Tennessee Pork Loin with Whiskey, Brown Sugar and Mustard

This is one of our favorite pork loin recipes.

Ingredients:
1 center-cut piece or pork loin (2-1/2 to 3 pounds)
3 tablespoons Tennessee whiskey
2 tablespoons of your favorite barbecue rub
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 slices bacon
Your favorite barbeque sauce
Butcher's string
2 cups of wood chips or chunks (preferably hickory)

For the Glaze:
3 tablespoons salted butter
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons Tennessee whiskey

Make the glaze: Combine the butter, brown sugar, mustard, and whiskey in a saucepan and boil until syrupy, 4 to 6 minutes. Set the glaze aside.

Using a very sharp knife, cut the roast almost in half lengthwise through one side (stop about 1 inch from the opposite side). Open the roast up as you would a book. Sprinkle the inside of the roast with 1 tablespoon of the whiskey and let it marinate for 5 minutes. Sprinkle a third of the rub over the inside of the roast. Spread the mustard on top with a spatula, then sprinkle the brown sugar on top of the mustard. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of whiskey on top of the brown sugar. Fold the roast back together (like closing a book) and sprinkle the remaining rub over the outside.

 

Cut four 12-inch pieces of butcher's string. Position the pieces of string on the work surface so that they are parallel and roughly 2 inches apart. Place a slice of bacon across the strings so that it is perpendicular to and in the center of them. Set the roast on top of the bacon, positioning its long side parallel to the bacon. Place a slice of bacon on top of the roast. Press the remaining 2 slices against the long sides of the roast. Tie each piece of string together around the roast so that they hold the slices of bacon against it. (To temporarily hold the bacon slices in place until you can secure them with string, you can pin them with toothpicks. Remove the toothpicks once the roast is tied.) Set the pork roast aside.

 

Set up the BGE for indirect grilling and preheat to 300.  Toss all of the wood chips or chunks on the coals right before you put the pork on.

 

When ready to cook, place the pork roast on the hot grate, over the drip panl. Cook the roast until cooked through, 1 to 1-1/2 hours. The internal temperature should be about 160. Start basting the roast with the glaze after 30 minutes, and continue basting every 15 minutes.

Transfer the cooked roast to a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes, then remove and discard the strings. Slice the roast crosswise and drizzle any remaining glaze over it. Serve with barbecue sauce on the side.