The good ol summer time.....

Grillin and chillin, that's what summer is all about in my hood.  Oh wait, maybe that's just me,after all someone has to work to pay for the groceries.  As the guys drive off to work, I begin my day with visions of my old smoker turned rotisserie, going round and round, round and round.Today I'm cooking a pork loin.  A gorgeous nine pounder, cut in half, forked onto the spit rod.  What does that even mean?  It's simply grilling without coals under my food, or for a more technical term, "cooking with indirect heat", while the loin slowly turns throughout the cook.  Whoever invented the rotisserie was a genius.  

When I cook, grill, or smoke a pork loin, or chicken for that matter, I like to brine it overnight.  There are so many possibilities for brines, I will let you conjure one up, or simply google it!  Personally I grab whatever I think will add flavor and go with the type of rub I'm planning on using, then just throw it all in some water and call it a brine.

It's important to rinse your meat if using a salty brine, and always dry the meat with paper towels before applying the rub.  For this loin I mixed together a homemade rub using typical ingredients right out of my pantry.  

Rub

1 c brown sugar

1/2 c chili powder

2 tbsp granulated garlic

1 tbsp granulated onion

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp black pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and rub your way to a beautiful hunk of goodness.  I've used this rub on chicken as well and it tastes like heaven as gives you a gorgeous presentation.  This should be enough to rub approx. 10 lbs. of grilled goodness.  Refrigerate or freeze any leftover rub for another day.

For rotisserie grilling, you want to create heat around the perimeter of your grill. I usually start with two mounds of coals, one on each end of my grill, or each side. By the way, my grill is a rectangular shape.  It's an old Char grill that I removed the smoker box from so I could use the rotisserie set up, as well as using it for a standard grill.  Once coals begin greying nicely, I use a long set of tongs and move my coals along both sides of the grill.  Depending on how much I'm cooking, I sometimes place them along the ends of the grill as well.  That's what I love about grilling, there's no one way to do it, there are thousands of ways.  As long as you achieve the end result you want, it really doesn't matter how you get there. 

 I cooked this beauty at a temp right around 325° for close to an hour,  with an internal temp reaching 145°.  It's important to realize that grilling times and temps typically vary from grill to grill, so be sure to use a meat thermometer to ensure you reach a safe internal temp.

Sliced up and ready to feast on, I had a brain fart, oh, I mean a VISION of how a brown sugar, butter sauce might taste with this.  So, at the last minute I melted some butter, added brown sugar to it and some leftover bacon pieces, I know, what the heck is leftover bacon anything!!!  This is a winner "sauce" and will be using it much more in the future.

1/4 c butter
1 heaping tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp crispy bacon pieces

Melt butter, add brown sugar, stir to dissolve, add bacon. Spoon over sliced loin and serve.

Nothing like a good day with your grill to make to make your tummy smile.