Stuffed Pork Loin – Bacon Weave Wrap

[fishrman]

Kudos to BigMikey – saw his post and got motivated to do my own first bacon weave.  The local supermarket actually has a good smoked bacon they sell in the butcher's case at $2.99/lb., so I got 2 lbs. of that along with a 3.5lb. pork loin.  Decided I was going to butterfly the pork, stuff it, and wrap it in the bacon blanket.  For the stuffing I wanted something both sweet and savory, so decided on an apple/celery/onion/garlic mix which I sautéed in butter , then added bread crumbs.  But that wasn't enough.  Some of the bacon I got turned out to be less than perfect for weaving, so I cut it up, fried it up, then chopped it up more finely




and then added to the stuffing. 



Pork wrapped with pork stuffed with pork.  Mmmmmmmm.

By the numbers –

Make the weave:



Then, the pork loin – the starting point:



Butterflied:



Lined with spinach:



Then, smoked Provolone cheese:



Topped with the stuffing proper:



Rolled and wrapped:



All under the watchful supervision of Abby and Buddy:




So butterflied, seasoned, stuffed, wrapped and ready to go.  But too late tonight.  Wrapped it all up tightly in foil and back into the fridge for Saturday or Sunday.  Stay tuned . . .

[just a smokin]

  wow that sure does look good , let us know how it turns out .

[mikecorn.1]

That looks fantastic. Missing one pic ;D. Will be watching for it. :)


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[ghost9mm]

Really looks good, and a great picture presentation...will be watching for the money shot...

[tsquared]

 Don't drop it--the canine vacumn cleaners will have it before you can bend over!
T2

[muebe]

That is gonna be one good loin ;)

I would pull it a little early to finish the bacon in the oven broiler :)

[fishrman]

Thanks for the advice Muebe.  What IT would you recommend pulling it from the smoker?

[muebe]

I would pull it at 145F. The broiler or high degree oven(400) will finish the bacon in about 10 to 15 minutes. That should carry it to about 160F. The bacon weave and stuffing will keep everything moist ;)

Be careful if you are finishing in the broiler! That bacon grease can catch fire :o

[viper125]

Fishrman that looks fantastic. Have a loin Im going to do pretty soon and I think I'll try your stuffing it sounds really good. Did you split that loin in half or several times

[fishrman]

Viper, I rolled it as I sliced keeping it about 3/4" thick.

[viper125]

Got to say you did a very nice job! Good hand at butchering and a very great sounding recipe.

[fishrman]

OK, Easter is here and the main course is Bacon Weave Wrap Pork Loin stuffed with Apples (and other stuff)

Took it out of the fridge at 7am and let it rest for an hour on the counter.  Meanwhile, preheated the BDS to 225F and loaded in 3 hours of hickory.  At 8am into the smoker it went.  Didn't take long before the sweet smell of hickory was accented with warm bacon!  Had the Guru probe in the center and watched the temp climb.  By 11am it was showing 130F which sounded a little high, so took my kitchen digital probe and stuck it in.  Hmm, showed 117F, quite a difference.  Took out my Maverick and decided to go for the best 2 out of 3 and it showed 123F.  Went with the maverick and let it keep on going for another 50 minutes until it showed 142F, at which point I followed Muebe's advice and pulled it out of the smoker and popped it into a preheated 400F oven on a rack over a drip pan.  Within minutes you could hear the sizzle of the bacon and smell it crisping up.  Mmmmmm!  It only took about 10 minutes to get the IT up to 145F and have the bacon look nicely browned.  Pulled it at that point and let it rest for 5 minutes before I pulled out the probe as I didn't want to lose too much juice.  Argh - 5 minutes was not enough and juice started geyering out!  So immediately reinserted the probe, set a timer for 10 minutes and walked away!

After 10 minutes pulled the probe with only an oozing, transferred the loin to the cutting board and this is what I saw before and after slicing:











Wow, as good as this looks the taste and tenderness was even better.  If you haven't done a weaved loin yet, put it on your to do list and you won't be sorry!

As great as this was, I know it can be better.  Changes next time:

1) Butterfly the meat a bit thinner so there is more space for stuffing.  Stuffing good.

2) Double or triple the stuffing.  Leave out the celery (didn't really come through) and replace with more apples.  Consider adding a little cinnamon and chipotle powder to them when cooking up.  Also double up on the bread crumbs.  They absorb so much flavor, more would be better - and there is plenty of juice, so no worries about it being dry!

3) Before putting the weave on, cold smoke the butterflied loin for about an hour.  All the smoky flavor was put into the bacon, and it would have been good to have it permeate all the way through.  Alternatively, and I think I like this better, simple spread out the stuffing in a thin layer and smoke it instead of the pork.  Something to consider.

OK, thanks everyone for coming along with me on this ride.  It was sure a good one!!

[viper125]

Wow now that is looking good. I seen the changes your making and all sound well based but maybe I can give you some thing to think about. In stead of cold smoking before the bacon wrap. How about cold smoking just the loin after cutting it flat. So the smoke can soak in both sides of the meat then roll and make. Maybe add a little smoke to the bacon when you  start smoking the whole thing. Just some thing Im thinking about.

[fishrman]

Viper, we are in violent agreement - that's what I meant when I said "Before putting the weave on, cold smoke the butterflied loin for about an hour." although I can see now it is not that clearly stated.   And more good news - I've got lots and lots left over!  Think I'll send my kids some pics of it so that they can see what they are missing  ;).

[viper125]

Sorry About that I thought you said with bacon off. My fault. But i bet it was good as it was.