Smoked Pork Loin Recipe
Most every part of a pig is delicious, given you add some heat, seasoning, and smoke—and a pork loin is no exception. This is not a fancy recipe, but if you follow these steps, I think you will find the results astounding.
You will need a barbecue smoker of some sort. If you’re using a small smoker, you can cut the loin in half and cook the pieces side by side to make it fit on the grate. I am using my Meadow Creek SQ36 Smoker, which was long enough to hold a loin and a ham on one grate.
Our local Piggly Wiggly had their pork loin on sale for $1.79/pound. Normal price is $2.99, so I just had to pick one up. 😉
Sometimes I pre-season my meat the night before to let the rub marinate with the meat, but this time I skipped that. I bought it fresh (not frozen) and refrigerated it until I was ready to cook it. Then I just unwrapped, rinsed, and seasoned it with Butt Rub.
I fired my Meadow Creek SQ36 Smoker with about 6-8 pounds of charcoal and a few chunks of apple wood. The meat went on the smoker at 11:45 am. I added apple wood two more times, at 1:00 and 1:45. Both times the temp had dropped out of control because I was too distracted to tend the fire like I should have. To my shame, the smoker also charged for the sky a time or two because of my carelessness.
By 2:35 the loin was sitting around 145 degrees and ready to pull off. A few minutes before this, I glazed it with a homemade barbecue sauce (Jeff Phillip’s recipe). Earlier, I had slathered the whole thing with sauce and was going to let it glaze for a bit, but it was too early in the game, so the sauce turned a strange color and some of it cooked off. I simply rubbed some of it off and put more on. Then I wrapped the loin in foil and put it in my empty ice chest.
Of course, before that, I had to sample it and make sure it was fit to eat! Turns out it was unlawfully fantastic and got some good reviews. We took it up to my Dad’s house and had sandwiches for supper with some friends. It’s very rewarding to feed friends and family (or customers) and know they thoroughly enjoyed it.
Piggly Wiggly had pork loin on sale for $1.79/pound again last week, so I got another one for Christmas. I’m looking forward to a repeat of smoked ham, loin, and maybe even turkey.
Now it’s your turn. Try it and then come back here to share your story.
Have fun,
Lavern
February 24th, 2013 at 5:22 am
Lavern:
During the Christmas Holiday Season many of the grocery stores including Costco’s meat dept. carry pork loin rib roasts with the bone in. Much better results over the boneless loin. Give it a try.
February 27th, 2013 at 8:11 am
Alex, thanks for the tip. That sounds great.
December 30th, 2013 at 11:32 pm
Thank you for the advice. I don’t know what Butt Rub is so I’ll probably use the pork rub my wife buys before I smoke it. I will get some BBQ sauce based on your advice for the end of the process. I suspect my process will be longer because I only have a Cabella’s electric smoker. I’ve smoked a lot of kielbasa(Easter) and salmon in it but I haven’t smoke any large meat pieces since I had a Brinkman Charcoal smoker. Thanks for your help.
April 15th, 2014 at 1:03 pm
I’m planning to try your method/recipe since we have the pork loin and the apple wood chunks. BUT, for some reason, you neglected to mention what temperature you were trying to keep the smoker. You mentioned that, at times, the temp dropped too far, and at other times it went too high.
Tell me, please, what temp I should try to keep the smoker when I have the meat in and the door closed (I have a Char-Broil Offset Smoker 430).
Ken
April 15th, 2014 at 1:20 pm
Ken, for cooking low and slow 225-250 F is a good target temperature.
July 15th, 2014 at 7:50 pm
I just smoked 15 loins for a Jackson, Rhythm of the River fest. I have the SQ36 smoker and I received high compliments all wknd. The surprising part was I didn’t even go thru a whole bag of lump charcoal. I temped them to 140-145 and then wrapped in foil and put in the cooler. They were so moist. I used your brisket rub and had sauce on the side if anyone wanted. Can hardly wait for next big crowd. Controlling the temp is so easy on this smoker, what a great product!
September 1st, 2014 at 5:13 am
I’ve been trying to find a straightforward recipie.
Thank you for sharing this one. I have a bullet
Type brinkman. My roast is 6lbs. It should fit
Fine. I will give you results later.
September 1st, 2014 at 8:29 am
Yes, please share. 🙂
September 1st, 2014 at 7:17 pm
@Lavern, OMG . The meat was so soft and tender. What a treat. I made a fresh cucumber and tomato salad from my garden and local corn to go with it. Thanks again for the help. 🙂
June 20th, 2015 at 7:56 am
Thanks so much for the pork loin recipe. I normally only smoke Boston butts for my family. But my mother in law purchase a pork loin for me to smoke for our church. It Father’s Day and we at cooking BBQ for all the dads at the church. I didn’t know what I was going to do until I found your recipe. Thanks.
September 29th, 2015 at 2:24 pm
Love those week end Piggly Wiggly sales !!
December 15th, 2015 at 4:37 pm
Recently smoked two pork loins and 2 racks of baby back ribs over cherry wood.
225f for about 3 hours on the loins and 5 hours on the bbr. Rave reviews!!!( and no leftovers)
July 26th, 2019 at 11:57 am
What’s with the “wrapped it in foil and put it in my empty ice chest”? Why and what does this do? I almost always remove my meat, wrap it in foil, and let it rest, but what’s the deal with the ice chest comment? Thanks!
July 30th, 2019 at 5:59 pm
I use a empty ice chest as a warming box for holding meat. Sometimes I fill some of the void in the chest with a bath towel to help hold the heat in the pan. This is an important trick for keeping meat hot that finishes before it’s time to serve it. It will stay hot in a chest for several hours at least.
September 10th, 2020 at 11:30 am
I brined a pork loin then butterflied it then added my homemade rub with some whiskey then tied it back up with string and some bacon on the outside of it. More rub on the outside of it then smoked it. Made up a basting sauce for the last hour or so. Turned out fantastic.