Brine for Pok Loin

[gunner28]

I tried to PM DivotMaker, but he may be away.

Can anyone tell me when DM says he adds 1/2 gallon of water in form of ice when he's "cooked" the brine, what does he mean by "cooked the brine"?   Is it actually heated and if yes, what's the process?  Or does he mean the process by which it cools in the fridge?

With thanks,

gunner28 (Gerry)

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[gunner28]

I have used brines for chickens and never heated.  I went ahead tonight and boiled the brine (1/2 gallon), and will add 2nd 1/2 as ice.  I looked last evening on forum and didn't find anything.  Tonight after boiling I found another post by DM where he stated he never brings to complete boil, but does heat etc. Oh well, hoping I'll still be OK.

Gunner28   

[kona77]

 Yes, I believe DM did heat his pork/brine recipe.. I have used it many times (pork butt) but never heated it. 

[Walt]

Its heated to dissolve the solubles. I use water from an instant hot water dispenser to dissolve followed by ice to cool and then place the protein in the cool solution. Hope this gives you some clarity

[gunner28]

Thanks Kona77 and Walt for the replies.  2 - 1/2 loins are in brine as of this morning in the fridge.

Cheers,

Gunner28

[gunner28]

Well my first brined pork loin smoke went well.  I had previously smoked ribs, chickens and some turkey.

It was a work in progress for a few days.  After the loin had thawed, Tuesday night was used to make Tony Chachere's creole seasoning (copycat) and DivotMakers brine (minus the #1 curing salt).  Wednesday @ 730AM the 2 - 1/2 loins went into the brine and fridge for 13 hours.  Wednesday night after pulling loins from brine, I made copycat Famous Dave's rib rub and St. Louis-style   BBQ sauce.  Rinsed, the loins were in fridge overnight and Thursday @ 645AM both were rubbed with the FD's rib rub with the initial binder being yellow mustard on one 1/2, and pure Quebec maple syrup on the other.  They were in fridge all day Thursday until going into the #2 at 6PM @ 225F with ~2.9 oz hickory. 

It was a cold night for a smoke here in Ontario, Canada with an outside temp of -14C (6.8F), feeling like -18C (-0.4F), but the #2 performed well.  The loins went no-peek for 3.5 hours when I opened the #2 to remove one 1/2 reading 154 on the Maverick. This was higher than I wanted to go, but with the different cook times that's what I opted for.  The other 1/2 was reading 144.  Each 1/2 was coated in the St.Louis BBQ sauce coming out of the #2.  The 1st was reversed seared on the gas BBQ about 3 minutes per side while I waited for the 2nd 1/2 to hit 145 which was at 10PM. The 2nd was pulled, coated and reversed seared as well with all cooking done around 1020PM. 

The finished product tastes great and a photo is attached.

Gunner28