Crusted Pork Loin – A Very Merry Grilled Christmas!

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year…” From the lights and decorations, to Christmas movies and parties – Christmas is festive, heartening, emotive, and a time for feasting on great food! Along with roasting chestnuts over an open fire, let’s grill some amazing cuts of meat for friends and family to enjoy with A Very Merry Grilled Christmas, a series from Summerset. Next up is Crusted Pork Loin – grilled and smoked at low temperature that melts in your mouth with an insane crust full of flavor and texture.

This recipe calls for an 8-pound pork loin center rib frenched by your butcher, and brined overnight in a combination of apple juice, garlic, and salt to keep it from drying out during cooking. The loin is fully rubbed with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then the fatty side is covered with Dijon mustard. The crust is made by sautéing finely minced red and yellow bell peppers, onion, and garlic, and then adding thyme, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and olive oil. This will combine into a thick paste that is covered and pressed into the mustard-covered fat cap. With apple juice in a drip pan, the loin is roasted over indirect heat with the fatty side up allowing the fat to caramelize without burning, and the crust to char slowly. The apple juice in the drip pan will smoke the pork infusing it with sweetness, fragrance, and moisture. The finished pork loin is moist, crusted, and beautifully presented because of the frenched preparation. So enjoy the most wonderful time of the year with this recipe and others from Summerset, and have A Very Merry Grilled Christmas!

Servings: 8-10

Crusted Pork Loin Ingredients

Brine Ingredients

  • 8 pound pork loin center rib, frenched
  • 2 cups apple juice
  • ½ cup minced garlic
  • 3 tbsp kosher salt

Crust Ingredients

  • One onion
  • 1 small red bell pepper
  • 1 small yellow bell pepper
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp thyme
  • ½ cup Italian bread crumbs
  • ¼ cup Dijon mustard
  • salt and pepper

Crusted Pork Loin Directions

Brine Instructions

  1. Combine apple juice, garlic, salt and pork loin into a pan and cover, or place into a ziplock bag.
  2. Make sure the salt is fully dissolved before putting the loin in. Refrigerate at least four hours to overnight.

Prepare the Crust

  1. Place onion, bell peppers, and garlic into food processor and pulse until everything is very finely minced.
  2. Heat 3 tbsp of olive oil in a saute pan and cook vegetables until soft.
  3. Remove from heat and add thyme, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and more olive oil, if needed.
  4. The texture will be a very thick paste.
  5. Rub olive oil, salt and pepper over entire pork loin.
  6. Place fat side up and cover fat cap with Dijon mustard.
  7. Then press the vegetable mixture into the Dijon mustard.
  8. Set up grill for indirect grilling with a drip pan and pour about ½ cup apple juice into the pan.
  9. Target temp of the grill is 275-300.
  10. Place pork loin in the over the drip pan fat side up and grill until internal temperature reaches 140 degrees.
  11. Do not turn the meat over, cook fat side up the entire time.
  12. When it hits 140 degrees, pull the pork loin from the grill and let rest 10 minutes so the juices will settle down and redistribute throughout the meat.
  13. Slice between the bones and serve.

Taken from GrillinFools.com
https://grillinfools.com/blog/2011/10/11/crusted-smoked-pork-loin/

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