Smoked pork loin cold cuts

[Major Nikon]

Cold cuts at the deli counter will often set you back around $6-8 per pound, but you can make your own a lot better for a lot less. I can often find whole pork loin for $2 per pound or less on sale and that's when I buy.

Brine the pork loin in a 7% salt solution for 4 hours. To make the brine, take 125g (1/2 cup) of boiling water and mix with 18 grams of salt(~ 1 Tbs) until the salt is dissolved, then add 125g of ice or until the volume is 1 cup. Put the pork loin and the brine solution in a 1 gal ziplock and seal making sure to remove as much of the air as you can get out of the bag. Store in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

Drain, dry, and coat the pork loin with prepared mustard (Dijon preferred), and apply a rub to all sides. You can use a commercial rub or make your own.

I do this in my electric smoker, but all you really need is a simple Weber kettle or most any other type of grill. Just pile up a good amount of lump charcoal (the real stuff, not the briquettes), on one side of the grill and allow it to burn down to coals. You want a slow smoldering fire and the vents adjusted to produce somewhere in the neighborhood of 225F on the opposite side of the grill from the charcoal. You can do this by closing the bottom vent to 1/4 or perhaps a bit less and opening up the top vent enough to maintain the desired temperature. Put about 3-4 chunks of hickory on the fire (available at most hardware or BBQ stores).

Smoke for 2 hours on the indirect heat side of the grill. At this point you can take the pork loin off the grill. Check the internal temperature, and if it's not at least 145F, roast in a 350F oven until that temperature is achieved.

After a 20 minute rest you can slice the loin into chops and serve immediately, but I've found this is better chilled in the refrigerator overnight and then sliced as thin as you can get it for cold cuts.

[Liberal Jesus Freak]

1. Thanks for this.

I'll share this with my husband whose mistress is his Weber Have you tried this method with turkey breast? I just spent a good bit on cold cuts today so making them from scratch is intriguing.

[Major Nikon]

3. I used to do a bit of smoking on a Weber, but I don't remember ever doing turkey

It should work the same provided you brine or salt the turkey beforehand to keep it moist because like pork loin there isn't enough internal fat to self baste the meat. So you also have to be careful about not overcooking the meat or it will dry out. Generally you don't need to smoke more than about 2 hours and you can finish in the oven if it needs more cooking time.

When in doubt use a meat thermometer and consult the FDA guidlines.

[pscot]

2. We just did this with pork shoulder

Very tasty.