With the economy in the toilet, lately I have been going back to recipes that transform less expensive cuts of beef and pork into tender juicy fare. There are several techniques from marinating to braising to boiling to loosen up the fibers of the connective tissues in beef but pork usually doesn’t suffer from this issue. The problem with white pork meat is that it is easy to dry out. Just about when you are finished with any dry cooking process (minimum internal temperature of 160°F) the last bit of moisture can be exiting the roast leaving you with very quiet dinner guest as they a chew and chew and chew. Well at least for chops and loin, shoulder and hams contain much more fat making them much more moist. Brining fixes this problem and results in a properly cooked (in the case of this recipe) pork loin that is incredibly juice and well seasoned.

So go buy a giant pork loin for $1.99 per pound, brine it for 24 hours and grill it up for the family or hell the neighborhood. Really, they will love you for it, your familiy not the neighbors. Next post, How to Raise Your Own Chickens! Yeah, it is getting that bad.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 – 4 lb boneless pork loin, trimmed of excess fat
• 5 cups hot water
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cups kosher salt
• 10 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon hot red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons fresh sage, chopped
• 2 teaspoons Creole mustard
• 1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke®
• 3 bottles cold Negra Modelo beer

PREPARATION:

1. In a large nonreactive bowl, whisk the hot water, brown sugar and salt together until fully dissolved. Whisk in the garlic, molasses, black pepper, red pepper flakes, sage, mustard and Liquid Smoke. Stir in the brine beer and refrigerate for 1 hour. Place the pork loin in the mixture and place something heavy on top of it to keep it submerged. Brine it for 24 hours.

2. Remove from brine and discard brine. Allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes while you preheat your grill. Using indirect heat, grill pork loin on medium heat until an internal read thermometer reads 160°F at its center. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Serve with black or red beans and rice. Serves 10-ish for only $8.00. Nice. Not only is it a good value I guarantee your guest will FREAK out over the juiciness and flavor.

Heat factor