I bought a full pork loin (loin, not tenderloin) for thanksgiving. It was super cheap and I think there are ways to elevate it and make it better than the bland piece of meat it can sometimes be known as.

What are y'all's recipes? I've seen butterflied and stuffed, dry brined, wet brined, smoked, grilled. I'd like to be able to cook it outside on a grill or smoker.

Grilled porchetta

Butterfly it out and cover it with chopped rosemary, sage, garlic, salt, and pepper. Roll it up, tie it with butcher twine at both ends and in the middle. Some people tie it horizontally at both ends, too.

Brush a little olive oil on the skin, liberally apply some salt and pepper, then let it slow roast offset on a grill for about an hour.



He's using pork belly, but it works the same for pork loin.

I like to smoke them. Or pan sear and then make some sort of berry compote as a sauce.

Pork loin is one of the few meats that benefits from a wet brine. I've quit cooking them because they are so lean and don't have much flavor (I prefer the pork ribeye roasts now). The other alternative is to make some Canadian bacon.

HTownAg98 said:

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Pork loin is one of the few meats that benefits from a wet brine. I've quit cooking them because they are so lean and don't have much flavor (I prefer the pork ribeye roasts now). The other alternative is to make some Canadian bacon.

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Agree on a wet brine plus if there's some really good recipes out there for curing/smoking if you like.

My Canadian Bacon isn't much of a recipe, but here goes. It's based on baker's percentages to make the math easier.

100% pork loin
2% salt
1% sugar
0.25% Insta-Cure #1

Combine the salt, sugar, and cure, and rub all over the loin. Place the loin in a bag with all of the cure mixture. Vacuum seal it if you can, and let it sit for two weeks in the refrigerator, turning the bag over every day. Once the cure is complete, rinse off the loin, pat it dry, and let it sit under a fan for an hour prior to smoking. Smoke at moderate heat (225dF-ish) with a light smoke until the interior hits 150.

Isn't the pork ribeye also the pork loin? Maybe the blade end has a little more "rib cap"

Looks like a very similar stuffing to a babish recipe that caught my eye

Yeah pork ribeye = pork loin

Sometimes I'll cut up a pork loin into strips and season the brine tasso style. Goes great in a pot of beans or whatever you'd use tasso for. I probably consume as much just snacking on it.

The raised eye icon....my bad. Thumb slipped

You have 4-5 different cuts of meat in a whole loin, not sure I'd try to do an entire loin at once outside of a whole pig roast personally because they are all so different in fat content, texture, etc. and will cook way different than the next section.

JCRiley09 said:

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Isn't the pork ribeye also the pork loin? Maybe the blade end has a little more "rib cap"

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Yes, it is technically part of the pork loin. I don't know if the OP got a whole cryovac pork loin, but if that is the case, that section of the loin would be included. I'm thinking of the pork loins that are about 3-4 pounds that are sometimes called the center cut loin. The ribeye roasts are indeed cut more toward the blade end and have a rib cap on them. And they are exponentially better eating.

I cut it into 1.5" chops, coat with grub rub, smoke offset with hickory until 165 internal. Slide over fire for a couple of minutes to get a nice crust.

Rexter said:

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I cut it into 1.5" chops, coat with grub rub, smoke offset with hickory until 165 internal. Slide over fire for a couple of minutes to get a nice crust.

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I do it similar to this. It allows more surface area to put the rub on and add flavor.

Lately I stopped buying the big honkers and only buy the tenderloins. Price per pound is very similar and it is a much better cut.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Rexter said:

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I cut it into 1.5" chops, coat with grub rub, smoke offset with hickory until 165 internal. Slide over fire for a couple of minutes to get a nice crust.

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I do it similar to this. It allows more surface area to put the rub on and add flavor.

Lately I stopped buying the big honkers and only buy the tenderloins. Price per pound is very similar and it is a much better cut.

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My go-to for cooking on group rides OSS pork tenderloin. Same prep, but no crust. On a Weber kettle, offset a football sized piled of charcoal with hickory chunks on top, both vents wide open to get a blue smoke plume. Generally 1 hr 15 mins on the dot til done.

Pork two ways. Stuffed with pancetta, rosemary, sage, and garlic. And smoked whole after an overnight dry brine.


Edit to add that this pic was after it was sitting on the plate for a while. I forgot to get a pic as I was slicing.