Barbecued Spiral Stuffed Pork Loin w/ Bratwurst, Apples, and Walnuts

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Barbecued Spiral Stuffed Pork Loin w/ Bratwurst, Apples, and Walnuts

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As a pitmaster, I’m always looking for fun and creative ways to barbecue Holiday foods in a non-traditional way. Since Easter is coming up later in April, I’ve partnered with my friends at Snake River Farms to prepare a special Easter treat in my pit.

I know you’re probably thinking that Harry’s going to cook a ham in his Weber Smokey Mountain. Well, for this Easter, I’m going to smoke one of my favorite cuts from the hog which is the loin. My twist is that I’ve molded it into a spiral log that resembles an Easter ham. For those who want to dabble with curing their own ham, here’s an alternative recipe for a Barbecued Pineapple “Ham”. Who says you can’t have fun in your pit!

Snake River Farms Kurobuta pork and ham products have a reputation of being equivalent in stature to “Kobe Beef.” Their pigs are 100% purebred Berkshire hogs per the guidelines set by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture. I’ve heard that careful husbandry (management and care of farm animals) ala “Happy Cows” is used for their meat production as their hogs originate from SRF-affiliated family farms that can produce their Berkshires to exacting standards such as using no hormones and a slow feed process. I love the flavorful taste of their pork and how the meat color looks darker and more delicious after cooking.

For special occasions I don’t mind splurging on their Berkshire pork to tantalize my guests. I know that ham is great for Easter, but I think you’ll find my Barbecue Spiral Loin to be as good, if not better, as an Easter main dish to surprise your guests.

When you start with such a great ingredient, how does a pork aficionado like me take it up a notch? In my airline pilot days, one of the most memorable pork experiences — where the music plays and the halo of light comes from above — was when I bit into a superb pork bratwurst in Frankfurt during a layover in Germany. Why not combine that experience with some Kurobuta pork loin? Add some tart crisp apples, raisins for contrasting sweetness, and crunchy walnuts and you’ve created a winning idea!

  • Total Time: 2 hours 45 mins
  • Yield: 4 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale

Stuffing:

  • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
  • 1/2 pound fresh (raw) bratwurst sausage
  • 1 Granny Smith apple; peeled, cored, and diced
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 3/4 cup plain Panko breadcrumbs (or homemade)
  • 1/4 cup apple juice
  • SYD rub or salt & pepper to taste

Glaze:

  • 1 stick of butter (add 1/4 teaspoon salt if unsalted butter)
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons Karo Light Corn Syrup
  • 1/4 cup apple juice

Instructions

  1. Remove the casings from the fresh (raw) bratwurst sausage and discard casing.
  2. Sauté the bratwurst sausage in a bit of vegetable oil over medium-high heat.
  3. Remove the sausage once it’s browned and reserve the oil in the pan.
  4. Add in the diced apple, raisins and chopped walnuts into the same pan and sauté a couple of minutes.
  5. Add the butter and cook until apples are softened.
  6. Re-add the sausage and Panko crumbs. Stir for about 30 seconds.
  7. Add the apple juice. Adjust the juice amount, as needed, so the stuffing mixture is not too thick or not too runny
  8. Add SYD rub to taste
  9. Refrigerate for an hour before proceeding to the next step — it needs to be cooled for food safety reasons if you don’t want to cook the spiral loin immediately.
  10. Fillet/butterfly your pork loin so you end up with a flat piece. Trim off excess ridges and thicknesses. Cover with plastic wrap and pound flat a bit with the smooth side of a mallet. Trim the sides squaring them up.
  11. Trim off excess
  12. Square up the sides.
  13. Apply some SYD rub or salt and pepper.
  14. Lay the refrigerated bratwurst stuffing down leaving 1 inch borders. Roll and tie into a spiral log — making sure to roll up the non-fat cap end first, so that the fat cap is on the outside of the roll. Apply some SYD rub on the outside and wrap in Saran wrap. Store in fridge until ready to cook.
  15. Truss with Butcher’s twine
  16. Trussed and rubbed with SYD Rub
  17. Start your pit and when pit temp is stable at 250F, transfer the cold spiral loin from the fridge into your hot pit (this will help generate a smoke ring). Cook until the pork internal temperature is 145F (Note: add 1 tennis sized chunk of apple if you’re using Kingsford briquettes as I did).
  18. Remove from pit and loosely tent with foil for 15 minutes to allow it to cool and for juices to re-distribute.
  19. While pork is cooling, prepare the glaze. Sauté the butter & brown sugar in a pan. Add Karo syrup, add apple juice and simmer to reduce the mixture to the consistency of thin gravy.
  20. Pour the glaze over loin. If you like, you can set the glaze by returning the loin to the pit for 5 minutes. Slice into rings and serve. Enjoy!
  • Author: Harry Soo
  • Prep Time: 45 mins
  • Cook Time: 2 hours
  • Category: Entree
  • Cuisine: American

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