If I’ve got a long to-do list and a crew of people coming to dinner, you can bet I’m throwing together the HIH Super Simple Smoked Pork Loin. Smoked low and slow, you can forget about dry pork. This recipe comes out so juicy with a perfect crust on the outside every. Single. Time. Oh, and you only need THREE ingredients. You read that correctly, your main course to feed 8-12 people can come together with about 20 minutes of actual hands on work and only three ingredients. Winner winner pork loin dinner.
Pork loin seems to be somewhat overlooked or confused with the pork tenderloin. While both are great sources of lean protein, pork loin and pork tenderloin are indeed different both in shape, size and location on the pig. Pork loin comes from the back of the animal and is wider and flatter than the long, skinny, pork tenderloin which comes from right along the backbone of the big. Pork loin is a less expensive cut of pork. You can feed a lot of people for under $10! As of the writing of this post, I can pick up pork loin for about $2.15/lb. Pork tenderloin is about $4.40/lb.
Rub + Wood Selection
I prefer a sweet rub with a kick when smoking pork. I also prefer to use fruit woods like apple or cherry wood. Pork lends itself well to a bit of sweetness. The sugar in the rub also helps create an amazing crust, while a fruit wood just adds that kiss of extra flavor to round out the whole flavor experience.
My favorite pork rubs with Amazon links:
- American Royal World Series of BBQ Sweet Heat Championship Recipe Rib Rub
- Pit Boss Sweet Heat Seasoning & Rub
- Killer Hogs HOT BBQ Rub
These are my favorites, but don’t hesitate to use your favorite rub for your smoked pork loin.
Keys to Success
- Trim and score the pork as evenly as possible. The trimming of the fat and the scoring of the top helps to create an amazing crust while allowing flavor and smoke to penetrate deeper into the pork loin. Pork loin is a thick cut of meat, you want the flavor to be able to find it’s way into the meat. Trimming the fat and scoring the top also provides an impressive aesthetic when serving.
- Massage that meat! Getting the mustard and seasoning all over and into the scored lines of the meat will result in the best flavor. The mustard is simply a binder. You’ll barely taste the mustard once the smoke is complete. When I say barely, most people don’t even know mustard was used.
- Temp your meat! While I don’t recommend constantly opening your smoker, I do recommend keeping an eye on the temp of your meat as the smoke progresses. Nobody wants overcooked pork. Many of the pellet grills have a built in meat thermometer you can insert into the meat for the entire smoke. Heck, some even send your phone a notification when the meat reaches the desired temp! If you don’t have this option, I love this digital thermometer from Amazon. It’s got two little magnets so it hangs out on your smoker and doesn’t get lost.
Extra tips!
- It’s OK if the meat is a little pink. When smoking meats, you may notice that the meat has a redish/pink tint. The color is a result of the smoke penetrating the meat, which is what you want! As long as you complete the smoke at 145 degrees F, tent, and allow to rest for another 15 minutes, your pork is safe to eat, even if it’s a little bit pink.
- Slice it thin, slice it thick, or cube it! A whole smoked pork loin can be served in so many different ways! Get creative! I love to slice it thick with a side of apples and the HIH Mac ‘n Cheese. You could also slice it thin for a sandwich or cubed up on a BBQ pork bowl.
HIH Smoked Pork Loin
Equipment
- 1 smoker/pellet grill **Oven instructions in notes.
- 1 sharp chef's or fillet knife
- 1 sheet pan
- 1 laytex gloves optional
Ingredients
- 1 2-3lbs boneless pork loin *Not tenderloin
- 1½ tablespoons yellow mustard
- 3 tablespoons you favorite pork rub *See blog post for my recommendations
Instructions
- Prep your smoker or pellet grill and heat to 225°F
- While your smoker is coming up to temperature, remove the pork loin from any packaging, place on a sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels. carefully and using a sharp trim any fat which is thicker than ¼".
- Carefully and using a sharp trim any fat which is thicker than ¼". One the fat is trimmed, diagonally score the fat cap side in both directions about ¼" deep to create a hatch pattern.
- Rub the entire surface of the pork loin with the yellow mustard, making sure to get the mustard into the scoring. do the same with the rub.
- Allow the rub to sit on the pork loin for about 10 minutes.
- Place on your smoker scored side up and smoke for approximately 40 minutes/lb at 225°F or until the internal temperature reaches 145°F.
- Pull the pork loin off the smoker, tent with foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Slice as thin or thick as you like and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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