Could have worn it as a shoe.

[dkuchenberg]

Good evening,

Last Thursday I picked up a Pork Loin. I used the Traeger pork loin recipe, followed it to the letter, took it off when it reached an internal temp of 145. The inside was juicy and tender, but the outside was tough as shoe leather. So any ideas as to what happened? It was cold, 20 degrees F But I don't think that had anything to do with it. Did it?

 

[Slimpicker]

There are many successful pork loin cooks on here...
The only thing I can think is Traeger's convection likes to 'skin' over anything it cooks.
I don't do loins but when I did I cooked them wrapped in foil and higher in temp than 145, kind like a butt.

 

[GrillMeister]

I do mine hot & fast. I get it up to 450 and let it stabilize there, then the pork loin goes on for 30 minutes, then I drop it down to 350 till internal reaches 140. It will hit 145 within a 5 minute rest inside.

Tender on the inside, and a good bark on the outside.

 

[dkuchenberg]

There are many successful pork loin cooks on here...
The only thing I can think is Traeger's convection likes to 'skin' over anything it cooks.
I don't do loins but when I did I cooked them wrapped in foil and higher in temp than 145, kind like a butt.

Ok, noted. I did like the flavor and it had a nice smoke ring. I was thinking maybe after an hour at a lower temp to develop the smoke then wrap it in tin foil.

 

[JPSBBQ]

Could it possibly be a silver skin issue? How long was the cook time approximately? Not being familiar with any preset cook programs, what was the pit temp? Sounded like fairly low. If so, the lower the pit temp the less dry and chewy the exterior should be. As stated above, wrapping always softens exterior. Doesn’t take all that long either. Seems a bit odd I will say to get the outside tough while cooking at low temps if that is in fact what happened. Crazy stuff.

 

[dkuchenberg]

I removed the silver skin. Cook temp was 225 and it took almost 4 hours to achieve an internal temp of 145. I never go by time, unless I'm making jerky, I always go by internal temperature. This was my 1st Pork Loin if this is not the norm, I may try it again.

 

[JPSBBQ]

I removed the silver skin. Cook temp was 225 and it took almost 4 hours to achieve an internal temp of 145. I never go by time, unless I'm making jerky, I always go by internal temperature. This was my 1st Pork Loin if this is not the norm, I may try it again.

Seems highly unusual to me. That's how I cook prime rib and while I get a light crust, I've never had it get chewy. In fact I forgo the hard sear either before or after to avoid the hard crust and grey overcooked band that accompanies it. I feel like you performed the cook correctly IMO. Tenderloins I will cook at a higher temp but loins I like to keep below 300. You could also spritz it after an hour or so or wrap if you'd like. You definitely want the rub to set before the wrap and spritzing though. I've done many pork loins and never experience a leathery exterior. Do an experiment. buy a whole loin, cut into thirds and season the same. then place on traeger and do one plain as before, one with spritz and one with wrap. I brine a pork loin usually too. I genuinely surprised at your result. Maybe raise you pit temp 25-50 degrees and try it again. this will reduce the pit drying time but still give you a slow roast cook temp to avoid the overcooked exterior. Good luck with it.

 

[YYCRed]

I have done a couple pork loins in the past month and they have turned out beautifully. I followed the "recipe" from Mad Scientist BBQ on youtube and it worked really well. It took about 3 hours 45 minutes for the first part and then about 30 minutes to finish it off at the higher temp. So juicy with a decent (but not tough!) bark and great smoke ring.

 

[Harleydude]

Sounds to me like there are several different Pork loins being talked about ie.. Butcher cut vs the vacuum-sealed ones that are pre-marinated vs a pork tenderloin.