Pork Loin uneven ?

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tiki guy

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Jul 20, 2011
320
10
Largo Florida
 Smoked a 3 .5 Pork Loin today   ( after not Smoking for a while ) 
 

Set up smoker ( leveled )  Check & calibrated Mav. duel prob thermometer ( new battery's as well ) 
both probes AND the temp reading on my MES 30 all with in 3 degrees......

​OK after 2 hours 30 mins I got a reading of IT 145  moved the probe to double check ( both time they where in the thickest part of the loin )

Wrapped it 30 mins. in double foil and a towel ......... NOW here the part I don't get ......

The thick part was great juicy ( very very light pink color , wasn't worried about that )    THE   thinner ends and along the side ( it was tapered thick side thin side  ) was dark pink and bloody  !     

Wrapped it back up tight and put it in the over for a half hour at 350 and it came out 150 degrees  and even color  still juicy and tasted great !  

WE had new neighbors over which made it worse for me ..... they acted gratuitous and we all enjoyed it ....BUT    NEVER EVER saw that ...and after that I re checked the hey all checked with in a few degrees   

Why the heck would the thin ends and thin side be so PINK & BLOODY ?      usally the thin ends dry out first ? 

 
 
Don't make much sense, does it? I have MES 30 gen 2(Control panel top front) and the slanted drip tray causes the right side to be hotter than the left. But still, you'd think the thinner part would cook at least as fast as the thick. And 30 minutes should have been plenty of rest time. Don't know Bud, maybe someone smarter than me will come along with an answer. I'm really curious about this too. See you in November! David.
 
​ Yep David ...makes no sense !   But at least its tasty so ..yeah just another smokin story   
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​Looking forward to seeing  in Nov.      Last year was a HOOT for sure 
 
I'd wager that what you are referring to is a change in the musculature.   This picture kind of shows it (not the greatest, but best I could find).


Long version is that using beef terminology, an entire pork loin is made up of the ribeye, ny strip and sirloin.   You can buy these whole at Sams, Costco and probably some other places.   What you find in most grocery stores or butcher shops would actually be a 1/2 pork loin.   It could be the end that has the ribeye and some of the NY strip or it could be the other 1/2, which is the ny strip and the sirloin or even a center cut loin which would be part ribeye and part ny strip.

Even within a specific section of a loin, there will be some variation.   Here's a photo of a whole beef ribeye loin that was sliced into individual steaks. 


Each steak was numbered in the order that it was cut off the loin.   You can see a big difference between steaks #1 and #8.   The difference is even more pronounced between #1 and #16.   Again, this was just the ribeye loin. 

The anatomy of a pig is slightly different, but similar enough that this is a good representation.     If you were to take your next pork loin and slice it up in a similar fashion, you'd see a fair degree of variation across the loin similar to what you see here.

EDIT:    As with beef, the whole loin is primarily made up of the longissimus dorsi muscle (group).   The texture and tenderness of the longissimus changes as you traverse it's length.    This is why a NY Strip isn't quite as tender as a Ribeye, even though it's from the same muscle.   The reason for this change in texture and tenderness is the change in the amount of work the muscle does given it's position in the anatomy of an animal.  Basically, the NY strip is in the lower back right before the rear end while the ribeye sits higher up in the middle of the back. 
 
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 Well "Thank You "   Demosthenes9      that was extremely informative and you sir have a very good eye AND are knowledgeable in meats .

That explains it a bit and YES I bought a large loin at Sams club and cut it into thirds.  This forum always amazes me with the great information and members who really know their stuff  , I am always learning 
 
Yes, thank you for that lesson. Makes sense that different parts of the same muscle work differently and therefor are leaner or fattier. I buy pork loins at Sams and cut them up. I get a good roast off of each end and the middle I cut into 2 inch chops. Very informative, thank you, David.
 
Sometimes the stores here will cut the loin almost in half, but leave a hinge of meat, then fold it back on itself and wrap it as if it's a loin half as long and twice as thick.

Slicing them myself saves me at least $2/pound over buying the end roasts.

Sometimes they have the long scrappy ends, two or three pieces, wrapped in elastic netting, at a good price. Those are a quick and easy smoke/grill as separate pieces.
 
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