My local butcher is having a sale on pork loin so I am going to pick one up. Looking at the different recipes, most seem to be 225-250 until130-135 then glaze if desired or let it go till 140. But I came across the Traeger recipe which calls for a cooking temp of 180. Has anyone tried that? Does it work well? It just seems much lower than what everyone else goes with.
Edit. To be clear, I am talking about cooking the pork loint in the pellet grill at 180 vs 225-250. I am pulling the loin at 140. The Traeger recipe I am talking about is here, https://www.traeger.com/recipes/smoked-pork-loin?srsltid=AfmBOooTL4WqZzRNTwN9jir9q_8a6FB4roU4ptG7fx3knWAwXydxVwWT
by Protonwave314159
5 Comments
I mean if you can get it done in a reasonable amount of time, maybe? Give it a try and report.
That said, there is an obsession here with keeping low temperatures. I’d argue that traditionally, people rarely kept 225. I’d guess the norm before pellets would be closer to 275 with a goal of not letting it get below ~225. I suspect damn good BBQ has been made for years like this.
I literally did my first one yesterday – my Pit Boss runs cold, but I tried 225 for 3 hours, and it was barely 130. I wrapped it and cranked up to 350 and it got to 140 in another 45. Its kinda tough, a little dry. I WISH I had done it at 275 or 300 and got it done faster. I don’t think theres enough intramuscular fat in the loin to go “slow and low” and have it render out like other cuts.
Haven’t tried an entire cook at 180, but I have run 180 for an hour or two then finished at 225 with good success.
I do pork loins all the time. I usually cut a whole pork loin into 3 pieces. I’ll cook one of those pieces for a nice large meal.
Slather with mustard, good amount of your fav pork rub on it. Put it on the smoker at 225 and just let it go. Probably going to take 2 hours or so. Take it off at 140. Could be a bit earlier if you are okay with a bit of pink on pork, or if you think you need to let it rest until the rest of dinner is done. 180 is far too high.
If dinner is close and it’s not quite done, you can crank the temp to speed up the cook as well. I find it won’t be quite as tender, but it’s still amazing and gets everyone fed.
Leftovers make amazing pork melt grilled cheese sandwich.
135..