What We’re Smoking (or Grilling, or Curing)!

[folivier]

FreeBear I do the same thing with a whole pork loin. Smoke with a light coating of Tony's at 225ºF until 145º internal. After cooling I cut into chops the thickness we want & vacuum seal. Whenever we want chops I sear on high heat and they're perfect. Juicy with a slight smoke flavor.

 

[Ronstar]

On keto, grilled a big ribeye yesterday, in search of a brisket to smoke today.

 

[FreeBear]

FreeBear I do the same thing with a whole pork loin. Smoke with a light coating of Tony's at 225ºF until 145º internal. After cooling I cut into chops the thickness we want & vacuum seal. Whenever we want chops I sear on high heat and they're perfect. Juicy with a slight smoke flavor.

I also enjoy the light smoke flavor with mild flavored meats like lean pork and chicken. Pellet grill works great for this. I also have smoke chips, but haven't gotten around to using them.

Hmm, never tried a whole pork loin. Never really thought about it. Why do you prefer it over smoking chops? I suppose you can slice to taste. The Costco chops are a decent thickness, and pretty cheap these days. I think one advantage of smoking chops is that there is more surface area for the rub/marinade and more outside area to retain smoke.

What do you use for searing?? I like a pretty "hard" sear, so thinking about getting a little portable gas grill. It will be my searing station at home and will take it on the road in my RV for quick meals.

 

[audreyh1]

I’m actually not that crazy about the pork loin itself. Our chops came out great - thanks to brining they came out super juicy - nothing worse than dry pork loin. But I prefer the flavor of any of the pork ribs, shoulder, belly or tenderloin, so will stick to those cuts in the future.

I’ve had some great pork chops that were obviously cured before smoking. I wasn’t willing to try to cure these.

And I still plan to do Canadian bacon one of these days. I’ll have to do a cure for that of course.

 

[FreeBear]

I’m actually not that crazy about the pork loin itself. Our chops came out great - thanks to brining they came out super juicy - nothing worse than dry pork loin. But I prefer the flavor of any of the pork ribs, shoulder, belly or tenderloin, so will stick to those cuts in the future.

I hear you. Pork loin and chicken breast seem to suffer from the same issues. Not enough flavor and easy to overcook. We season and spice both heavily, although not much salt, and use a temp probes to avoid overcooking. I like Traeger pellets since they seem to cook "gently", at least at lower temperatures, to prevent drying out.

Remember when it was recommended to cook pork well done?? I learned to "enjoy" overcooked pork chops over decades!

I love pork ribs, probably one of my favorites, esp. off the pellet grill, but it's not something I can or should eat regularly. So pork loin and chicken breast are our staples, with ribs and steaks as "fun food".

Never tried pork tenderloin. Sounds good, thanks for the idea!

 

[audreyh1]

Whole chickens smoked on the Traeger come out great - even the breast. I’m sure brining has a lot to do with it. I pretty much do whole birds or chicken wings. And Turkey breast (with bone) comes out fantastic - also brined. I don’t season that heavily. Rinse off the brine well, dry, and moderate application of rub.

As far as I know you are still recommended to cook pork well done to 145 AFAIK.

 

[TripleLindy]

Whole chickens smoked on the Traeger come out great - even the breast. I’m sure brining has a lot to do with it. I pretty much do whole birds or chicken wings. And Turkey breast (with bone) comes out fantastic - also brined. I don’t season that heavily. Rinse off the brine well, dry, and moderate application of rub.

As far as I know you are still recommended to cook pork well done to 145 AFAIK.

I love cooking a whole chicken - spatchcocked so that the entire bird cooks evenly. I also love the simple buttermilk brine from Salt Fat Acid Heat, but don’t always have time for it.

 

[audreyh1]

I’m working on another pork loin project. I’m going to try to make Kasseler Rippchen which is a German cured and smoked pork loin then cut into chops. I found a promising looking recipe - I like the herbs and spices. It also uses just a 48 hour cure. They recommend not using a bone-in roast - probably makes the curing trickier. https://www.thespruceeats.com/kasseler-cured-smoked-pork-loin-recipe-1447049

This is what the meat market near DF’s was producing that was so tasty. I should have known it was cured by the pink color of the meat but it hadn’t clicked - duh!

BTW Prasek’s (a smokehouse and market between Hillje and El Campo TX) makes an awesome smoked pork tenderloin which is cured. Our HEB started carrying their products including the tenderloin. Anyone traveling between Houston and Victoria TX on US59 it’s well worth a stop even if just to use their very posh cowboy themed restrooms.

 

[folivier]

Spent the weekend at sons house and did baby backs on his 5 burner bbq. Used a rib rack and rubbed, filled smoker tube about halfway with apple pellets. Cooked with 1 burner on at 235ºF for about 4.5 hours with ribs on other side of grill. Came out great. Simpler than using the smoker but smoke flavor was lighter.

 

[CincyDave]

I’m working on another pork loin project. I’m going to try to make Kasseler Rippchen which is a German cured and smoked pork loin then cut into chops. I found a promising looking recipe - I like the herbs and spices. It also uses just a 48 hour cure. They recommend not using a bone-in roast - probably makes the curing trickier. https://www.thespruceeats.com/kasseler-cured-smoked-pork-loin-recipe-1447049

This is what the meat market near DF’s was producing that was so tasty. I should have known it was cured by the pink color of the meat but it hadn’t clicked - duh!

BTW Prasek’s (a smokehouse and market between Hillje and El Campo TX) makes an awesome smoked pork tenderloin which is cured. Our HEB started carrying their products including the tenderloin. Anyone traveling between Houston and Victoria TX on US59 it’s well worth a stop even if just to use their very posh cowboy themed restrooms.

I do something very similar with boneless pork loin. Sliced thin and it's like Canadian Bacon

 

[audreyh1]

I do something very similar with boneless pork loin. Sliced thin and it's like Canadian Bacon

Canadian bacon is another project I plan on doing at some point. The Kasseler Rippchen will be sliced into chops, which will be browned in a pan. I will use any drippings to caramelize onions and warm some sauerkraut.

Anyone cured pork tenderloin? I’m looking for curing guidelines. Amazing ribs doesn’t cover it but they do have some general guidelines.

 

[OldShooter]

... Anyone cured pork tenderloin? I’m looking for curing guidelines. ...

It's no big deal. Just like curing pork belly. I cure pork bellies for a week or two, but loins can be thicker. I don't have a link handy but you can find some rules of thumb for cure time based on inches of thickness. With an equilibrium cure, there's no reason to hurry things and no reason to worry about curing too long.

I only cured a loin once; the result was a little too dry for our taste but it was just grocery store pork. Some of the more marbled heritage breeds would probably be much better.

 

[CincyDave]

Canadian bacon is another project I plan on doing at some point. The Kasseler Rippchen will be sliced into chops, which will be browned in a pan. I will use any drippings to caramelize onions and warm some sauerkraut.

Anyone cured pork tenderloin? I’m looking for curing guidelines. Amazing ribs doesn’t cover it but they do have some general guidelines.

I use the one on this link. A lot of things I've seen on the internet seem to use too much curing salt.
https://amazingribs.com/tested-reci...and-injecting/curing-meats-safely/#calculator

 

[audreyh1]

I use the one on this link. A lot of things I've seen on the internet seem to use too much curing salt.
https://amazingribs.com/tested-reci...and-injecting/curing-meats-safely/#calculator

Yeah, that’s my fall back. I use that plus https://eatcuredmeat.com/how-much-curing-salt-per-pound-of-meat-dry-or-wet-curing-tool-calculator/ in my time plus amount calculations.

Pork tenderloins are so small in diameter I would expect a short curing time.

 

[CardsFan]

Yeah, that’s my fall back. I use that plus https://eatcuredmeat.com/how-much-curing-salt-per-pound-of-meat-dry-or-wet-curing-tool-calculator/ in my time plus amount calculations.

Pork tenderloins are so small in diameter I would expect a short curing time.

I made it once before and think I used this from Amazing Ribs: https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/pork-recipes/smoked-canadian-bacon-recipe/

Cure time is determined by the diameter.

 

[audreyh1]

I made it once before and think I used this from Amazing Ribs: https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/pork-recipes/smoked-canadian-bacon-recipe/

Cure time is determined by the diameter.

That’s for pork loin which is used for Canadian bacon. Pork tenderloin is a different part of the muscle and much smaller in diameter.

Thanks, I already have that recipe bookmarked for making Canadian bacon.

 

[TripleLindy]

Ah, January in Texas. 80° with blue skies and sunshine! Good day for grilling burgers. I wanted to try something different, so I added a few ingredients to the ground beef: diced jalapeño, chopped bacon, and sharp cheddar cheese, plus the requisite salt and pepper, along with several healthy dashes of Worcestershire. In the end, I should have used a little more bacon and another jalapeño, but they still tasted great!

 

[CincyDave]

Hard to beat a good burger. Those look great!

 

[audreyh1]

I’m curing a pork loin for Kasseler Rippchen. The brine has all sorts of interesting spices in it - lots of sage leaves and garlic, juniper berries, coriander seeds, onions, bay leaves, thyme…..

48 hour cure then smoke. I plan to then slice into pork chops and then when ready to eat brown in a pan, cooking onions and sauerkraut in any drippings.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

I just cooked up some baby back ribs this weekend. I typically slow bake them in an oven for a couple hours, then reheat them with BBQ sauce an hour after I shut off the oven.

I do like some smoke on them, but I tend to dry them out when I cook them in my pellet grill no matter how low and slow I go.

It was about 20 degrees here on Saturday so I tried something new. I filled a smoke tube with pellets and put it on the grill, then I placed the seasoned ribs on it for 4 hours to cold smoke. Since it was 20 degrees the ribs were at a safe temperature and didn't cook at all, just absorb that smoky flavor.

I did that all afternoon then kept them refrigerated til the next day and cooked them in the oven like I mentioned above.

It worked great. We got the smoky flavor with the fall off the bone tenderness. I'll do it this way again.

 

[audreyh1]

I just cooked up some baby back ribs this weekend. I typically slow bake them in an oven for a couple hours, then reheat them with BBQ sauce an hour after I shut off the oven.

I do like some smoke on them, but I tend to dry them out when I cook them in my pellet grill no matter how low and slow I go.

It was about 20 degrees here on Saturday so I tried something new. I filled a smoke tube with pellets and put it on the grill, then I placed the seasoned ribs on it for 4 hours to cold smoke. Since it was 20 degrees the ribs were at a safe temperature and didn't cook at all, just absorb that smoky flavor.

I did that all afternoon then kept them refrigerated til the next day and cooked them in the oven like I mentioned above.

It worked great. We got the smoky flavor with the fall off the bone tenderness. I'll do it this way again.

Interesting!

I spray my ribs occasionally with apple cider vinegar. But I’m usually doing the whole spare ribs. They don’t dry out.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

Interesting!

I spray my ribs occasionally with apple cider vinegar. But I’m usually doing the whole spare ribs. They don’t dry out.

I put about a cup of apple juice in the baking dish with some apple rub on the ribs when I bake them. Apple is my favorite seasoning for pork.

McCormick makes a good apple seasoning that I use as a rub. Traeger and Famous Dave's also have rubs that I like to use.

Another bonus of smoking ribs for hours is that it gives me the appearance of being busy, for not much work.

 

[audreyh1]

I haven’t done baby back ribs in a while. Being low-carb I avoid the honey and juice treatment and no sugar in my rubs plus I get lazy about wrapping. But I think I was successful once with wrapping and some apple cider vinegar in the wrap for baby back ribs. Slathered with mustard before adding rub would be fine too. I do like the meatiness of baby back ribs. Once I figured out that whole spare ribs required no wrapping and just rub I went for that minimalist approach.

Interesting about the apple rub. I often use the Salt Lick garlic rub. A bit spicy if heavily applied but it works well with pork. Applewood for pellets.

 

[TripleLindy]

Baby backs are one of my favorite cooks because they’re so quick and easy. My favorite rib rub is Meathead’s Memphis Dust. It does contain sugar, but according to Meathead, only about 1 tsp per serving. It doesn’t contain salt, which is perfect for me because I like to dry brine and the primary reason I try to avoid commercial rubs. I also add jalapeño powder to kick up the heat. It takes about 5 minutes to mix up a batch probably costs around $1.

https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/spice-rubs-and-pastes/meatheads-memphis-dust-rub-recipe/

I cook ribs at ~300° and baby backs are ready in around 2 hours, with no wrapping. I also don’t sauce. If I’m cooking on my Kamado Joe, I’ll cook indirect, but my Pit Barrel Cooker produces great ribs and I can hang 8 racks at a time in it. It cooks direct, also around 300° for about 2 hours, but because the ribs hang vertically, they get more convection heat than direct heat.

 

[OldShooter]

... fall off the bone tenderness. ...

I'd encourage you to try cooking slightly less. I am a certified KCBS barbecue judge; the KCBS standard is this:

"When sampling a properly cooked contest rib the area of the meat where the bite is taken should be pulled cleanly from the bone with very little effort. The exposed bone of a well-cooked rib will often dry immediately. Ribs should be moist, flavorful, and possess good texture."
​

Ribs fall off the bone when the meat is heated to the point where collagen breaks down. Unfortunately, it is the collagen that also holds the meat fibers together, so a secondary effect is that the meat is quickly moving towards mushy. (aka not "good texture") Fall-off-the-bone ribs are very popular and if that's what you like it's just fine. I'm just suggesting that you try one rack at least that is cooked to KCBS standards; where a bite separates cleanly from the bone, leaving the rest of the meat attached. IMO getting the meat before the beginning-mush phase is the better choice.

Edit: More from the KCBS judges' manual:

"When a rib is overcooked, most or all the meat comes off the bone when sampled. Additionally, the meat of an overcooked rib has a tendency to be mushy and have a poor texture."​