Christmas Smoked Pork Loin Roast

This Christmas Smoked Pork Loin Roast is an amazing combination of sweet and savory that will be a new holiday favorite, whether its Christmas or New Years. You will enjoy making this easy smoked pork loin roast recipe and will delight as it melts in your mouth.

The Difference Between A Pork Loin And A Pork Tenderloin

Before we dive into the recipe, I want to briefly touch on the differences between pork loin and pork tenderloin. On social media it is not uncommon for people to think they have a pork loin when they might have a tenderloin or vice versa. So what exactly is the difference?

What Is Pork Loin?

Pork loin is a leaner cut of meat from the back of the pig. It is most likely to be bought boneless but can be found with the bone in. If you are a Costco shopper you will find the boneless version there. It is thicker and longer than a tenderloin. It will also have a decent fat cap on it. Pork loin is better smoked hot and fast, or if grilled, seared and then roasted over medium heat. Because it is leaner cut of pork, it is not good for a shredded pork and is best served sliced or as pork chops.

What Is Pork Tenderloin

Tenderloin is also a leaner cut. It is the muscle that runs along the backbone of the pig. It is always going to be boneless. If you are buying at Costco it is sold in packs of two. When compared to a loin, it is smaller and not as thick. There is no real fat cap on a tenderloin. In a similar fashion to the loin, smoked pork tenderloin needs to be done hot and fast or if grilled done so in the same manner as the loin. Both, if not cooked correctly are subject to being dried out.

The smaller size of the tenderloin lends itself not so much to a pork tenderloin sandwich as much as it does a slider.

Looking for some other recipes to smoke pork loin or a delicious smoked pork tenderloin recipe, try these:

• Smoked Pork Loin Recipe
• Shaved Pork Loin Sandwich (perfect for leftover pork loin)
• Smoked Pork Tenderloin
• Smoked Pork Tenderloin Sliders

Preparation For Smoking A Pork Loin Roast

We are going to start out by getting the smoker ready for a temperate of 375°. I did this on my Weber Kettle as it is a quick smoker. Whether cooking this recipe on your Kettle or pellet grill, you should be able to do so with little to no adjustments regardless of smoker style. Pork loin as a leaner meat, does not lend itself to low and slow, so we are going hot and fast on this one.

We will want to use a sweeter wood. I would suggest apple but if you can find some peach wood, give that a go too. The peach wood is a great compliment to our injection and glaze. Ace Hardware was one of the few place I could find peach chunks.

While the smoker is getting up to temperature we are going to prepare our injection. The injection is simple but makes for a nice addition and helps keep our pork roast nice and juicy. You will want the following for the injection:

• 1/2 cup of apple juice
• 1/4 cup of orange juice
• 2 tbsp. of melted butter

You will want to combined these ingredients together in a small pot, over a low heat, until the butter is melted. Once it is melted and the ingredients well combined go ahead and start injecting. You can do so liberally as we want the flavor throughout and need to ensure we keep the pork loin moist for the smoke and then afterwards.

After you have injected the pork loin, we are going to get our dry rub on it. The dry rub is again very simple but adds some savory flavor to the pork loin. You are going to need the following for the dry rub:

• 2 tbsp. of salt
• 1 tbsp. of coarse ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp. of thyme
• 1 tbsp. of rosemary
• 1/2 tbsp. of olive oil (for binder)

With injection done, we are going combine our dry ingredients and then apply them to the pork loin. When doing so ensure you get the top and bottom of the roast. Now that the pork is covered with the dry rub and injected we will get it on the smoker.

Smoking Pork Loin For Christmas

The smoker should be running at 375° now and so we can get the pork loin on. This is a relatively quick smoke since we will pull this when the internal temperature reaches 145°. You are looking at approximately 2 hours for this smoke.

I used my ThermoPro Temp Spike for this smoke, a quality probe unit that fits any budget!

Once the pork roast is on, we will leave it for a bit, until the IT reaches 135°. At 135° we are going to hit it with the glaze. You can start working on the cranberry glaze while you are waiting. The glaze will require the following ingredients.

• cranberry sauce
• orange juice
• brown sugar
• honey

Combine these ingredients in a small pot and mix together over a low/simmering heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring on occasion. When done, you can leave simmering until ready to apply. When applying any kind of baste or glaze, I recommend trying to apply it without actually brushing it on. If you can let it drip or drizzle it on you will not brush off any of the rub you applied at the start of the recipe.

After applying the glaze at 135°, we are going to take the pork to 145° degrees. Once we hit that IT, we can pull it. After pulling it from the smoker, we will let it rest for 15 minutes before slicing. When slicing and serving, I would recommend slices of about 1/2 – 3/4 of inch thick.

After having sliced the Christmas Smoked Pork Loin Roast, it is ready to serve. You can take any remaining glaze and drizzle it on or serve it in a bowl for your guests to use on their own.

Thanks for being here and checking out Christmas Pork Loin Roast recipe. I hope you enjoy it! We always appreciate comments, 5 star recipe rating and social media shares. As always, keep that smoke rolling!

Looking for some other recipes, here are a few suggestions:

• Smoked Duck
• Smoked Thanksgiving Turkey
• Smoked Cornish Hens
• WSM Smoked Pork Butt
• Smoked Turkey Breast

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