Hey pit masters!
I decided to grill a Colombian dish: Lomo al trapo. But, with a small mod. I didn't use Beef Tenderloin, but instead pork loin. Both cuts work, and so do other cuts for this type of cook (full recipe and video is here).
Cuisine: Colombian
Meat: pork loin (should traditionally be beef tenderloin)
Servings: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes (plus what it takes to fire up your grill)
Cook time: 20-ish minutes, plus 20-ish minutes rest.
Executive Summary
- Wrap meat in an old kitchen towel, covered with coarse sea salt.
- Cook right in the fire until 'half-done'.
- Remove from fire, let the carryover heat finish it.
- Crack open the (now dried and hard) salt crust to your guests' awe, slice and serve.
I sprayed the towel with water first, then wrapped, then sprayed again. This keeps it from burning up in the first 5-10 minutes. The towel is there to hold the salt in place. The salt is there to protect the meat from the heat, and to lock in moisture. The salt crust is 1/2 inch thick, so that's why this cook depends so much on carryover heat.
Instructions
Start out by laying a towel flat on the table. Fill a rectangular area with coarse sea salt, roughly 0.5 inches thick. Place the meat along the short side, 2 inches in. Grab the towel and do a 'sushi' roll, keeping it tight. Fold in the ends, and keep rolling. Truss it with butcher's twine. NOTE: do not leave it like this for a few hours, or it's gonna get overly salty. Just wrap it and place on the grill.
Place meat right in the glowing embers. Turn every 5 minutes. I start by rotating 180°, then 90, then 90. That way all four 'sides' get a bit of the action. I do this with fireproof gloves. Handle it gently, you don't want to crack the salt crust before serving.
The trick is to remove the meat from the fire way before it's done. For this cut (pork loin) I'm aiming for a target temp of 62° C / 144° F. I remove the meat 17-20° before target temp, in my case 45° C / 113° F. Leave it smoking (it literally is, see video in link above) on the cutting board in order to 'wait out' the carryover.
Check temps with a Thermapen, it is thin enough to poke through the salt crust. I keep reusing the same probe hole during the cook.
When target temp is reached, crack open the case with the back of the knife handle. Scrape of salt and slice and serve. I served mine with plenty of lime.
As you can see I added zero flavors, it was just the meat, salt and heat. Incredibly juicy and tasty, and quite a nice 'show' to put on for your guests.
Kitchen towel + salt
Meat being wrapped
Meat trussed, ready for some action
Got a nice fire going, all glowing embers, very hot
Just placed the package right in the fire
Right after it's done, still smoking, now resting
And here's the full pork loin, with lime. Enjoy!
NOTE: use a cheap/old kitchen towel, 'cause it's the last you're gonna see of it
Alright folks, in the words of our very talented pit brother Troutman, Hank is over and out!!!
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