Smoked Pork Loin on a Weber Kettle {Time and Internal Temperature}
Smoking a pork loin on a Weber kettle is extremely easy. Loins are delicious when smoked and are usually quite inexpensive making this a great way to get the most bang for your barbecue buck!
Let me show you a simple way to make a delicious smoked pork loin on your charcoal kettle grill.
Trim and Season the Pork Loin
Getting the loin prepped for smoking isn’t hard. Here are the steps you need to follow.
Trim the Loin
A full pork loin can weigh around ten pounds and is very awkward to work with due to its length and weight. To help the meat fit on the kettle better you need to cut it into 4-5 pound portions
Loins often come with a fat cap on one side of the meat. Folks are split over whether you should take the fat cap off or not and I saw that it doesn’t really matter. If you do leave the fat cap on then it helps to score the fat so you can pack in more of the dry rub…it also just looks prettier!
Season the Loin
There are plenty of great commercial dry rubs for pork, If you can find the Bone Sucking Sauce dry rub then that will work great on this cut. If you need a recipe for a great pork rub then here is what I suggest making.
Dry Rub for Smoked Pork Loin
- 3 tbls smoked paprika
- 3 tbls brown sugar
- 3 tbls salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp granulated onion
- 1 tsp chili powder
Apply a thin coating of a binder such as olive oil, yellow mustard or mayonnaise to your pork loin to help the rub adhere.
Apply the rub to all sides of the loin and let the seasoned loin sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes so the rub can start to soak into the meat.
Note: We are going to cook the loin to an internal temperature of 145F. At 145F the meat will still be very juicy so no brining step is required.
Set Up Your Weber Kettle for Low Indirect Heat
Fill a charcoal basket with Kingsford briquettes and use a paraffin starter cube to light the charcoal in one corner. Set the bottom air vents to about 25% open. This setup is pictured below.
This arrangement will give you about two hours of smoke time at around 250F before the charcoal needs to be replenished.
Scatter about a cup of wood chips across the top of the charcoal bed or use two or three chunks of wood. I like using hickory or cherry when smoking pork.
Smoke the Loin to the Right Internal Temperature
Place the meat on the opposite side of the kettle from the charcoal.
Put the lid onto the kettle and make sure that the top vent is completely open and located over the meat.
After one hour open the lid and rotate the loin so that the section that was closest to the charcoal is now farther away.
Smoke the loin another hour or until the internal temperature reaches 145F as measured by a digital thermometer.
Remove the smoked loin from the kettle and let it rest for 15-30 minutes before thinly slicing.
Note: The cook times for the loin will not vary much based on weight. A three pound loin will take just about as long to smoke as a six pound loin as the factor that determines how long it takes the meat to reach 145F is thickness and not length.
Enjoy!
Smoked Pork Loin on a Weber Kettle
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp smoked paprika Dry Rub
- 3 tbsp turbinado sugar Dry Rub
- 3 tbsp kosher salt Dry Rub
- 1 tsp black pepper Dry Rub
- 1 tsp granulated onion Dry Rub
- 1 tsp chili powder Dry Rub
- 2 tbsp yellow mustard
- 1 pork loin 4-6 pounds
Instructions
- Combine all of the dry rub ingredients and mix well.
- Apply a thin coat of yellow mustard to the pork loin.
- Season the loin with the dry rub and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
- Set up your Weber kettle for low, indirect heat. (~250F)
- Smoke the loin for two hours, rotating after one hour, until an internal temperature of 145F is reached.
Notes
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