8 pound pork loin rib half and a kettle -- what should I do ?


 
John Bridgman

John Bridgman

TVWBB Super Fan
I learned an ugly lesson today -- that just before long weekends the butchers and supermarkets cut every large piece of meat into small pieces of meat so people can burn them on the grill. Not a shoulder to be had east of Toronto... and tomorrow a bunch of friends are coming over hoping for pulled pork.

I explained my situation to the butcher (need big hunk tasty pork) -- the closest he could come up with was a pork loin rib half, which of course I had never heard of. He actually brought out the whole loin, which was nearly three feet long and looked like something from a bad sci-fi movie, and asked how much I wanted. Said it should be tastier than sirloin but probably should not try to cook it as low and slow as a butt.

Spent a while googling and searching around here; looks like a nice cut of meat, but don't feel I have a good idea for preparation. Some people talk about brining it for a few days, but I think that's only if I want to cook it like a shoulder, is that about right ?

I'm kinda thinking about digging up a mojo recipe, marinating overnight and then 4-5 hours indirect at 325-350, does that sound about right ? I don't have sour orange or regular orange juice but I do have ruby red grapefruit juice and limes, will that be close enough ?

Thanks !!
 
I think you're on the right track with the higher temp approach. Just monitor your internal carefully. Perhaps you can glean some other ideas from here.
 
On the other questions: Brining is appropriate for loin, as is marinating. Most people don't brine butts for PP but some do, some inject.

Grapefruit and lime is fine for mojo. If you can add a touch of orange--even just a squeeze--so much the better but don't worry about it. I make straight grapefruit or grapefruit-lime marinades (and salad dressings) quite often as I grow them--and one can only eat so many out-of-hand.

Cooking ~325 works well.
 
Thanks very much !

I ended up cutting the roast in half; both halves are now happily marinading in a mojo mix. Most of the mojo recipes included cilantro although I guess the authentic ones do not -- I ended up tossing in a bunch of cilantro because my friends like it. I know, sacrilege
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I mixed up the marinade just before Kevin's posts -- I'll pick up some OJ in the morning and try to make a batch following Kevin's recipe exactly and serve it with the meat.

Thanks again for all the great advice !
 
No, the authentic ones don't--but so what? (Cilantro is, however, often used as a sprinkling for serving or is served, minced, in little bowls on the side so... .)

Let us know how it goes and enjoy your cook.
 
OK, so it's gonna be a VWBB pig fest this afternoon. Pork is still happily marinating in the mojo, a batch of Roadside Chicken is marinating as backup, and Keri's Hog-Apple Baked Beans are ready for baking as either side dish or distraction, depending on how the pig & chicken work out.

Thanks again for all the help & good advice. I have to admit to being a bit worried last night when I arrived home with 9 pounds of unidentified pig parts.
 
That went well. The last guest just waddled off home.

The first batch of mojo was a bit weak -- the recipe said three HEADs of garlic and I read three CLOVES of garlic. I only had one head of garlic left when I made the second batch for basting and table, but that was definitely an improvement. I didn't chop the onion fine enough -- the pieces were too visible and didn't pick up with a brush -- but it still tasted mighty nice.

The pork roasts took about 3-1/2 hours to get to 140 internal. Lid temp was averaging around 320F with one dip below 300 - seems like maybe lump is less tolerant of spaces between the coals so you need to refuel relatively sooner ?

We took them off the grill and wrapped them with foil while cooking the roadside chicken and (don't ask) building a picnic table. I think we left them too long and they kept cooking, not sure. Final result was very tasty -- I would say a bit overcooked, but less overcooked than normal so everyone thought it was great. Serving with extra mojo on the side helped to add even more taste.

I tried cutting the chicken up into 10 pieces "the French way" following the instructions in How to Grill, which IMO worked really well. All the chicken pieces looked pretty much the same and all were similarly meaty. Since the pieces were small we overcooked them (oops) but they were still tasty.

Keri's "hog-apple" bean recipe was a huge hit -- I had people coming around for a third helping of beans and taking a couple of big spoonfuls the third time. Never saw anything like that before.

Thanks all !!

P.S. I'm not totally clear on which half of the roast was which -- does a pork loin rib half have a blade and center section or is my pig anatomy messed up again ?
 
A pork loin 'rib half' would be the same thing as a pork loin 'blade half'. The terms are interchangeable. Usually loins are not cut into halves, however, but thirds. I don't know if you had a half or not--could be the meat dept.'s term; if one end was noticeably leaner and lighter in color you had a half, if not, a third. Usually a loin is cut into rib-end roast (aka blade roast), center roast (aka center-cut roast), and sirloin roast.

It sounds like your dinner went pretty well and you learned a few things cook-wise and taste-wise. Good show.


Kevin

p.s.-- I just re-read the OP. If your butcher brought out a whole loin and you told him you wanted half of it then, yes, you would have had a portion of the center with your rib end.
 
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