in partnership with Meater
There are many ways to serve pork as a quick, affordable and delicious dinner for your family, and a marinated pork loin that’s been smoked on the Traeger might just be one of our favorites. With a cook like this, you get tender and juicy sliced pork which is perfect for dinner and super adaptable for leftover creations later in the week.
MARINATING A PORK LOIN
In this recipe, I recommend marinating your pork loin in a flavorful mixture for at least two hours, and up to 6 if you have the time. Marinating is a great way to imbue a cook with lots of flavor while using minimal effort. Once you create a great marinade, you simply submerge the meat in the mixture and let it sit in the fridge until just before you’re ready to cook. Minimal mess and effort for maximum results!
You’ll see in the photos that this marinated pork loin wasn’t fully submerged. Rather, we made a marinade that went about 1/2 an inch up the sides of the pork, and rotated it in the marinade a few times over the course of a few hours.
WHAT IS A PORK LOIN?
Now you may be thinking “ah pork loin… the thin narrow cut of pork that cooks quickly and can stand up to high heat really well” when you’re reading this recipe. But don’t be fooled– while pork tenderloins also lend themselves very well to begin marinated, this recipe is geared towards a pork loin roast, which comes from a different part of the pig and cooks up very differently.
While a pork tenderloin could be marinated whole and cooked in a hot and fast method, a pork loin (or in this case a roast of pork loin) is best cooked slowly and with smoke and then seared to the perfect 145* internal temperature for slicing and enjoying.
DIFFERENCES FROM A PORK TENDERLOIN
There are a few main differences between a pork loin and the pork tenderloin.
First, the part of the animal it comes from. A pork loin roast comes as a piece of an entire pork loin (which can be up to 2′ long!) and from the back of the pig. Sometimes a pork loin is bone-in, with extra meat attached to rib bones. This is a tasty dish and you can cook up a version of it using this recipe, which is imbued with holiday flavors of apple, cranberry and mustard. The pork tenderloin comes from alongside the backbone.
Second- the size and shape. A pork loin and pork loin roast is usually at least 4″ in diameter and somewhat oval shaped when sliced crosswise. A whole pork loin usually weighs between 4 and 8 pounds and can be up to 30″ long. A pork tenderloin is usually under 2″ in diameter and, weighs about 1/2 a pound. A pork tenderloin rarely measures more than 12″ long.
Third- the marbling. A pork loin is a fairly lean cut of meat but often comes with a thin fat cap. Leave this on– it’s flavorful and adds juiciness to your final dish. A tenderloin is also fairly lean but has better marbling and is definitely the most tender cut of pork.
HOW TO MAKE A MARINADE
A few foundational elements make up a great marinade. An acid (vinegar or citrus), something salty (like soy sauce) and something full of flavor (like Worcestershire sauce). Add some other elements of flavor– like a rub, garlic, herbs and seasonings and a little oil and you have an amazing marinade for any type of meat.
In this marinated pork loin we cooked on the Traeger, we whipped together a quick marinade that was full of flavor and used staple ingredients we had on hand. Soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, and seasoning and we had just what we needed.
I would caution that as you create a marinade, consider the kind of acid, and how much, you plan to use. That can influence the end result greatly (too much acid = mushy pork) so use enough to help flavor and tenderize the meat without going overboard.
SCORING THE MEAT
After this pork loin roast marinated, I scored the fat cap in a hatch mark pattern, which created extra surface area for a great crust and gave the fat the ability to render a bit more than if it was cooked whole.
I then seasoned the roast all over with my Smoke Junkie seasoning before putting it on the Traeger, which provided the foundation for a really great cook.
PRIMARY INGREDIENTS
- Pork loin roast (about 3 pounds)
- Olive oil
- Red wine vinegar
- Soy sauce
- Worchestershire sauce
- Lemon juice
- Oregano
- My Smoke Junkie Seasoning
WHY COOKING PORK LOIN ON THE TRAEGER WORKS
Like many of the things we cook, we reverse seared this pork loin on the Traeger to get the best results. Pork is often dismissed as a dry and flavorless protein that most people wouldn’t pursue. But that’s mostly because your grandmas (and mine) cooked their pork until it was 185*– dry and flavorless. The FDA now says that pork can be cooked and eaten safely at 145* and that has been a big game changer. Gone are the days of grey dry pork– in are the days of flavorful, juicy and perfectly cooked pork.
By cooking this pork loin on the Traeger, we first went low and slow to carefully cook the meat evenly throughout. This provides the meat the chance to cook while not constricting super quickly (and squeezing out all the moisture). Then we cranked up the heat on the Traeger once the meat was about 15* from finished– so about 130*– and gave it a great all-over sear in a hot Traeger.
Crisp, rendered fat on the outside, a great crust overall and tender juicy pork on the inside. Perfect!
AND THE MEATER MAKES IT EASY!
Cooking a reverse seared marinated pork loin on the Traeger is extra easy when you use your Meater wireless thermometer system. It’s paired app tracks the progress of the cook and provides you with prompts throughout the process about next steps, when to pull the meat, and an estimate on how soon your cook will be finished. Grab yourself a Meater today– it’ll make everything easier!
Follow the Meater for perfection
STEP-BY-STEP
- In a pan or shallow dish, combine the marinade ingredients and whisk until well blended.
- Adjust the flavor to your liking.
- Unwrap the pork loin roast and place it in the prepared marinade. Turn to coat.
- Cover the pork and marinade in the fridge for at least 2 hours, turning at least once.
- Preheat your Traeger to 225*.
- Remove the meat from the fridge and marinade and discard the marinade.
- Using a sharp knife, score the top of the fat cap with a hatch mark pattern.
- Season the pork all over with Smoke Junkie seasoning.
- Insert a Meater probe in the pork and pair with the app.
- Set the target temperature to 145*.
- Place the meat in the grill and cook, following the Meater prompts, until the internal temperature reaches 130*.
- Then turn up the heat on the Traeger grill to 400* and continue cooking the meat until it reaches just about 145*.
- Continue following the Meater prompts for perfect cooking.
- Remove the meat from the grill and tent loosely with foil.
- Slice using a sharp knife and serve your marinated pork loin while hot and juicy!
ALTERNATE RECIPES/PRODUCT LINKS
Here are some other pork recipes on the Traeger you should try:
Products used in this cook:
- Traeger Ironwood XL
- Meater wireless thermometer system: the Meater is now integrated with the new Traeger grills for ease of use. Some of the features I love about the Meater: Longer Range: Bluetooth to WiFi range extension built-in up to 165ft. Stand-Alone Mode: Cook without the use of your smart phone.
- Multiple Probes: Dual temperature sensors in each probe can monitor internal meat temperature up to 212°F and ambient / external temperature up to 527°F simultaneously.
- Guided Cook System: Walks you through every step of the cooking process to guarantee perfect and consistent results. You can also set up custom alerts / notifications based on temperature and/or time.
- Advanced Estimator Algorithm: Estimates how long to cook and rest your food to help plan your meal and manage your time.
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Marinated Pork Loin on the Traeger
Equipment
- Traeger grill
- Meater thermometer
- Small sharp knife
- Cutting board and big sharp knife
- Shallow pan or dish
Ingredients
- 1 pork loin roast about 3 pounds
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Worchestershire sauce
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 4 tbsp Smoke Junkie Seasoning divided
Instructions
- In a pan or shallow dish, combine the marinade ingredients and whisk until well blended.
- Adjust the flavor to your liking.
- Unwrap the pork loin roast and place it in the prepared marinade. Turn to coat.
- Cover the pork and marinade in the fridge for at least 2 hours, turning at least once.
- Preheat your Traeger to 225*.
- Remove the meat from the fridge and marinade and discard the marinade.
- Using a sharp knife, score the top of the fat cap with a hatch mark pattern.
- Season the pork all over with Smoke Junkie seasoning.
- Insert a Meater probe in the pork and pair with the app.
- Set the target temperature to 145*.
- Place the meat in the grill and cook, following the Meater prompts, until the internal temperature reaches 130*.
- Then turn up the heat on the Traeger grill to 400* and continue cooking the meat until it reaches just about 145*.
- Continue following the Meater prompts for perfect cooking.
- Remove the meat from the grill and tent loosely with foil.
- Slice using a sharp knife and serve your marinated pork loin while hot and juicy!
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