Advice on smoking a Crown Rib Pork Roast please

[Learman12]

Hey fellow smokers,

I am planning on smoking a Crown Rib Pork Roast for Christmas this year.  I have ordered an 8 lb roast (pretty much the smallest it can be and still be tied together) and pick it up on Christmas Eve from my butcher.

I have smoked many things in my smoker and all but one item came out wonderful.

This is a $50 piece of meat and I have a few ideas how to prepare it in the Bradley but I wanted to get some "professional advice" from people who have done it before.   ;D

Basically everything I have read says to bring the temp up to around 145 degs and to do this it should take somewhere around 6 hours.  I am thinking a little longer because I live in Ohio and its freaking cold outside and it IS in a smoker where I think some of the people are talking about smoking it on their "grills" which we all know is NOT REAL SMOKING!!!!!  ::)

Also I wanted to do the stuffing in it as well but understand it will have to be a somewhat seperate 2 stage process.

Soooo, my plan is, (assuming rubs and prep work are already complete):

- Smoke Roast at 225 for approx 4 hours in the Bradley using mostly Applewood with some pucks of Hickory mixed in.

- I am thinking about putting the roast in a pan and pouring a little bit of cheap red wine in it and also putting a garlic clove or 2 in pan as well.

- I figure after 4 hours or so, pull the Roast off the Bradley and then move to the oven set at 220, putting the (half oven baked already) stuffing in the center.

- Another few hours like this with a few pans of water in the bottom of the oven to keep the Roast moist and hopefully it will turn out good!??????

So, the questions here are:

#1 - Any recommendations on rubs to use?  I think it could and should stay pretty simple for this piece of meat.

#2 - Am I way off on the smoking time/total cook time?

#3 - Whats your thoughts putting the Roast in a pan while smoking?

#4 - Anybody ever finished one of these in the oven with stuffing in the middle?

#5 - Please provide any advice you may have that I have forgotten to ask about.

Thanks for all the info in advance.  I am sure it will come out great any way I do it.  The big thing that I am worried about is the timing.

Merry Christmas to all!

Kevin

[bluefrog]

I don't have any advice, but be sure to let us know what you end up doing and how it turns out.  I have been thinking of smoking a crown roast of pork and of lamb, but have not tried either yet.

Scott

[KevinG]

Sorry, I've never done one.

[ArnieM]

I've never done one either but I'll offer a couple of thoughts.

I've done 3.5 pound boneless pork loin roasts in the smoker.  They seemed to get up to temp pretty quickly.  Keep a close eye on your crown.

Four hours seems like a lot of smoke unless you left the hickory out.  Enen then, I'd probably go with three hours.

I've never done anything in a pan in the smoker so I can't help out there.  But if you do use a pan, why pair your cheap wine with an expensive roast?

Salt and pepper make a great rub.  I use ground sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  If you want a little garlic flavor, add a little granulated garlic to the rub.  I don't think a couple of garlic cloves in a pan will do much except waste the garlic.

If you're concerned about moisture, brine the roast in a light salt and sugar brine overnight.  You can add some garlic to the brine for flavor and any other spices you might like.  If you do brine it, rinse it off and dry it prior to going into the smoker.

I guess most do the two part thing with the stuffing though it's usually added closer to the end of cooking.

Finishing at 200 in the oven isn't going to do much for the outside.  One technique for low and slow in the oven is to pull it a few degrees before your target temp, foil and towel it and let it rest.  Preheat your oven to 500 during that time.  Then put the roast back in the oven for 6-10 minutes until browned.  This will also work if it gets done too early.  It can easily rest for an hour before going back into the oven.  Once it comes out, no further resting is required.

Good luck and let us know how you made out.

[CB]

no stuffing, wine or pan during a short smoke. (less than 2 hours and has been said - keep a close eye on the internal temp of the meat!

Wrap and finish with partially cooked stuffing in the oven - to the internal temp you want - and I'd say use a higher temp in the oven to "finish" rather than cook.

Test it today with a double bone pork roast and see how it all goes. That will set you back about $5-$6 and give you some piece of mind!

[Learman12]

Hey all,

Thanks for the input.  I will try the no wine route and use a higher temp in the oven to finish.  Brineing is a good thought too!  I did I turkey in the Bradley from T-day and it turned out fantastic..  I brined it for 14 hours or so in a low salt brine. (not going to brine the crown rib roast even close to that long)

Have a great Christmas and I will let everyone know how it turned out. 

[seemore]

Sorry for the late response, Learman.
As it so happens my hubby seemore smoked a crown rib roast today.
We used the rub and mop from the book Smoke & Spice by the Jamisons.
It is the Creole crown roast recipe on page 89.  The rub is for a five-pound roast, but we heaped our measurements.
You have to put the rub on the roast the night before, so it is probably too late for this particular recipe.
However, I recommend this recipe.  The flavor was incredible.
Mrs.