Bourbon Apple Brined Smoked Pork Loin

Step 1

In a large bowl, combine the kosher salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, cinnamon sticks and bay leaf. Pour the boiling water over the spices and stir until sugar and salt are dissolved. Stir in the apple cider, bourbon and orange peel.

Step 2

Cool the brine to room temperature before adding it to the pork roast.

Step 3

Trim fat from the pork loin if there's a lot on the fat cap, leaving about 1/4". Transfer the pork loin to a large (1 gallon sized) plastic zip top bag. Pour the brine over the pork roast. Squeeze out as much excess air as possible and seal the bag. Put the bag of pork and brine back into the bowl you mixed the brine in and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.

Step 4

Set up your grill for indirect cooking, so that the meat will cook residually by sitting opposite the heat source, not directly over it.

Step 5

Set up your grill for indirect heat. If using a gas grill that means one side of the grill is lit and the other is not. The pork will go on the side that is not lit, while the wood chips or chunks are placed directly over the heating elements to smoke. If you're using wood chips, soak them for about an hour in water before adding them to the smoking pouches. If you have a smoker basket, add the wood chips to the basket. If you don't have a smoker basket, make one by placing the soaked wood chips in the center of a piece of tin foil. Seal the chips into a pouch and poke the outside of the pouch all over with a knife to create slits that the smoke can escape from.

Step 6

Heat the grill to about 350° - 375° and place the wood pouch or whole wood chunks over the heating element. Note: if the wood chunks start to burn, move them a little further from the flame and douse any flare ups with the water bottle. The idea is to get a steady smoke going. We had a few flameups early on using apple wood chunks and had to maneuver them around before we found the right spot where it would smoke and not burn.White smoke means it's infusing the pork with flavor. Black smoke means fire/burning.

Step 7

Pat the pork loin dry with paper towels and place it on the grill opposite the side that's lit so it doesn't get any direct flame. Smoke the meat with the lid on until the internal temperature reads about 140°. The safe internal temp is 145° for pork, but it will continue to cook after you remove it from the grill. It should take anywhere from 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours.Use an instant read thermometer to check for doneness.

Step 8

Start the charcoal using a chimney starter. Add loosely balled newspaper to the bottom of the starter and pour the charcoal into the top. Place the starter on the bottom grates of the grill and light the newspaper. Let the embers burn and simmer until they are ashy and glowing. Pour half of the charcoal onto one side of the grill and the other half opposite, so that there are embers on either side, but an open space in the center of the grill. Lay a piece of foil or a foil baking tray in between the embers to catch any juices. (Note: you won't want to use the juices on the meat, it will be too smoky.

Step 9

When the heat is steady between 350° and 400° add the wood. If using soaked wood chips, sprinkle half of the the wood directly onto the embers. If using wood chunks, place 1-2 chunks on or very close to the embers. Note: this is the method we used and the wood caught fire a number of times, but we sprayed the wood with water and it did start to smoke.When it starts to smoke, place the upper grate onto the grill. Pat the pork dry with paper towels and position the roast in the center of the grill between the two piles of embers, over the foil.Smoke the pork at 350° to 375° for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a meat thermometer reaches about 140°.

Step 10

When the pork roast has reached 140°, transfer it to a cutting board and tent it for 10-15 minutes to let the juices redistribute before carving.

Step 11

Slice the roast into 1/4" to 1/3" slices.