Easy Steps to Grilling Pork Loin
Grilling pork loin is a great way to enjoy all of the flavors that pork loin has to offer. Grilling is also a fun way of cooking, especially if it’s done outside on a nice summer day. There are good ways and bad ways of grilling, however, and it’s important not to let the pork loin dry out. If you’re looking for some easy tips to grilling pork loin, then continue reading…
1. Using a lean cut of pork loin, take the shiny membrane off and soak the loin in brine for around 10 hours. To make the brine, you can add 3 tablespoons of salt to about a quart of water. Soaking the loin in the brine will help it keep its moisture when you grill it later on.
Tip: soaking it for 10 hours is the minimal amount of time that is suggest, but soaking it for 24 hours might garner the best results.
2. Once you have removed it from the brine, rinse the loin off with cold water. Pat the meat dry and then place it, uncovered, in the refrigerator overnight.
3. The next day, make a rub for the meal. You can do this a variety of ways. A rub can simply consist of olive oil, garlic, and pepper if you don’t feel like getting too creative. As an alternative, you can also make a rub that is just ground black pepper and olive oil, too. Many people use a variety of other herbs so it’s really up to your taste and preference. This will be rubbed onto the meat so that a crust is able to form over the surface of it.
4. If you are using a charcoal grill then make sure that you have two layers of charcoal that are really hot and that the inset is nice and clean. Avoid using aerosol-based oil sprays because they can hurt your grill, and are dangerous to boot. Put it on the highest setting if it’s a gas grill.
5. 30 minutes before you’re ready to grill it, remove the pork loin from the refrigerator and oil all the sides of your loin. Let it set out on your kitchen cabinet to adjust to room temperature before you place it on the grill.
6. To get grill marks on your loin, you can sear it on all sides.
7. To get an even grill, ensure that each side of it gets the same amount of time on the grill. A good rule of thumb is to leave it on the grill for 4-5 minutes per side. Remember that when you take the meat off the grill, it will continue to keep cooking for a couple of minutes.
8. After you remove the loin, set it on a platter and wrap the platter in aluminum foil. Wait for about 5 minutes while the juices continue to settle in and cook and then remove the foil. It’s now ready to eat!
When you are grilling pork loin, of course you don’t have to let it soak in brine. However, pork loins have a bad habit of drying out, no matter how you cook them. By soaking the loin in the brine first, however, the juices are able to stay in the meat more effectively. It will also help trap in the natural flavor of the meat. As an alternative to the salt and water, many people also choose to use other ingredients, such as brown sugar, in order to offset the briny taste that can sometimes accompany the meat if it isn’t rinsed off properly.