Pork Loin and Baby Backs at same time?

kfin · June 17, 2009, 07:13:19 PM

I am pretty new to my bradley smoker, this site has made my first 4 baby back smokes a great success. I usually smoke 4 racks of baby backs at a time for 4 or 4 1/2 hours at 200 and then put in the oven at 200 for 3-4 hours. They have been great. For Father's Day we are going to smoke ribs and a pork loin.

The loin weighs 5.3 pounds. If I put 3 racks of baby backs on 3 of the bradley racks and the pork loin on the 4th rack....will this work? Will the pork loin be finished way before the ribs? If so, can I just FTC the pork until the ribs are finished? Or should I smoke the ribs first and while they are in the oven will there be time to smoke the pork loin and have it ready? If I smoke them at the same time does it matter what rack is where? (I usually rotate my ribs about half way through the smoke.)

Tooooo many questions. ??? What advice do you multiple meat smokers have for me? LOL

Thanks,
Keith

drano · June 17, 2009, 07:29:16 PM

kfin,
Welcome to Bradley world! Glad to hear all is going well.
First, I'd let your experience help you with this one. The more smokes you have under your belt, the better you'll be able to judge how to do new smokes.
First, I'd put the ribs above the loin to let any juices baste the loin. But rotating all would also be a good idea.
I've never done a loin, so I don't know how they cook for time. But I do ~4 lb butt roasts and I bring them to 190 deg and it takes about 7 hours.
Best advice--experiment when the event isn't critical. Then take that experience to make a great meal for an important event.
get smokin
drano

Habanero Smoker · June 18, 2009, 02:17:47 AM

Hi keith;

Welcome to the forum.

Placement would depend on whether or not you want the drippings from the ribs to alter the taste of the pork loin.

The pork loin should be finished first, if you start everything at the same time. For me it would be better to plan on FTC'ing the ribs, rather than the loin. When I cook pork loin, I generally don't have the the cabinet that full. As a reference it takes me around 4 hours to smoke/cook pork loin; at a cabinet temperature of 225°F, but it could be up to six hours. There are too many variables. Also I only take my pork loins to 140°F - 145°F. So time will also depend on how high you want the internal meat temperature. Which should not take long, and you will have a better crust on the loin.

Are you planning to apply smoke the full 4.5 hours the ribs are in the smoker? If so that may be too much smoke for pork loin. I only apply 2 - 2:40 hours of smoke. If you are smoking the full 4.5 hours, I would put the loin in after the first two hours of smoke has been applied. It would be better to FTC the ribs, then the loin.

If you find that the ribs have finished sooner then expected, and the loin is not done; you can FTC the ribs place the loin in the oven and increase the oven temperature to 325°F to 350°F until it reaches the desired internal temperature.

jha1223 · June 18, 2009, 08:24:15 AM

I've been wanting to try a boneless pork loin. Let us know how this turns out and take some pictures!

I'm actually really curious because this is the exact mix of meat I want to try for a department cook out.

Habs has you going in the right direction with the FTC for the ribs. They should keep for quite a while as you are getting the loin squared away.

kfin · June 18, 2009, 10:42:07 AM

Thanks for the replies. Here is my current game plan, let me know what you think.

Put ribs in smoker. Smoke for 4 hours at cabinet temp of 200. Take them out, put in oven in foil boat with apple juice mixture at 190 for 3 hours or so until internal temp of ??? (I forgot)

As soon as I pull the ribs out of the smoker, put the pork loin in and smoke for 2 hours at a cabinet temp of 225. Turn off smoke and leave in the smoker until internal temp reaches 142. Pull and let sit for 30 minutes or so.

They should be done around the same time. But whichever gets to the right internal temp first will be FTC until the other is done. If the ribs are done way before the loin, I'll take it out of the smoker and put it in the oven at 325 until done.

Sound like it should work out about right?

Thanks
Keith

KyNola · June 18, 2009, 12:41:30 PM

Keith,
I see two things I at least want to question you about. You mentioned 4 hours of smoke time on your ribs. Now, it it purely a matter of personal taste preference but 4 hours of smoke is a lot of smoke. Many folks including me only use 4 hours of smoke on a pork butt. Like I say just a matter of personal preference. The other thing is you indicate you are going to smoke the loin at 225 for 2 hours and then turn off the smoker and leave until the IT reachs 142. I just reread your post and I think I understand you are going to continue to cook at 225, right? If that is correct, I think your plan is a good one!

At first read I thought you meant you were going to shut the entire unit off after the smoke period and leave the loin in there and that was scaring me. Sorry for my confusion.

Let us hear about the results!
KyNola

Habanero Smoker · June 18, 2009, 02:21:29 PM

Sounds like a descent plan. The oven temperature, I would use at least 200°F for the ribs.

I have to agree with KyNola, about the amount of smoke you were applying to the ribs. That why I made that a question.

jha1223 · June 18, 2009, 04:55:25 PM

Just to echo what the experts are saying. Three hours of smoke is all I use on ribs and they have just the right amount of smoke flavor. Since it's your maiden voyage, too little smoke would be better than too much imho.

Also, as you are pulling the ribs and putting in the loin, you will lose a lot of heat, so keep an eye on the temp and plan accordingly as the cabinet will need to come back up to temp.

kfin · June 18, 2009, 07:03:31 PM

I have done ribs 2 or 3 times by themselves. Each time I have used smoke for 4 hours and we really liked them. I might try a little less this time to compare something. And so far I have only had hickory pucks to use. We are going to Cabela's Friday to pick up some more. I will probably go with hickory for the ribs and apple for the loin. I will try 200 in the oven this time instead of 190 also.

No, I am not turning the smoker off after smoking the pork loin for 2 hours, just not using any more smoke. It will continue to cook in the smoker at 225 until the internal temp is reached.

As for pulling the ribs and putting in the loin, I am assuming that it will take less time than when I rotate racks. I was watching last time and it usually dropped about 25 degrees. So the pork loin may take a little longer than I am planning so I will FTC the ribs.

Thanks for all the help on here! If a person can follow directions, you ALMOST can't screw up too bad just from reading on here. LOL I am sure I will sooner or later though.

I can't remember what the internal temp of the baby backs is supposed to be when pulled from the oven.....anybody?

Another question I have is on how to prepare the loin. I have a rib rub and sauce that we really like but don't know what to put on the loin. Suggestions here are also welcome and appreciated.

Keith

KyNola · June 18, 2009, 07:49:50 PM

Keith,
Ribs have an automatic internal thermometer to tell you when they're done. When the meat begins to pull back from the end of the rib bones about a 1/2 inch....they're done! Sometimes baby backs won't shrink away from the rib bones like spare ribs but your time estimates look good. As for the pork loin. You are limited only by your imagination. You have rub and sauce that you really like? For me, I would rub that pork loin down with your favorite rub and put that boy in your smoker. About 45 minutes before you think the loin is done, I would baste it with your favorite sauce and again about 20 minutes later. All you're wanting to do is "set" the sauce on the loin. When you take the loin out of the smoker, tent it with foil and let it rest for 20 minutes or so. The IT should go up about 5 degrees.

We want to know the results!
KyNola

kfin · June 18, 2009, 08:31:23 PM

Tent??? You lost me on that one. Just wrap it up in foil?

I will definately post pics. Thanks for the rib tip.

KyNola · June 18, 2009, 08:39:56 PM

Keith,
If you're going to be eating the loin soon after it comes out of the smoker, place it on whatever and take a piece of foil and loosely cover the loin, sort of like a tent. If you're not close to eating time, you can always FTC it.

I think you're dead on the money! Happy Father's Day to everyone who is going to be eating the stuff coming out of your Bradley!

KyNola

Habanero Smoker · June 19, 2009, 02:08:10 AM

Smoke flavor is a personal choice, so if you are satisfied with 4 hours you should continue to do so.

Tent or tenting is just loosely covering the meat with foil, without tucking it in. You take a large sheet of foil, crease it in the middle and place it over the meat so that it is completely covered. One reason for doing this is to reflect heat back to the meat so that the temperature change is gradual, while allowing steam to escape. Tenting is also used during cooking, to help reflect heat from the meat you want to protect, such as the breast part, when cooking whole turkey. Cooking at 225°F a pork loin may rise another 2°F.

kfin · June 21, 2009, 10:10:14 AM

Update, the ribs have been smoked and are in the oven at 200. 3 hours 40 minutes of hickory. I have loaded the loin in the smoker for 2 hours of apple smoke and it will stay there at 225 until it reaches the right temp. Lookin' good, I will try to get some pics when it is all done.

Thanks for the help everyone

HawkeyeSmokes · June 21, 2009, 10:54:40 AM

Hey Keith,

Sounds like you have a good plan going there. The ribs will hold well if they get done before the loin. I think your going to like the taste of the apple pucks with that loin. I used apple last week for some ribs and canadian bacon I made and think I will be using apple quite a bit.

Good luck and have fun.