I was asked today by a friend of mine if it would be possible to smoke pork loin for a fund raiser. His thought was to do 25 pounds and that should be enough to feed 150 people. Not sure if I want to try it with my 4 rack original Bradley. Thought I might pick some of the experts brains for some advice. A) Is it possible? B) Is that enough pork loin to feed that many? C)How long might that take to smoke about four hours and finish in the oven. Any thoughts or help would be very much appreciated. I think it is too much but my wife is trying to get me to commit. Thanks much in advance for any advice. Have a great day!!!
Not even close to enough. If you're talking about boneless pork loin (sliced), 25 pounds gives you (after about 15% cooking loss) less than 2 ounces per serving. Not even the tea and watercress crowd will stand for that.
I'd probably do pulled pork if it works for the fundraiser folks. Aside from slapping a spiral ham on the table, it's far and away the easiest way to feed the masses. If you want 4 ounces per person (the minimum, as far as I'm concerned, unless you expect each person to take only a small taster as part of a much larger spread), you'll need about 38 pounds of cooked meat for 150 people. If you're doing pulled pork (butt/shoulder), you can figure about a 45% cooking loss so you'd want to start with 58-60 pounds. You can do that comfortably in two loads in your OBS. I'd do it ahead and freeze till game day (then reheat in crockpot, chafing dish, or whatever). I'm guessing you'd need 4 hours of smoke and about another 8-10 hours (or more) per load at 225oF to get to the internal temperature you want for pulling (200oF). Keep an eye on the thermometer - there are too many variables to give you a more accurate estimate.
Yes it is possible. I have smoked a pork loin and made pulled pork out of it for my brother. I complained the whole time that it was too good of a piece of meat to be shredding. I would say go for it and commit to smoking the meat but use pork shoulder /Boston Butt. Ka Honu beat me to it.
Sorry, simple math would have helped. That number was given to me by someone else. I like the idea of pulled pork but they want something a bit more "fancy". Could it be done with sliced Pork Loin? Thanks for the help.
A "bit more fancy?" Time to break out the aforementioned watercress sandwiches and find some new friends.
I don't cook pork loins very often so I'll defer that answer to my more knowledgeable brethren (and sistren). Good luck.
Quote from: breches on February 18, 2011, 03:18:25 PM
Sorry, simple math would have helped. That number was given to me by someone else. I like the idea of pulled pork but they want something a bit more "fancy". Could it be done with sliced Pork Loin? Thanks for the help.
OK so we are cooking for the High Brow people. Since shoving Ka Honu's Watercress Sandwiches where the sun don't shine isn't an option on these folks. Yes you can smoke a pork loin and slice it. I would season then drape each loin with bacon and apply smoke for 2 hours with a temp of 225º and continue until you get to an IT of 147º. With a foil pan under to catch the drippings. Wrap the lions in foil and allow to cool. Once cooled run the loins through a slicer and make 1/8 - 1/4 inch slices and layer in the bottom of a 20 qt electric roaster. take the juices from the foil pan and from in the foil wrap mix together in a sauce pan with a little white wine and some added seasonings heat and pour over the slices. Then when you get to the fundraiser you warm the pork to 152º and serve on a bun with a dash of bbq sauce or if you really want to have fun use the bacon jam.
Chris,
Hate to disagree with you but I'm going with the Old Sea Turtle on this. 25 pounds gross raw weight isn't going to feed 150 people in my opinion.
Breches, it is more than possible to do 25 pounds of pork loins in your 4 rack. 4 hours of smoke might be a little much for me but if you like it go for it.
Ok, if I give this a shot how much gross weight of meat will I need and how long to take to the proper IT. I'm gonna give it a test run tomorrow will a couple small ones and see if I feel confident enough to pull this off. Heading to the store now to purchase my smoke vicitims for morning! Pretty nervous and really like the idea of pulled pork instead but Tenpoint has me contemplating. Thanks for all the help, you guys/girls are a great help!
Quote from: KyNola on February 18, 2011, 06:26:03 PM
Chris,
Hate to disagree with you but I'm going with the Old Sea Turtle on this. 25 pounds gross raw weight isn't going to feed 150 people in my opinion.
Breches, it is more than possible to do 25 pounds of pork loins in your 4 rack. 4 hours of smoke might be a little much for me but if you like it go for it.
Wasn't quoting how much to cook. I was just trying to help with the cooking and serving side of the equation. My brain isn't into figuring out how much each person is going to be served and doing all that math stuff today. I would probably hurt myself if I tried it today.
Sorry Chris. Misunderstood you.
Without a lot of extra equipment and about 4 days available to prep, I would honestly say "no" to that one.
Okay, let's sort this out.
If you're doing loin for slicing, you'll probably have about 15% shrinkage. I'm guessing you should do about 1/3 pound per person if that's the only meat on the menu. Less if there are other choices (chicken, etc.). Therefore, for 150 people, you need about 50 pounds of product which equates to about 58-59 pounds raw meat. Say 60 pounds and you should be good to go with (maybe) a bit of leftovers. If there are other meats on the menu, you can cut the pork weight accordingly.
Then cook it the way 10.5 said to and you'll be a hero.
Here is another thought. Pork loin does give you a lot of options. You can butterfly it and stuff with a variety of foods, and/or add a glaze. The problem with pork loin it has a tendency to really dry out when you reheat. So it is best to tightly seal in foil with a small amount of liquid and reheat it whole in a 350°F oven, then slice just before serving and top with a mild sauce that will compliment the loin.
If you have to reheat; which it sounds like you have to only take the pork loin to about 145°F. As for myself I would only take it to about 140°F if I have to reheat, but a lot of people do not like to see any pink in their pork.
Did a test run on a four pound tenderloin this weekend and it turned out fairly well. The number of people attending this event has dropped to 100 with 125 max. Was thinking probably 45 pounds of tenderloin wrapped with bacon, dry rubbed with dark brown sugar, paprika, chili powder, garlic and onion powder and some kosher salt. Three hours of smoke with either apple or a combination of apple and hickory, remove from the smoker and finish with the oven so I can get the second batch through the smoke. I want to do all this on Saturday. Event starts on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. Pop in the oven Sunday morning with some form of liquid, possibly apple juice, and when hot, remove, slice about an inch thick and send em to the table. Any ideas on how long or temp to heat on Sunday morning? Would also like someone to shoot holes in my plan or possible ideas please. Man I love this site and the knowledge and help. Thanks in advance and for the great ideas and help so far.
you should be good with 45 lb a raw meat and good luck with it, start the smoke / cook at least 24 hours a head of the event
A little clarification would be helpful. Are you preparing pork loins or tenderloins? Does the place have enough oven space to reheat all the meat at the same time?
I stand corrected. Had to go check what the women in charge purchased. The are in fact pork loins.
Since you are going to wrap them in bacon, I would continue to follow 10.5's recommendations.
Quote from: breches on February 21, 2011, 06:31:46 AM
Sunday morning with some form of liquid, possibly apple juice, and when hot, remove, slice about an inch thick and send em to the table. Any ideas on how long or temp to heat on Sunday morning? Would also like someone to shoot holes in my plan or possible ideas please. Man I love this site and the knowledge and help. Thanks in advance and for the great ideas and help so far.
Cease Fire there Buddy!! OK lets go over this to make sure I am getting this right. This is a fundraiser and there is ALL kinds of food being donated. If you go and flop a 1 inch thick pork chop on everyone's plate. They won't have room for any of the other goodies. To which most folks will just not eat as much of the meat. You will then be throwing money away. I would suggest AT THE MOST a 1/2 inch slice, although I would stay in the 1/4 inch range. By staying in the 1/4 inch range you do two things 1) serve more people 2) You don't run out of meat on plate 78 when there is 110 folks there. In this case you would be way further ahead having extra, that you can then go around and give seconds out. Maybe even get a pat on the back for a Job well done. (Which would be better than a knife in the back because Billy Bob didn't get any!!)
I'd vote no on the 1" slices.
For my money a pork loin is a perfect cut for newbies, but with the caveat that the newby must have a good thermometer and know how to use it. It is a cut of meat that will not take long to come to final temp. A newby does not have to worry and get anxious about "the stall". The size, uniform thickness, and the thickness of a pork loin allows for a relatively long smoke without overcooking or drying out – but you have to have and USE a good thermometer properly. The loin is pretty much uniform in thickness overall, so you don't have to worry about the thin end getting too done and the thick end not done enough. The desired final temperatures have already been discussed, and if you don't exceed those you should have a great smoky and moist final product.
If desired, drape sliced bacon over the pork loin. Since pork loin is so lean, the added fat from the bacon will supposedly help to keep the pork loin moist and flavorful. But although, I have been known to make weird things from bacon, I am not a fan of bacon on everything, so I don't drape my loins. Smoke it in a cabinet temperature of about 225 until the desired IT (145 to 150). Obligatory warning - this is not the USDA recommended temperature of 160 - but close as the temp will probably rise 5 degrees after taking out of the heat. The temperature must be taken from the center of the meat. The tip of your temperature probe should be located at the center. I use an instant read Thermopen. I eyeball the probe next to the meat and hold the probe with my finger at that point and then plunge the point up to my fingers. A pork loin could take as few as two hours to as much as 4 hours to cook. Be sure to monitor the temperature of the meat.
Even with smoking, pork loin because it is so lean, some people consider it a bland meat but loin does serve well as a blank canvas for all sorts of flavors. Marinating before smoking can add more flavor. A marinade of oil, cider vinegar and barbecue spices is typical, but you could also marinate in a variety of other marinades – both premade and homemade Many inject as it adds flavor inside as well as moisture inside.
Brining is another alternative, but, to me, changes the texture to be more ham-like. To brine a pork loin, mix one cup of salt with one gallon of water, one-half cup of maple syrup (or sweetener of your choice) and seasonings to taste. Stir to dissolve and submerge.. Refrigerate for 24 hours and up to 4 days. Rinse, pat dry and smoke as usual.
The 1" slices seem thick – I'd opt for ¼" to 3/8" slices. More options for the light eater. Two slices will likely get you 1/3# servings. KaHuna's 1/3 pound servings are pretty "normal" and a good average. But factor in whether you have a lot of big eaters (men and teenage boys) or not, and how much other food you have to serve. Allowing for 15% waste and 120 eaters – 53 pounds of raw loin seems right. Add more if you think many will want seconds and you allow it. An averge pork loin from Sams is about 8#. With 15% weight loss – you will get 20 servings from each loin. Assuming an 16" to 18" length, a 1/3# serving is about two slices of ¼ to 3/8 inch thickness.
I usually do Habanero's reheat plan (leave whole, reheat, then slice), but I like 10.5"s reheating plan also.
You did not mention a thermometer or temp in your test run. I can't stress enough how much a thermometer is important to a pork loin especially.
The picture in my signature shows 3 half loins finishing up for a small competition 2 years ago. Plan was to slice the center of each and pick the best to turn in. One was very dry, the other two pretty good. BUT, pork is not my thing apparently. They did not place - probably because they were slightly pink and the judges thought underdone. I grew up in beef country (central Texas) and pork was the "dirty" other meat - NOT the other white meat! ;D ;D ;D ;D I've seen the light now though!!!