smoked pork loin roast

One of the easiest, but most flavorful cooks to date. When I started this cook, I had no idea how good it would turn out. Used a simple binder of franks hot sauce and a light sprinkling of Killer hogs TX brisket rub. 

While the grill was coming up to temp, 220, I wash and pat dry the pork loin with a paper towel. Using a sharp knife, score the fat cap evenly as possible, to a depth of 1/8 to 1/4 inch. Put a liberal coat of binder, coating both sides and all edges. Sprinkle the seasoning, as evenly as possible, coating all sides and edges. 

Once the smoker hits 220, on the grates, fat cap up. At 1 hr, I misted with a mixture of Apple cider vinegar and water. Rotate 180. Hour two, repeat the process. 

For this cook, I did use an IT probe. 

Hour 3, it was time to pull, with the IT hitting 145. 

Allow the roast to rest. I couldn't wait and started slicing at 30 minutes. 

All I can say is, damn this is good. 

half rack babybacks

This took several tries to get it right. I'm not a huge rib fan, my wife won't touch them. Every once in a while, I get that craving for pork, but what normally happens is I give most of it away or end up throwing it out. That gets expensive when figuring the price of meat, equipment and supplies to make it, seasonings, BBQ sauce, etc...

So, I had to come up with a plan, to make a smaller amount, but still have the flavor and texture I wanted. Babybacks, being my favorite, tend to cook quicker. If your not careful, you either end up with a mushy pulled pork, or they dry out and are closer to jerky. 

Running a pitboss 850 pro, I set the temp to 230, and allowed the smoker to preheat. 

To prepare the rack, I removed the membrane, used a hot sauce binder to coat, and then applied a light coat of SPG seasoning. Hot sauce has become my go to binder with ribs. The cooked down sauce, combined with SPG, is complimented when a sweet BBQ sauce is added. For this cook, I used honey BBQ sauce. 

Once smoker is at temp, the half rack goes on, meat side up. I allowed the half rack to smoke for 90 minutes at 230. I did not check my IT at the 90 minute mark. May do that next time. 

At the 90 minute mark, I pulled the half rack  and wrapped in 2 layers of foil. I added 3 small pats of butter to each side. Wrap tightly, in a position that when it goes back on the smoker, the meat side will be down and none of your juices will drain out. 

As stated, back on the smoker, meat side down. No changes in temp, we are still running 230. 

I allow the ribs to cook in the foil for 1 hour, 60 minutes.

At the 1 hour mark, I temped the ribs at an IT of 203. 

I again pulled the ribs, cut the foil, flipped the mini rack over, and applied a light coating of honey BBQ sauce. 

Ribs went back on the smoker, at 230, for an additional 30 minutes. 

I allowed the ribs to rest for approximately 10 minutes. Bones had just a little tug, but pulled away clean. 

It then took me about 10 minutes to eat the entire half rack. Yup, made a pig of myself. Hope you enjoy.