Pork roast

[jon s smokhouse]

Will be going out of town for aproxamatly 30 days and thought I would cure a pork loin cut while I was gone.

So what I am doing is dry curing an 8 lbs roast in a salt/molasses mix and after returning am planning on using a brown sugar mix for up to 24 hours and then try my hand in honey smoking the meat. On the honey smoking part I was planing on using cheese cloth and aplying the honey after about an hour of smoke time.

The questions I have is;

Is the cure time in the salt overkill? I know the salt won't harm the meat but it will make it salty and that's the reason for going with the braown sugar mix.

Anybody here ever try to honey cure/smoke pork? If so can you pass on any advice?

Am planning on smoking the pork at between 200 and 250 degrees untill the pork is around 180 degrees then finishing cooking in the oven as a regular roast.

This is an experiment before I try to cure ham so any thoughts good and bad will help...

[jaeger]

jon's smokehouse,
You don't give a lot of information really on what kind of cure you are using. (Molasses and salt?!?)
 I usually cure pork with a brown sugar cure. 30 days with a dry rub should work out fine, though you will really want to rinse very well and soak in clear water for at least a couple hours prior to smoking.
As far as a honey cure, I think what you are really after is a honey glazed ham. With a pork loin, depending on size and bone in or boneless, the cooking times will vary. Whatever you keep your cabinet temp at looks good, though you only  need to take pork to 160 F Max internal temp. 155 is really good enough. You are making a product that will be used for slicing and not as a "pulled" type product. If you take the internal temp to 180 and finish in the oven, not to be a smart a$$ but, how hot are you going to cook that puppy?
 If you want to try a honey glaze, I would apply the honey about half way through your estimated cook time. This will give the meat a chance to take on the smoke first, and glaze second. IMHO I don't think the honey glaze really does that much for flavor. If you want a true honey ham, you need to figure out a way to inject the honey into the meat. I don't think it is a matter of taking a brine pump and trying to inject. I don't think you will get a proper distribution throughout the meat.
I also prefer not to use cheese cloth unless I am making a boneless ham and need the cheese cloth as a netting to hold and shape the product while it is hanging in the smokehouse.
When I smoke porkloin, I like to add bacon on the shelf above the meat to act as a self baste and to prevent drying out the top. Here is the last pork loin that I got a picture of. (Bone In,Seasoned, not  cured)



Let us know what you decide to do!!!!


EDIT: P.S.
When you get around to trying your first ham, you will need to inject with a brine unless you have a looonnnggg time to wait.











<font size="4"><b>Doug</b></font id="size4">

[jon s smokhouse]

Thanks for the info. Alredy have it salted and it was dry rubbed.

As far as smoking it goes it'll be on medium heat at between 250 and 300 degrees untill done. Was thinking about using the honey not only as a glaze but to help seal the meat during the baking stage.