Pork Loin Brine Issues


 
T

Tim M

New member
I am planning to smoke a 4lb boneless pork loin this weekend. I was going to brine it using the recipe in the link below. However, the loin is a standard supermarket cut that has been injected with 'solution'. Will this cause problems since the loin is already sort of brined? Should I compensate with less salt in the brine?

I have never brined meats that were injected with solution and could use some advice.

http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blpork19.htm
 
You bet. It will taste like a big chunk of ham. I'd skip the brine and smoke it "as is." If it isn't to your liking, find an unenhanced pork loin and then brine it yourself. I have found that the enhanced loins aren't nearly as good.
 
It could easily end up too salty if you brine an already enhanced loin. You may have better luck just applying a rub that contains little or no salt.

I would also recommend high heat. I usually smoke roast them on the kettle at about 350 degrees.
 
sorry to hear that you've got yourself an injected loin... I did one of those a few months ago at a friend's behest (he bought, I cooked) and it was so darn mushy. They loved it. I thought it was gross, texture wise.

Like the others suggested, I'd probably do without the brine. If you wanted to test it's saltiness, I guess you could cut off a 1/4 slice of one end, cook it up and taste it to see how salty it already is.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tim M:
I am planning to smoke a 4lb boneless pork loin this weekend. I was going to brine it using the recipe in the link below. However, the loin is a standard supermarket cut that has been injected with 'solution'. Will this cause problems since the loin is already sort of brined? Should I compensate with less salt in the brine?

I have never brined meats that were injected with solution and could use some advice.

http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blpork19.htm </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

You don't want to brine it if it's already been injected.
 
I ended up using the orange marinade in the pork loin recipe on this site. I also ran late getting home so, to save time, I put it on the Genesis at 275 deg. instead of the WSM. It definately wasn't salty, but the marinade isn't really a brine. I thought is came out so-so, but the wife and kids gobbled it up.
 
Just an FYI in the Denver area of Colorado most chicken, whole chicken that is, is pre-brined and doesn't taste as good as its unbrinded counterpart.
 
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