Apricot-Glazed Pit-Smoked Pork LoinApricot-Glazed Pit-Smoked Pork Loin

Makes 10 to 12 servings; more if sliced thinner

Lean pork cuts, such as a loin, are where heritage breeds like Duroc, Cheshire, Berkshire, and Red Wattle will truly be superior, bringing a marked difference in flavor and moisture content. An apricot glaze adds just a little sweetness; the delicate, smoke-kissed pork is really the star of the show. Just as with pork chops, we cook this to a perfect pink. An internal temperature between 150° and 155° is ideal.

Prep the meat: Remove the outer membrane (silverskin) from the loin and trim the fat cap to about ¼ inch. Up to 4 hours before cooking, coat the entire piece of meat with a thin layer of Mustard Slather and sprinkle generously all over with dry rub. Set it on a baking sheet, loosely cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until you’re ready to put it on the cooker.

Note: You can dust the loin with rub up to 4 hours prior to cooking, but if it sits much longer than that, the salt in the rub will begin to pull moisture from the meat.

Set up the cooker for indirect-heat smoking: Open the top and bottom vents. Pile 3 pounds of the charcoal in one half of the cooker, leaving the other half empty. Load a charcoal chimney one-quarter full of charcoal and light it. When the coals in the chimney are glowing, dump them on top of the pile of charcoal already in the cooker. Set half the wood on top of the coals, replace the grate, and put the loin over the side with no coals (the indirect cooking area). Close the lid.

Don’t open the lid for 1 hour, but keep a close eye on the temperature (see page 84 for how best to assess and monitor cooker temperature); when it reaches 200°, which might happen very quickly, close the vents about halfway so that less air comes in to feed the fire and the heat in the cooker rises slowly. Let the temperature climb to between 225° and 250° (see page 77 for how to determine your target temperature). Maintain your target temperature for the duration of the cook.

Throughout the entirety of the cook, be on the lookout for fluctuations in cooker temperature; whenever it dips more than 5° below target and opening the vents isn’t sufficient to bring it back up, it’s time to add a few hot coals. Reload and light the chimney as needed. If at any point the temperature climbs above your target by more than 5°, close the top and bottom vents further so that even less air comes in to feed the fire.

After the meat has been on the cooker for 1 hour, open the lid and check the edge of the meat that is closest to the fire. If it looks like it’s beginning to brown, rotate the meat, moving the side that is farthest away closest to the fire. Never flip the loin over; instead continue rotating it to brown evenly all over. Use an instant-read thermometer to check the internal temperature of the meat: Insert the probe into the middle of the loin; you’re looking for a slow and steady climb toward 150°. As the wood burns throughout the cook, continue to add the other pieces until the meat reaches between 135° and 140°.

After 1½ to 2 more hours, check for doneness: If the probe slides easily into the middle of the pork loin, the meat is nearly done. When the internal temperature reads between 150° and 155°, use a string mop to give it a thin coat of Apricot Glaze, then close the lid for just a minute to let it dry a bit. Mop with a second thin coat and take the meat off the cooker. Set the loin on a cutting board, uncovered, to rest for 10 minutes before carving. Slice ¼ inch thick, thinner if desired.