The Prep Trick For The Most Flavorful Grilled Pork Loin Kebabs

The same things that make pork loin one of the worst cuts of pork to smoke also make it one of the best to grill for kebabs. It's affordable, cooks quickly, and has a great balance of chew and tenderness. But while it has a neutral flavor and a tendency to dry out on the grill, you can easily remedy this by cubing and butterflying the meat before marinating.

A marinade doesn't just add flavor, but it also evolves texture, providing insulation from your grill's radiant heat and tenderizing the meat. However, getting the flavor to quickly penetrate the center before oversaturating the exterior is tricky. For pork loin, you can get around this by slicing each cube almost in half, allowing a thin sliver of muscle to still connect both pieces. This maximizes each piece's surface area contact with the marinade, speeding up the process and preventing any part of it from becoming mushy. This is especially important if you're the type of grillmaster to use tons of acid in your marinade, a flavorful choice that can sometimes overly tenderize proteins.

Once you're ready to make the kebabs, simply skewer your pieces through the flaps, and each should cook as if they were still one, connected whole. If you like particularly large chunks, use two skewers, one running through each side, to prevent the flaps from opening up and possibly burning as they cook.

Grilled pork loin may be one of the easiest ways to feed a crowd, but you may need to bust out a few tricks for evenly cooked kebabs. While it's easy to overcook, aiming for a USDA-recommended 145 degrees Fahrenheit keeps your center juicy, pink, and perfectly safe to eat.

Salty liquids, like brines and soy sauce, infuse muscle fibers with added moisture through osmosis. At the same time, cooking oils not only add a touch more juice but also some heat protection, giving your meat the chance to develop a caramelized exterior rather than simply burning on the grate. Using these two ingredients as the base of your marinade is perfect for pork loin, expanding your margin of error to give you a bit more flexibility on the grill. Stick with a neutral-tasting oil, like canola or sunflower, to increase your marinade's smoke point and let your other liquids and seasoning do all the flavoring.

Medium heat, around 350 degrees Fahrenheit, is the ideal temperature for grilling pork loin. It's just hot enough to develop those lovely grill marks, but not so hot that they'll appear before the center of each kebab has reached the right temperature. If you have a particularly large grill, it may help to build a two-level fire, keeping one side at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or slightly hotter, and the other side a bit cooler. This lets you shift fast-cooking kebabs from one side to the other, saving you from burning anything with little effort.