Smoking Pork
The thought of being outside, making memories and firing up the smoker has never sounded better.
There are many ways to do smoked pork whether you’re a novice or artisan. Delicious, smoky pork can be prepared on a kettle grill, pellet grill, in your preferred dedicated smoker, or even on a gas grill (many modern gas grills come equipped with a metal smoker box that sits on top of a dedicated burner). The most popular pork cuts to smoke are pork shoulder, pork loin, pork chops, pork belly and pork ribs.
There are three methods of smoking meat: cold smoking, smoke roasting or hot smoking. Hot smoking is the most used and exposes the meat to both heat and smoke, cooking it and giving it flavor at the same time.
How Long to Smoke Pork
| PORK CUT | TOTAL COOK TIME | SMOKER TEMP | FINISHING NOTES |
| Loin back ribs | 3 to 5 hours | 225-250° F | *Cook times will vary depending on thickness of the cut used |
| St. Louis style ribs | 5 to 7 hours | 225-250° F | *Cook times will vary depending on thickness of the cut used |
| Spareribs | 5 to 7 hours | 225-250° F | *Cook times will vary depending on thickness of the cut used |
| Pork butt/Picnic/Whole shoulder | 1 hour/15 minutes per pound | 195-200° F | Cook to an internal temp of 185-190° F – bone will easily slip from the meat |
| Pork loin | 1.5 hours | 225-250° F | Cook to an internal temp of 140° F – let rest in a warm place for 10 minutes until temp reaches 145° F |
| Pork chops | 45 min to 1 hour | 225-250° F | Grill-mark the chops prior to smoking; cook to an internal temp of 145° F followed by a 3-minute rest |
| Pork belly | 4 hours for smoke; wrap and cook for an additional 3 hours | 225-250° F | Cook to an internal temp of 190° F or until meat is fork-tender when pierced by a skewer |
