Grilled Pork Loin

One of our favorite things to grill is pork loin. It takes a little bit of time to prepare, but it's worth it in the end.


We start off by trimming the silver skin off the pork loin and then rubbing with a dry rub the night before.


Here's what you'll need for the rub:

• 8 Tbsp light brown sugar, tightly packed
• 3 Tbsp kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp onion powder

Mix all that together in a bowl and then rub on the outside of the pork loin. This rub also works great on baby back ribs.

Wrap the loin in foil, place on a cookie sheet, and sit in the fridge over night. 

We cooked this on charcoal with applewood chips. Soak your wood chips in a bucket of water for at least an hour.

We pull the pork loin out of the fridge about the same time we start the charcoal to bring it up to room temperature before placing it on the grill. 

Create an indirect heating zone on your grill by placing the coals toward the outside of the grill and leaving a channel in the center. Place a handful or so of wood chips onto the coals - be sure the chips are not soaking wet. We place a drip tray in the center to attempt to keep our grill clean.  Note: If you don't want a lot of smoke, place a few hot coals in the drip trays and put your wood chips in the drip trays.


With about 5 minutes left, we brushed on some of our homemade barbecue sauce and put on direct heat to create a nice glaze over the loin. The sugars in the sauce will carmelize a bit - the result is magical.


On our grill, it took about 40 minutes to come up to temp. The internal temperature of your pork should be at least 145 degrees. We took ours off at 150 degrees and it was still juicy and tender.


Let the meat rest for at least 5 minutes before cutting it!!!

Now, but on the bias, plate and enjoy!

Homemade Barbecue Sauce

We are busy cooking away this weekend, so look forward to lots of posts coming up. The grilled pork loin we're making has a lot of description, so we decided to do a separate blog for just the BBQ Sauce.


We started with another recipe, but put our own twist on it.


Here's what you'll need:
1 cup ketchup
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup and 2 Tbsp light brown sugar
1/2 cup and 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
2 tsp mesquite flavored liquid smoke (or your favorite flavor)
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp celery seed
1/8 tsp cinnamon (ground)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 shot bourbon (Zack's bourbon of choice is Buffalo Trace)

Combine all of the ingredients in a cold, large sauce pan. Place on medium heat and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth.


Reduce heat to low and let simmer for about a half an hour.


Remove from heat and let it cool. 


Enjoy!