Note from Melissa: I thought it would be fun for Brad to pop in here and introduce himself to you guys. If you don't know Brad, he's a chemist by day, and a wood turner by night. Check out some of his stuff here.
So, Melissa asked me to do a guest post. Not being much of a blogger I really wasn’t sure what to do. With funny posts by husbands of crafters having been done I decided to make this an informative post focusing on one of my hobbies.

So, Melissa asked me to do a guest post. Not being much of a blogger I really wasn’t sure what to do. With funny posts by husbands of crafters having been done I decided to make this an informative post focusing on one of my hobbies.
I do have a few hobbies. One of them
developed over the past couple of years is grilling. I’m no grill
master, far from it even, but I’m improving each time I fire up my
grill. I have discovered some pretty tasty dishes over the past
couple of years, many recreations of Steven Raichlen (a grill god if
you’ve never heard of him and someone whose books I highly
recommend if you grill). However, I have experimented some (that
would be the scientist in me) so I thought today I’d pass along one
of my own creations, an awesome pork loin recipe.
Brining the pork loin
Ingredients
Pork Loin (about 2 lbs)
½ cup Salt
1 tablespoon Fresh Ground Pepper
1 tablespoon Dried Oregano
1 tablespoon Dried Thyme
1 tablespoon Minced Garlic (or dried
garlic)
Brining the pork loin adds additional
flavor throughout the pork as the brining process infuses the
different ingredients through osmosis. In a large bowl filled with
enough water to cover the pork loin add the above ingredients. Stir
to dissolve the salt. Place the pork loin in the brine mixture,
cover, and place in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours.
Pork loin prep for grilling
Ingredients
Your favorite spicy mustard
Brown Sugar
Memphis Dry Rub (Ingredients list
below)
Smoked Paprika
Smoked Bacon Cajun Sea Salt (Saratoga
Olive Oil Co)
Remove the pork loin from the brine.
Fillet cut the pork almost all the way through and open the pork like
a book. On this inside cut spread a thin layer of the mustard. For
this recipe I used El Diablo Hot and Spicy Steakhouse mustard. It
has a nice kick but not too hot. On top of the mustard add a thin
layer of brown sugar and spread in. On top of this add a layer of
Memphis dry rub.
Close up the pork. Turn the pork fat
side up (if it has one) and apply a layer of Memphis rub and rub it
in with your hand. Turn the pork over and rub in a layer of Memphis
rub to the other side. Spread a small amount of the smoked bacon
Cajun sea salt. Don’t use too much, sea salt is much stronger than
table salt. On a side note I highly recommend just about anything
from Saratoga Olive Oil Co. Visit their website, their stuff is
amazing. Finally add a layer of smoked paprika. When done the pork
loin will look like this.
Mop Sauce
1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1 table spoon Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
1 table spoon Brown Sugar
Combine the above ingredients. Stir
until the brown sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
Grilling the pork loin
The pork loin is cooked with indirect
grilling. This is a great technique to grill where the meat is not
directly above the heat source. This allows for a slower cook
without burning the bottom of the meat and no need to turn during
cooking. I have a gas grill with four burners. I turn the left and
right burner on and leave the two middle burners off. Adjust the
grill temp to about 275 F. Place the pork in the center of the grill
fat side down. This goes against most grilling techniques. They say
fat side up so the fat juices fall into the meat and keep it moist.
The problem with this is all that rub you applied gets lost on top of
a fat layer you can’t eat. I grill this way and just add plenty of
mop sauce to keep moist.
Indirect grilling
can also be done with a charcoal grill. Search the net for this
set-up. There will be plenty of information on this.
Grill the pork until the internal temp
is between 145-150 F. For this pork that was about 90 minutes.
Starting at 30 minutes and every 15 minutes until cooked, lightly
apply a liberal amount of the sauce with either a mop brush or
sprayer. Use caution not to wash off the rub. After removing the
pork allow to sit for 3 to 5 minutes before cutting. This will allow
the meat to relax and help keep moist.
Memphis Dry Rub (not my recipe)
Taken from The Barbeque Bible by Steven Raichlen page 489
¼ cup sweet paprika
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
Combine all ingredients and mix by
hand. Store in an air tight container. This stuff will last quite a
while like this.
OK, that’s my first guest post. A
bit long but I do tend to ramble, I hope you enjoy the pork. Next
time I’ll talk about a great grilled potato recipe that is a great
compliment to this.
Yum ! The prok looks delicious Brad. Thanks for the recipe.
ReplyDeleteOr as I should have written pork lol. Great first guest post.
ReplyDeleteMan alive! I wish Joel liked pork, because this looks phenomenal!
ReplyDelete