, a little cayenne pepper, and a little brown sugar. This is a favorite of SWMBO. Done many times and she has always enjoyed. Just come up with your own ideas and have fun. Enjoy and pictures are a must.

Thatgrimguy

Pretty much everything is good. I usually just rub mine and cook raised indirect at 350. Just don't overcook. I pull mine at 135 and let it rise while resting.

Mattman3969

I like indirect 300-325 with some cherry or Apple for smoke. Not enough fat on the loin to justify a low n slow unless you have nothing better to do and want to consume a fair amount of adult beverages. Just about any rub I have used has been good but a coffee based rub seems to be better to me. Have fun with it.

HeathCave

So if I do around 350 indirect, how long should I plan for cooking time? I know "it's done when it's done", but if SWMBO wanted to have it at lunch around 12:00, what time would you guys put it on?

Mattman3969

Maybe 2hrs but I am not certain on that. You could start early and FTC if needed.

HeathCave

Well, I put the loin on the egg at about 9am (fat side up if that matters), around 325 on the dome with some hickory chunks (man I love the way hickory smells). The egg stayed locked in at 325 really well. At about 9:50, I was already at 135 internal. I planned on taking it off at 140, but I got distracted and it flew up to 145 before I realized it. I took it off at 145 internal at 10:10 and FTC until about 11:15. I put a probe back in while FTC and the temp continued to climb all the way to 160! 

It was a little dry for me, but SWMBO liked it (she likes her pork and turkey on the dry side). I think it was dry because I took it off late and it still climbed to 160. True?? I also think I should have put more rub on. It could have used some more flavor. I was cautious to over-season since I knew it would be a shorter cook. It didn't seem to get much smoke either. 

Any pointers for next time?

grege345

If you hit target temp before FTC throwin fridge for 10 min to hold back the climbing temp. Then FTC. As for smoke. How much did you use?

HeathCave

grege345 said:

If you hit target temp before FTC throwin fridge for 10 min to hold back the climbing temp. Then FTC. As for smoke. How much did you use?

Thx for the fridge idea! I used about 4 chunks of hickory. Not enough??

grege345

No that's plenty I would think. When I know my cook is going to be only an hour or two I use chips instead of chunks. Reason is the chips are small and ignite far better and quicker than chunks. When I do long cooks I use chunks buried thruout the coals so chunks lite up thruout the cook. Make sense?

paqman

I always brine pork loin. Then, I apply a dry rub and I cook indirect @ 350-400F until an IT of 140F. It usually take under an hour.

HeathCave

grege345 said:

No that's plenty I would think. When I know my cook is going to be only an hour or two I use chips instead of chunks. Reason is the chips are small and ignite far better and quicker than chunks. When I do long cooks I use chunks buried thruout the coals so chunks lite up thruout the cook. Make sense?

Makes sense! I had a few chips in there as well. Just not many. Maybe not enough I guess. It seemed like I had good smoke though. 

paqman said:

I always brine pork loin. Then, I apply a dry rub and I cook indirect @ 350-400F until an IT of 140F. It usually take under an hour.

Brining is a good idea...I didn't think of that. I always brine my chicken, just didn't think to brine the pork loin. Next time!

BearQ

Recently I read a tip that said to tie the loin into a round shape instead of the natural oval to help it to cook evenly. I like to butterfly, pound flat and stuff a pork loin, then roll it up tied tight for the Q. +1 on the brining as well.

Terrebandit

It will be much moister if you take it to 145 instead of 160. To be honest, I prefer to do pork tenderloins or thick bone in chops over a pork loin any day. Much more flavor. Sometimes I'll slice up a pork loin into chops, season it, and reverse sear it.

apfroggy0408

Direct, normal grid height, 350 deg has worked very well for me for the loins I've made.

Dizzy Pig's Fajita-ish and Bayou-ish are great rubs for the the pork loins but I also did enjoy the simple S&P rub. I was cooking two 7 lb'ers a week for a few weeks in a row, need to get back on that train.

GrannyX4

I always brine. It helps if you over shoot temp. Another good recipe for the loin is DizzyPigs Candian bacon which can be found on his web site. ;;)