Pork Loin on the WSM

[Brian Thomas]

A little background info..

I bought my first WSM (18.5 model) on Labor Day Weekend and spent the next month or so doing the following mods:

1) Installed wheels on the legs (had to put extra washers on two of them since the holes were not centered right) worked out fine though.

2) Installed 1/8" X 1/2 wide peel and stick gasket material between the lid the middle section. The seal between the middle and bottom section was tight enough so I didn't bother with installing gasket material there.

3) Installed a 3/8" grommet adjacent to one of the top bolts to allow placement of both probes on my maverick et732.

I've done 3 cooks on this since then. Baby back ribs, boneless chicken breasts and the latest, a boneless pork loin. The first two turned out pretty good. The pork loin turned out great!

I've done a lot of pork loins on the kettle and one problem I've had with them was that part of it would always come out undercooked even though the portion where the probe was inserted would register at 142 or higher.

Wasn't a problem on the WSM! I smoked it to an internal temp of about 128F then put it on the performer to sear it. Since the temp in the WSM was down to about 222, by the time I finished searing it, I just slid it over to the other side of the performer and let it cook indirect at 330F or so until the IT was 144F. Came out perfect!

Looking forward to doing more cooks on the WSM!

 

[Bob Bass]

Congratulations, Brian, on what sounds like a great cook !!!
--- Aren't WSMs the Bees Knees ? ---
Wishing you many more enjoyable BBQ cooks !

 

[RParker]

On things that require little cooking time like a pork loin. I will often cook on the top grate and not put in the water pan at all. (when it is in, it is foiled)

This direct heat will brown/sear much better but it is far enough from the coal that it will not over due it. A hotter cook wouldn't hurt a pork loin either.

 

[Brian Thomas]

They are indeed! Forgot to mention that I also did a pork butt in the WSM a couple weeks ago and it turned out great. The odd thing was that it stalled at a lower temp than I'm normally accustomed to. It stalled at 154 & for me at least, they usually stall @ 160-170. Anyway since the grate temp dropped down to 225 during the stall, I turned to my secret weapon for finishing off pork butts. I foiled it like usual then put it in the Genesis to finish cooking. Set front burner to med and waited till the grate temp hit 260'ish, then put the butt in and stuck the probe in and cooked it till the IT was 198. Perfection!