What to do with a whole pork loin?

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xsists

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Nov 24, 2009
83
10
Waukesha, WI
I went to a meat raffle today and was buying tickets for everything.  Ended up with the haul pictured below.

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A whole bone-in pork loin, 5lbs of shrimp and a couple of fillet mignons.

Now the problem is, I have no idea what to do with the loin.  How should I break it down and what should I do with it (obviously smoke it, but what are you guys doing with these)?
 
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Pops will be here soon to talk the specifics.

Until then I'll make stuff up!

Cut it into pork chops.  Or debone and end up with baby back ribs and a boneless loin.  That would leave you with canadian bacon material.

Nothing wrong with any of those options.  I can't wait to hear what others may do.

good luck
 
For Thanksgiving, I coated the loin in mustard and then rubbed it in Adobo (without pepper) and a nice coating of brown sugar.  I smoked it with hickory and cherry to about 155.  It was delicious.

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Use it or lose it.

If you are ready to cure things, meaning you have some cure & have been researching curing, you could cure it & make Canadian Bacon.

If you aren't ready for that yet, I would recommend freezing it until you are ready, or do what AK1 & Eman said. Those Double Cut Loin Chops sound great!

Bear
 
i thinl the best thing to do with that loin is to pack it in some dry ice and ship it down here to me!!!
 
Usually when I get those I usually cut them into three sections, then vacuum seal two of them. The other I marinade in Mojo Crillio or some Teriyaki sauce then smoke to 145 to 150 tops. Wrap in foil to rest 30 to 45 minutes, cut and serve. 
Just don't over do them.
 
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Now I buy them every now and then and we love them. I would recommand that you maybe cut it in half and try smoking maybe 4-6 chop size and smoke the whole thing then you can enjoy it that night and then slice the rest into chops and freeze them for later. I would also have to recommand that you get a steamer pot set-up and use that to re-heat your meat. To us it brings out the smokey flavor and doesn't let the dry out as it heats up either. So enjoy the meat and don't forget the Q-view.
 
depends what you want out of it; how many people do you normally feed, do you like chops or roasts, do you want to cure some CB (Canadian Bacon), do you like country style ribs, and so on.  Give me an idea of what you like and I can tell you what to do with it.
 
I wouldn't mind having some loin roasts (some for smoking whole some for CB) and if I could get some ribs out of it that would be great!  Any links showing how to break it down?  I tossed it in the freezer right now but the place I won it from told me I could take it back to the butcher and have them do whatever I want with it but I would rather just do it myself.
 
I wouldn't mind having some loin roasts (some for smoking whole some for CB) and if I could get some ribs out of it that would be great!  Any links showing how to break it down?  I tossed it in the freezer right now but the place I won it from told me I could take it back to the butcher and have them do whatever I want with it but I would rather just do it myself.
Xsists,

Since it is frozen, you don't have to hurry. You have time to decide what you want to do. I will show you how to do the cured & smoked Pork Loins (My way), in case you'd like to try that:

When you cure & smoke a boneless Pork Loin like you won, you end up with some very tasty meat. It depends on how thick you cut the finished product as to what I would call it.

If you cut some up in slices (fresh out of the smoker) like you do a smoked Ham, I call that Loin Ham.

If you cut it in 1/8" slices, freeze it in packs, and then get a pack out at a time for warming up with breakfast, we call that Canadian Bacon.

If you slice it anywhere from 1/2" up, freeze it, and then thaw a pack out at a time to warm up for Supper, I call that "Boneless Smoked Pork Chops" (My favorite).

I wrote two step-by-step instructions with Qview that does exactly those things. One of them is with a Loin just like you got there, and the other is with two of them.

One of them I ended up slicing into mostly boneless smoked pork chops, and a little bit of CB (I already had a lot of CB frozen).

That one is down below in my signature---Just click on "Boneless Smoked Pork Chops/Canadian Bacon".

The other one I just did on Thanksgiving, and I sliced some Smoked Loin Ham for Dinner, and a bunch of nice thick Boneless Smoked Pork Chops (I still have a lot of CB in my freezer). Here is that Thanksgiving link:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/fo...loin-ham-smoked-pork-chops-and-canadian-bacon

Follow either step-by-step you want, and you can change things if you want, but if you Dry Cure with Tender Quick like I did, don't change anything there. The amount of TQ per pound of meat must stay exactly the way I did it.

Also I take it to 160˚ in the smoker. That way I know it is actually safe to eat it cold, so I don't have to do any more than warm it a bit for those meals, or eat it cold for a snack.

If you take it out of the smoker much lower than that, you will have to always cook it before you eat it, and I find that to dry it up a bit.

Bear
 
Let's see-bone in pork loin: remove the loin end and use for loin end roast. Remove the rib bones and use for baby back ribs. Cut remaining loin in half and use one for Canadian Bacon and cut the other half into 2 inch chops and cut a pocket into them and stuff with cornbread and apple stuffing or fillett it out and do my sausage stuffed smoked pork loin or smoke it whole and add my Mahogany Glaze to it.
 
OK, All this pork loin talk made me hungry . Went an got a bonless loin out the freezer and cut some2.5 inch chops . Butterflied the chops and pan fried them till good and browned . Made a stuffing out of ,Sweet onions, fresh diced shitake mushrooms and pecans sauteed  in butter and mixed w/ some spiced up ourzo. Topped w/ a can of cream of celery soup some panko crubs and a little parm. baked at 350 for 30min.

 YUMMMMMMM!
 
Any tips for cutting the back spinal bones off of the rib sections?  Whenever I look it up online, they always are showing a butcher using a band saw.  Any other way?

I think I've decided to take out the loin meat and keep the ribs for baby backs.  With the boneless loins I will do some chops, some CB and a roast.
 
Man-oh-Man... pork loin to me is like boneless skinless chicken breasts: what CAN'T you do with it? I have used sliced and pounded pork loin as substitutes for BSCB many times.

I'd butterfly it out as long and thin as I could, layer it with some prosciutto, razor thin lemon slices and parmesan, re-roll it, tie it and roast it. (Something I saw in this month's Bon Appetit magazine, page 139)

You know, now that I am thinking about it... I did a pork roast at home a few months back, took a bunch of pictures to make a how-to post, and then never did. ::wanders off to look for those pictures:: "What did I do with that file...."
 
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