Smoked Balsamic Pork Loin

This recipe is so easy, just about anyone with a Traeger smoker or any bbq smoker can pull this off.  It is so easy, and produces such good flavor that my four year old ate half the loin by herself.  It is a simple marinade and takes 2 minutes to make, and for those of you that need a weekday, easy to make dinner this is it.

Balsamic Marinade

• 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Oil (EVO)
• 1/2 Balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoon of Montreal steak seasoning
• 2 pounds boneless pork loin.

That is it?  I told you it was simple but you are not out of the woods yet.  Poor the marinade into a bowl and mix well.  Pour marinade into a large zip lock bag, large enough for your entire loin to fit in.  Close the bag, getting out every bit of air you can.  Then put into the fridge and marinade, turning it when you can for 12-15 hours.  When you are ready to cook, remove loin and let rest while you take 30 minutes to get your smoker bbq to temperature, which is 190 to 210 depending on the season when you do it (Winter is around 190 degrees in these parts).

Pour some marinade into the bottom of the cooking dish.  I wrap a cooking casserole dish with aluminum foil so it doesn’t get all black with smoke.  Lay the loins on top of some marinade and poor remainder over the top.  Put your meat thermometer into the thick part of the loin and close your bbq.

Once you the loin reaches around 100 degrees remove from pan, and lay the same side down.  You want to get a little smoke taste to the bottom of your loins.  At this point, shut your door of bbq and raise the heat to 350 degrees.

Once the loins reach a temperature of 135 degrees I put them back into the pan and let sit on counter for 15 minutes or until they reach 145 degrees.  This is how you serve pork now, this is not the 1950’s where Granny cooked it to 250 degrees so it was so tough to chew you needed applesauce to get it down. Do not throw that cooked marinade out!

This is great served with mashed potatoes, or veggies or anything you want.  I plated it on top of a nice bed of mashed potatoes, along with some veggies.  Take a spoon and drizzle the marinade over the top of the loins, and serve.

This is simple, but will come to the party with a smoky tang taste that will pleasantly surprise you.

Give it a try.

the Hunting Chef