What are you having for Easter this year? Here is a great alternative to the usual ham - try smoking a fresh pork loin in your SmokinTex smoker. It is a slightly sweet, slightly spicy deliciously smoked treat that is lower in fat and a little more interesting than the usual.
Mmmm, anyone for some BBQ'd Pork Loin? My entire family sure loved this weekend treat. I used a half of a boneless pork loin, about 3 pounds. I seasoned with a BBQ rub from my local grocery store (a mixture of paprika, salt and garlic powder - SHHH don't tell about the garlic!) and sweetened/spiced it up by adding some sugar, cumin and pepper. I used the dry rub about 3 hours before I needed to start cooking - I simply wrapped the whole thing in a ziptop bag and parked it in the fridge to let the flavor get inside the meat.
I smoked for a little over 2.5 hours in my SmokinTex smoker, using cherry wood - about 1.5 oz. I always use my instant read electronic thermometer to judge doneness, and it was only at 120 degrees with 1/2 hour before the in-laws were due to arrive for dinner, so I finished my roast off in a
400�F degree oven for about 30 minutes so that I could get it to
160�F degree doneness by dinner time. I rubbed a little olive oil on the top for sheen and just popped it into the oven.
The color of the pork loin was a gorgeous red tint on the outside, slightly pink around the edges and white throughout. It was juicy, although the texture of the meat was firm, which is how the men in my house prefer the doneness level.
I served it with potatoes I had done in a foil package in the smoker also at the same time as the roast. I scrubbed and quartered normal russet potatoes and simply seasoned them with salt, pepper, butter and olive oil. When I removed the pork loin from the smoker I also took the potatoes out of the smoker, opened up the foil packet and finished them in the oven also so they could get a crisp outside. They were just the perfect level of doneness for oven crisping after being in the smoker alongside the roast.
We also enjoyed some applesauce, cranberry chutney and steamed broccoli along with our BBQ'd Pork Loin.
Recipe for BBQ Spice Rub:
2 TBSP of your favorite BBQ rub
2 TBSP sugar
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 t kosher salt
OR: (if you don't have BBQ rub on hand)
2 tsp paprika
2 TBSP Kosher Salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
3 TBSP sugar
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