Not Your Usual Smoked Pork Roast Recipe
Summertime is finally here! Some of us BBQ all year around, even in the snow, but these months of summer are particularly popular for firing up your grill and smoking meat. Although there are those favorite dishes that your friends and family love, have you ever thought about trying something new? Let's face it, you can only do so many things with hotdogs, hamburgers and ribs, but here we’ll learn how to cook not your usual smoked pork roast.
We have some ideas about how to use your smoker with a meat you might not have considered. Instead of smaller cuts of meat, why not go in for something big, like a roast. But this will not be your usual smoked pork roast. What are the best methods to smoke a pork roast? What kind of equipment and ingredients will you need? How long does it take for the whole portion of meat to be fully roasted?
We are going to walk you through the process and give you a couple of recipes along the way. These ideas and suggestions should get your outdoor cooking this summer moving forward on a fresh, new note. Let's get started.
What You Will Need to Follow These Smoked Pork Roast Recipes
4-5 pound bone-in pork loin – for the Apple-Brined Smoked Pork Loin
7-pound pork loin roast - for the Smoked Cajun Pork Roast
For each recipe, ask the butcher to remove the chine bone and silver skin. Also, ask that they tie several pieces of butcher twine around the roast every few inches. It doesn’t need to be tight, just enough to shape the roast.
EQUIPMENT:
INGREDIENTS:
Apple-Brined Smoked Pork Loin Easy Recipe
To brine the pork you will need to start the day before you plan to grill. In order to fill the roast with as much flavor and moisture as possible, let it sit in the brine it for at least 6 hours. The recipe for the brine is as follows:
- 64 ounces apple juice
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup kosher salt
- Herb bundle: Fresh rosemary, thyme, and sage
- 4-5 pound bone-in pork loin, 7 to 8 bones
- Bring the apple juice to a simmer in a large stockpot. Add the salt and sugar and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and add the herb bundle. Allow the brine to cool to room temperature.
- Place the pork loin in a 2 ½ gallon tight-sealing plastic bag and pour the brine over it. Seal the bag and place it in the refrigerator. It should sit in the brine for a least 6 hours although it will be fine to leave it in overnight. It would be best to place the bag inside a large container just in case there’s any leakage.
- After 6 or more hours, remove the roast from the brine and pat it dry with paper towel. Then apply the following seasonings to this roast. Fresh Herb Rub: 2 Tablespoons sea salt, 1 Tablespoon black pepper, coarsely ground; 1 Tablespoon rosemary, fresh and finely chopped; 1 Tablespoon thyme fresh and finely chopped; 1 Tablespoon sage, fresh and finely chopped; 3-4 garlic cloves, minced (If you don't have fresh herbs on hand, you can substitute with dried herbs). Please note that dried herbs are much stronger than fresh so use only half the amount of dried herbs that are listed in the recipe.
- Brush the surface of the pork loin with a generous coating of olive oil. Using your hands, massage the herb mixture to the entire loin. At this point, your bone-in pork loin is ready for the smoker. Set the smoker to 300ºF.
- Set the charcoal in the smoker according to the directions and light the charcoal. Let it burn for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Place the pecan pellets on the hot charcoal for the smoke flavor. Put the water pan in the smoker and add water to the depth of the fill line. Now, set the roast on the lowest food rack in your smoker. Close or cover the smoker lid.
- To begin, place the pork loin over the hottest section of the grill with the bone side down. This high temperature will brown the outside of the meat and keep the juices locked in. Allow it to cook on one side for 15 minutes, then turn it over so the top side can cook and brown for 15 minutes.
- After browning for a total of 30 minutes, move the pork to the center of the rack where the temperature will be at 300ºF. Leave the meat to smoke for 45 minutes then check the internal temperature. It needs to reach a final temperature of 140ºF. This will take around 2 hours from beginning to end, but you should keep an eye on the temperature as it's getting closer to that time.
- When the center of the pork loin reaches 140ºF, remove it from the smoker. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
- Use a carving knife to carefully slice between each rib bone which will create a single portion. Don't forget to serve with bbq sauce.
Smoked Cajun Pork Roast Recipe
Ingredients:
For the Cajun Butter Sauce:
Whisk these three ingredients in a small bowl. Set the end of the injector in the bowl and pull the handle towards you to fill it up. Inject the pork with the marinade in several places, making sure to cover the entire piece of meat.
Instructions:
- Trim the fat from the roast, then inject the butter marinade into the meat evenly.
- Combine your spices, salt, pepper and cilantro and rub them over the pork roast. Cover the meat and chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours.
- Before you begin the process of smoking your pork roast, soak the mesquite chips in water for 30 minutes or more. Remove the pork roast from the refrigerator.
- Set the charcoal in the smoker according to the directions and light the charcoal. Let it burn for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Drain the water from the mesquite chips and place them on the hot charcoal. Put the water pan in the smoker and add water to the depth of the fill line. Now, set the roast on the lowest food rack in your smoker. Close or cover the smoker lid.
- The pork roast should be smoked for 4 to 5 hours or until a meat thermometer inserted at the thickest part of the meat reads 160ºF.
Additional Dry Rub Recipes
These recipes are included to give you two more possibilities for seasoning your pork roast. Give either one of them a try, or possibly both of them. You can let your family decide which one they prefer.
Garlic & Salt Dry Rub
INGREDIENTS:
Stir all ingredients together in a large bowl until they are thoroughly mixed.
Rub generously onto the meat.PRO TIP
Use salt to make up half of the rub recipe. This will allow the meat to become more tender while it's cooking and will intensify the flavors.
GETTING THE RUB TO STICK
Massage and press the rub deeply onto the surface of pork to help spices really stick throughout the cooking process.
Sweet & Hot Dry Rub
INGREDIENTS:
Mix all ingredients together well and rub liberally on the pork before placing it in the smoker.
CONCLUSION
What did you most enjoy about this tutorial? I hope you have found it both interesting and informative. Please let me know if you have tried any of these recipes and how they have worked for you. It would be really helpful to me if you would leave a comment below and tell me what you think about this article. If you liked it or have found it helpful, please share it with your family and your friends.
Smoked Pork Roast Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4-5
Pound
Bone-in pork loin - White sugar
- Brown sugar
- Garlic salt
- Garlic powder
- Lawry's seasonings salt
- Celery salt
- Onion salt
- Paprika
- Chili powder
- Black pepper
- Lemon pepper mix
- Celery seeds
- Dry sage
- Dry mustard
- Dry thyme
- Cayenne pepper
- Coarse salt
- Dried oregano or Italian seasonings
- Cumin
- Yellow mustard
- Dried cilantro
- 64 Ounces Apple juice
- 1 Cup White sugar
- 1
Cup
Kosher salt - Herb bundle: Fresh rosemary, thyme, and sage
Instructions
Apple-Brined Smoked Pork Loin Recipe
- Bring the apple juice to a simmer in a large stockpot.
- Add the salt and sugar and stir until dissolved.
- Remove from heat and add the herb bundle.
- Allow the brine to cool to room temperature.
- Place the pork loin in a 2 ½ gallon tight-sealing plastic bag and pour the brine over it.
- Seal the bag and place it in the refrigerator.
- It should sit in the brine for a least 6 hours although it will be fine to leave it in overnight.
- It would be best to place the bag inside a large container just in case there’s any leakage.
- After 6 or more hours, remove the roast from the brine and pat it dry with paper towel.
- Then apply the following seasonings to this roast.
- Fresh Herb Rub: 2 Tablespoons sea salt, 1 Tablespoon black pepper, coarsely ground; 1 Tablespoon rosemary, fresh and finely chopped; 1 Tablespoon thyme fresh and finely chopped; 1 Tablespoon sage, fresh and finely chopped; 3-4 garlic cloves, minced (If you don't have fresh herbs on hand, you can substitute with dried herbs).
- Please note that dried herbs are much stronger than fresh so use only half the amount of dried herbs that are listed in the recipe.
- Brush the surface of the pork loin with a generous coating of olive oil.
- Using your hands, massage the herb mixture to the entire loin.
- At this point, your bone-in pork loin is ready for the smoker. Set the smoker to 300ºF.
- Set the charcoal in the smoker according to the directions and light the charcoal.
- Let it burn for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Place the pecan pellets on the hot charcoal for the smoke flavor.
- Put the water pan in the smoker and add water to the depth of the fill line.
- Now, set the roast on the lowest food rack in your smoker. Close or cover the smoker lid.
- To begin, place the pork loin over the hottest section of the grill with the bone side down.
- This high temperature will brown the outside of the meat and keep the juices locked in.
- Allow it to cook on one side for 15 minutes, then turn it over so the top side can cook and brown for 15 minutes.
- After browning for a total of 30 minutes, move the pork to the center of the rack where the temperature will be at 300ºF.
- Leave the meat to smoke for 45 minutes then check the internal temperature.
- It needs to reach a final temperature of 140ºF.
- This will take around 2 hours from beginning to end, but you should keep an eye on the temperature as it's getting closer to that time.
- When the center of the pork loin reaches 140ºF, remove it from the smoker.
- Let it rest for 15 minutes.
- Use a carving knife to carefully slice between each rib bone which will create a single portion.
- Don't forget to serve with bbq sauce.
Nutrition
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