Roast pork loin

[Delmonico]

Roast Pork Loin

This is a dish that is simple to make, it takes little prep time and once started it can pretty much take care of itself.   It works best if you can give it 3-4 hours, however once started if you have good wood to get the coals from, it will need nothing else.   


Shallow ovens work the best for this dish, a 10 works fine for ? a loin, a 12 inch for a whole loin cut in half and a 14 inch will allow you to fit 2 loins in it a 16 will allow 3.  A pork loin will average most times about 8-11 pounds each so one will have to base the amount on the size of the crowd.

Besides the pork loin and the dutch oven, we need some sort of rub to put on the meat.  This can range from simple salt and pepper to just about any mix of salt, herbs and spices one desires.  Any of the commercial ones labeled poultry seasoning work fine. 

Before cooking, rub the outside of the meat well with the desired rub, this can be just before one starts the cooking to the night before.  In camp I find it works simplest to put the rub on an hour or so before cooking and then put the meat in the dutch oven to rest until ready to start.   The cooking of the roast loin will be a bit different than most dishes in a dutch oven, while the meat is resting build the fire up to have a good quantity of hot coals, using the best hard wood you have on hand.   No water or broth needs to be added since we are cooking it from the top.

When you are ready to start cooking set the oven on the ground with no coals under it, if it is very cold and/or damp it is a good idea to warm and dry the ground with a few coals before starting, but remove them when ready to start.   Now take your shovel and pile as many coals on top as you can, heap them up.  This will raise the temperature up to what is often called a very hot oven, we want to get the inside temp to around 500F, and this will allow the meat to sear well. 

With good hardwood coals then nothing else will be needed till it is done in 3-4 hours.  The temperature will start dropping after 15 minutes or so as the coals start to burn out.  This one requires a bit of faith in your skills because it's best not to open the oven till just before serving, this keeps all the moisture inside.   Check your temperature by touching the side of the oven real quick, if it has cooled to the point is not slow cooking one will need to add a few more coals. 

When the rest of the meal is ready, remove the lid and cut up the meat.