Pork Loin
Apricot, Peach and Blackberry Stuffing
We had a birthday coming up and I was required to feed about
12 people. I decided on a large pork loin from Sam's as it was
fairly inexpensive ($15) and would cook in a timely manner (about
1 hour). My plan was to stuff it with various preserves and nuts
as I have had good response in the past with this method.
I cut the pork loin in thirds and then split the thirds
down the middle as shown.
I then spread the various preserves on the inside as shown
making a meat and jelly sandwich. Lay out your string first, set
your bacon on the string, place the meat on top of that, add your
preserves of choice (Brazos River Blackberry in picture), nuts
if you are using them (I did not use nuts with the blackberry
but I did use sliced almonds with the peach and apricot loin),
finish laying out your upper layers of bacon and tie the whole
thing together.
I prepared the egg for an indirect cook. One firebrick laying
on it's side on the bottom grill to hold the drip pan and two
bricks upright to hold the upper cooking grill. Of course a liberal
addition of oak chips added to the lump for that smoky ambiance
is a must.
As soon as the fire was going and smoking nicely I added the
three loins. I usually don't wait for the egg to reach target
temperature (350°) before adding the meat as I like maximum
smoke absorption. If you do not desire the smoke flavor bring
your meat to room temperature and let the egg get hot before adding
your meat as the meat soaks in that flavor in the beginning of
the cook and the smoke will start to dissipate as the temperature
climbs above about 300°. It was a tight fit getting all three
loins on my medium egg. Two would have been a better fit but time
was wasting and the guest were due to arrive soon so I had to
scrunch them on as best I could.
About 30 minutes into the cook I checked them. As you can
see the ends are a little burned due to the too close proximity
to the inside of the dome. I was also getting a false low reading
on my dome thermometer because I think the probe may have been
too close to the meat. I am using a Primo thermometer which has
a shorter probe than the BGE probe. If I had been using the Egg
probe it would have been sticking into the meat! I think I may
have been cooking more in the 400° range rather than the desired
350°. The bottom of one loin had some fairly blackened bacon
on it. I served it with the good side up and no one noticed the
minor defect.
I pulled when the NuTemp read about 145°. The finished
product was tad more done than my preference (I like a medium
rare) but the guests did not seem to mind. I do not have a sliced
picture as they descended onto the platter faster than I could
find my camera. All leftovers were quickly claimed by various
factions of the group. The blackberry seemed to be the favorite
stuffing. It gave the pork a sweet aftertaste and a pleasant purple
tint to the juice. I might try strawberry next.
A piece of cake and the evening was complete.
Lessons learned
Don't overfill the grill space (note to self: need
another Egg).
Watch where the temp probe is located.
