Grilled Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin

The pork, with Zesty black eyed peas and garlicky green beans.

This is an awesome dish!  It combines some of my favorite things, pork, bacon, whiskey, sugar, and smoke!  I'm salivating just thinking about it!  This dish is adapted from one of my favorite chefs, Steven Raichlen.  His cookbooks bring history and back stories to the dishes, which makes cooking the dishes a little more special.  This recipe is adapted from his book, BBQ USA.  Some aspects of this might seem complicated, but trust me, it's easy!

Ingredients for the pork:

Butterflied and drunk!

1 pork loin 2 1/2 to 3 pounds
3 tablespoons of whiskey
2 tablespoons of you favorite BBQ spice rub (I use a homemade one, I'll post that recipe some day)
2 tablespoons of Dijon Mustard
1/2 cup of brown sugar
4 slices of thick cut bacon (Fresh Market "Market Style" is my favorite)
Butchers string
A handful of wood chips (I used pecan wood), soaked in water for 20 minutes. 

Butterfly the pork loin lengthwise.  Do not cut all the way through the loin, leave about a 1/4 of an inch at the bottom of the pork loin as the "binding".  Now open the pork loin like it's a book....a yummy meat book!  Make 1 inch deep cuts in the pork on the inside of the pork loin. Sprinkle the pork loin on the inside and outside with the bbq spice rub.  Work the rub into the cuts you made inside the pork loin.  Take 1 tablespoon of the whiskey and sprinkle it over the inside of the pork loin (the pages of the book).  Let it marinate for 5 minutes.

Pork, bacon, whiskey tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things.

Take the 2 tablespoons of Dijon Mustard and spread it on the inside of the pork loin.  Sprinkle the brown sugar on top of the mustard.  Take the remaining 2 tablespoons of whiskey and sprinkle that on top of the brown sugar.  Now you need to make yourself a drink because the pork should not drink alone!

Close the pork loin, like you would a book.  We will now tie the pork loin closed.  Cut 4 pieces of butchers string in about 12 inch strips and place them on a cutting board parallel to each other.  Place one piece of the bacon perpendicular and in the center of the strings.  Now place the pork loin lengthwise across the strings so that the strip of bacon runs lengthwise down the center of the pork loin.  Place one piece of bacon on each side of the pork loin, running lengthwise, and the last strip of bacon on the top of the pork loin.  Tie up the pork loins.  It should look like a pork loin gift wrapped in bacon!

Now set up your grill for indirect grilling.  If you are using a charcoal grill, push the coals to the sides of the grill so there are no coals in the middle of the grill.   Sprinkle the wood chips onto the coals.  Before placing the pork on the grill, put an aluminum foil drip pan in the center of the grill, under where the pork will sit. 

During the first half hour of cooking

If you are using a gas grill, place an aluminum foil pan in the center of the grill.  Turn on the outer two burners to medium.  The pork will cook between the two burners so that it is not directly over any heat.  Wrap the wood chips in aluminum foil, poke holes in the foil and place on the grate over one of the burners.

Place the pork loin on the center of the grill so that it is not under direct heat.  After 30 minutes of cooking, baste the pork with the glaze (recipe to follow).  Baste every 15 minutes.  Grill the pork for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the pork is 160 degrees. Remove the pork from the grill and let it rest 5 minutes before carving.

The Mustard Whiskey Glaze

Ingredients for the glaze:
3 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
3 tablespoons of Dijon Mustard
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Melt the butter in a small sauce pan.  Add the remaining ingredients and whisk.  Boil for 4 to 6 minutes, whisking constantly, until the mixture is syrupy and thickened.  Let the mixture cool for about 3 minutes then keep the mixture on a very low heat until ready to use.