How Long To Cook 2 Lb Pork Loin On Grill

Grilled pork loin is exceptionally lean and flavorful, making it ideal to cook up on a gas or charcoal grill. With a few simple tricks, you will find it is easy to grill pork loin to perfection!

I have a thing for pork loin. I always have. It is cheap, flavorful, and did I mention cheap? Back when I was young, broke, and single I used to survive on $50 a week for groceries. Pork loin was my 'indulgence purchase'. It tasted way better than chicken and I could stretch a pork roast into multiple meals. It's the poor man's tenderloin.

Pork Loin vs Pork Tenderloin

Just to clarify, pork loin and pork tenderloin are not the same things. Pork loin comes from from the pig's back, is considerably larger and not quite as tender as the tenderloin. The tenderloin is the muscle that runs along the backbone. Though they are both lean, their size difference makes them poorly suited to substitute for each other in recipes.

If you mistakenly came here looking for tenderloin recipes, don't fret. Just check out my Herb-Crusted Pork Tenderloin, BBQ Glazed Pork Tenderloin, or my Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwich recipes.

Grilled Pork Loin

The mild flavor of pork loins makes it ideal for grilling. Like my Grilled Country Style Ribs, the meat really soaks in the flavor of the grill, making it infinitely better than anything roasted in your oven. However, since pork loin is fairly lean, you have to be careful not to overcook it, or it will dry out. Also, since it is such a large cut of meat avoiding high temperatures is best or the exterior will dry out before the interior is cooked.

How to Grill Pork Loin

The best way to grill pork loin is to use indirect cooking. The basic premise of indirect cooking is to have your heat source on the opposite side of the grill from where you place your meat. This creates a more gentle heat around the pork loin, allowing it to more slowly come to temperature. If you set the pork loin directly over the heat source, the exterior would be dry, blackened, and burnt by the time the interior was safe to eat.

How Long to Grill Pork Loin

A 4-pound pork loin takes me 1 hour and 45 minutes to grill with a grilling temperature around 325 degrees. However, this is an inexact science since the size of your pork loin and grill temperature fluctuations will cause your cooking time to vary.

Grilling Hack: My secret weapon when grilling roasts is this double probe digital thermometer. Seriously the best thing ever. I stick one probe into the center of the pork loin to monitor the internal temperature and rest the second probe on the grill grate next to the roast to monitor grilling temperature.

Pork Loin Seasoning

When grilling pork loin you can use any number of seasonings. I enjoy the robust flavors of paprika, black pepper, onion, garlic and mustard powder blended together. However, if there is another recipe you find that sounds better to you, you can still follow my cooking process even if you aren't using the same flavoring agents.

What sauce to Serve with this dish?

This pork loin is very flavorful on its own, however, if you want a sauce to pair with it I recommend my Homemade BBQ Sauce or my Honey Mustard recipe.

Grilled Pork Loin

▢ 4 lb Pork Loin
▢ 1 tablespoon Cooking Oil (such as Olive Oil)
▢ ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
▢ ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
▢ ½ teaspoon Paprika
▢ ¼ teaspoon Mustard Powder
▢ ¼ teaspoon Ground Pepper
▢ 1 dash Cayenne Pepper
▢ Salt (as needed)

Rub pork loin with cooking oil and lightly salt all sides of the pork.
Mix remaining seasonings together and liberally dust all sides of the pork roast. Any unused seasonings can be discarded.
CHARCOAL: Light 1 charcoal chimney full of briquettes and pour onto far side of the grill. Place pork loin on opposite side of the grill.
GAS GRILL: Set burner on far side of the grill to medium heat and place pork roast on the opposite side of the grill.
Adjust grill temperature to be near 325 degrees by adjusting vents on charcoal grill or burner on gas grill.
Rotate pork roast every 15-30 minutes to ensure each side cooks evenly.
Pork loin is done when the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees, approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Remove from grill and let rest for 10 minutes. Then slice and serve.

Cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of your pork loin and temperature fluctuations of your grill.

Don't worry if you can't get the cooking temperature exactly at 325 degrees, 275-350 degrees will still produce great results.

IF YOU LIKED THIS RECIPE check out How to Grill Steak.

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