Are you ready to cook pork loin smoked on the pellet grills?

It’s an easy and quick smoke taking around 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Unlike pork shoulder you don’t need to wrap your pork or keep it in the smoker for a long time.

Easy Pork Loin Smoked on the Pellet Grills

What Cut is a Pork Loin?

A pork loin is a lean and large cut of meat which comes from either side of the pig’s spine. This cut is not to be confused with pork tenderloin which is a much smaller cut of meat often sought after because of its tenderness.

Pork Loin Smoked Recipe Steps

1 Remove Excess Fat and Pat Pork Dry

If your pork loin is too fatty for your liking trim the fat down with a pair of sharp scissors or a paring knife. Alternatively you could get your butcher to do this for you.

2 Slather Pork with a Binder and Add Dry Rub

Cover the pork with mustard (oil or butter work too) to give the dry rub something to stick to. Apply the rub liberally to the pork on all sides, top and bottom.

Meat Church Honey Hog Rub is hard to beat, but use whichever pork rub you prefer.

If you want to make your own homemade dry rub see the notes below.

3 Get Your Pellet Grill up to Temperature

Make sure your pellet grill is at 225F. Let the smoker burn off by leaving the lid open for 10-15 minutes. If you are using a Traeger grill use Super Smoke setting for maximum smokiness. If you are using a Pit Boss grill use the smoke setting (the ‘S’ or Smoke on the control board).

For a leaner cut like pork loin we like to use mild fruitwoods such as apple or cherry, but maple or pecan are great too for a touch of delicate sweetness.

4 Smoke Pork Loin for 2-3 Hours

Place the pork loin on smoker grills at 225F (lid down) for around 2-3 hours until the internal temperature of the meat registers 145F (63C).

Spritz the meat every hour or so with apple juice or apple cider vinegar.

6 Rest Pork Loin and then Slice and Serve

Allow the pork loin a few minutes (3-5 is fine) to rest to make sure the meat juices are redistributed throughout the loin. Then slice and serve your delicious, moist smoked pork loin.

Pork Loin Smoker Internal Temp

The target temperature for smoked pork loin is 145F (63C) to give us a juicy and tender centre to the meat.

For best results use a digital meat thermometer so that you can keep constant track of the meat’s internal temperature from an app on your phone.

Pork Loin on Smoker Recipe Notes

Homemade Pork Loin Smoker Rub

This BBQ rub has a nice balance of sweet, heat and savoury. Adjust it according to your taste e.g. more sugar to make it sweeter, more chilli powder or cayenne to make it hotter etc.

• 3 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons of Sweet Smoked Paprika
• 1/2 Teaspoon of Chilli Powder (or more if you like heat)
• 1 Teaspoon of Onion Powder 
• 1 Teaspoon of Garlic Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• 2 Teaspoons of Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1 Tablespoon of Fine Sea Salt

Pork Loin in the Electric Smoker

Some people are confused about wood pellet grills (e.g. the Pit Boss Sportsman Grill) and electric smokers. In fact, all wood pellet grills use a small amount of electricity (whether Pit Boss, Traeger, Camp Chef etc) to power up the control panel, turn the auger to release the wood pellets, ignite the pellets themselves and power up the grill’s fan.

This means that wood pellet grills all need to be plugged in and so they are all electric smokers.

If you want an affordable drum smoker which doesn’t need electricity but retains heat really well try the Chicago based Pit Barrel Cooker Co.

How Long to Smoke a Pork Loin at 225F?

Smoking a pork loin at 225F will take somewhere between 2-3 hours depending on the size of the cut and the temperature in your smoker. Always cook to internal temperature and use times as a rough guide.

How Do You Keep Pork Loin Moist in the Smoker?

There are 4 main ways to keep your pork loin moist in the smoker.

• Put a water pan into the smoker along with the pork
• Spritz the pork 2 or 3 times during the cook with apple cider, apple juice or apple cider vinegar
• Brine the pork overnight first in a solution of water + 1 cup sugar + 1 cup salt
• Inject the pork with a mixture of apple juice, apple cider vinegar and butter (or chicken stock)

Bear in mind that pork loin is quite a lean cut and doesn’t have as much fat to keep it moist compared to pork shoulder/ pork butt.

Recipes Using Smoked Pork Loin

For more ideas on what to do with smoked pork loin try our leftover pork recipes and ideas.

Related Recipes

• Smoked Pork Loin

For another great article on smoking pork loin try below.

https://www.fattybuttsbbq.com/recipes/smoked-pork-loin

Watch us cook this delicious smoked pork loin on Instagram! Tag us if you try it out and enjoyed it.