Our Recipes

Adapted from West Coast Prime Meats Cooks © 2015

Ingredients

• One and one-half gallons water
• Three-quarters cup salt
• Three-quarters cup brown sugar
• Eight to twelve cloves garlic, peeled
• Six to eight sprigs fresh thyme
• Four to five sprigs fresh rosemary
• Two to three tablespoons black peppercorns
• One tablespoon juniper berries
• Quarter-cup curing salt
• One 8-10 pound pork loin

Instructions

1. Put all ingredients except the pork loin in a large sauce pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove and let cool.
2. While the brine cools, trim the pork loin of excess fat and silver skin, keeping a thin layer of fat around the loin. Cut the loin in two equal 4-5 pound pieces and set aside.
3. Once the brine is cool, place the pork loin pieces in a two-gallon Ziploc bag and pour the contents of the sauce pot over the pork. Close the bag and refrigerate for four days, checking each day and turning the bag to make sure the loin brines evenly.
4. The morning of the fifth day, remove the pork, rinse and pat dry. Place on a rack set inside a sheet pan and return the loin to the refrigerator to dry for several hours.
5. In the afternoon, prepare your smoker. If you don’t have a smoker, you can use a kettle grill. (See How to Turn Your Kettle Grill Into a Smoker) You can also roast this in the oven, you will just lose the smoky flavor. If oven-roasting, cook at 300 degrees Fahrenheit until the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees.
6. In the smoker, cook the loin pieces for about 4 hours or until internal temperature reaches 155. Do not cook longer or the meat will be too dry. Remove and allow to cool before slicing.

Copyright © 2015 by Amy and Craig Nickoloff and West Coast Prime Meats
Recipes reprinted with permission of the owners.