Brining a Pork Loin Roast

Over this past weekend, I cooked a pork loin roast that I had let sit in a brining solution for 5 days.  The best thing about this brine was that I cut way back on the amount of salt and bumped up the flavor profile of the dry mix that I used as a base.

Most brining solutions start with 1 to 1/2 cups of salt.  I only used 1/2 cup of salt along with several other ingredients.  Among them were brown sugar, cumin, chipotle, oregano, red pepper flakes, black pepper, onion powder and garlic powder and bay leaves.  I processed all the ingredients except for the bay leaves in a food processor to get to a consistent texture.  Then, I placed a 3 pound pork loin roast in a large plastic container, poured in 1 gallon of water, 2/3 cup of the dry mix and 4 bay leaves and stirred as best I could.  I placed it in the back of the fridge and let it sit for 5 days to absorb all the flavor it could.

I removed the roast from the liquid and wrapped it in paper towels for a few minutes to get it nice and dry.  I sliced it into 1 inch slices and dried them off as well.

I did not add any additional seasoning before I cooked the pork.  I wanted to test how well the brine worked and how much flavor the pork absorbed.

In a heavy skillet on medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter, let it melt. When the butter is bubbly, add 4 pieces of the pork loin and cook until browned, approx. 12-15 minutes , then turn over and cook another 12-15 minutes.

The result was the most tender and flavorful pork loin I have ever eaten.  It was just as tender as a pork tenderloin and was quite moist.  No extra sauce was needed.

I served this with a classic caesar style salad with chipotle ranch dressing and home-made double garlic bread.

My husband took one bite of the pork and immediately one eyebrow got raised.  His only comment was, "Wow, this is really good!"

From the heart of my purple kitchen to you,

Enjoy!
S.