If you are looking at that rack of pork that you bought at Costco and are wondering what to do with it then you have come to the right place! It turns out that this cut is perfect for cooking on a smoker and is incredibly easy to prepare.
We are going to cover:
- Rubs and Sauces
- Cooking Temperature and Time
Prepare the Rack of Pork for the Smoker
Getting the pork ready for the smoker is incredibly easy.
The racks of pork at Costco have already been injected with a saline pork broth, up to 10% of the total weight of the package, so the meat is going to turn out super juicy.
This means we have absolutely no need to mess around with brines or marinades as the pork is already loaded up.
All I do to prep this cut is to:
- Take it out of the plastic wrap
- Pat it dry with paper towels
- Apply a dry rub
- Wait 30 minutes
- Put it on the smoker
For the dry rub you want to hit the Sweet/Salty/Spicy notes and put some nice color on the meat. I suggest usingour Award Winning Rib Rub to season the meat (given below).
Smoked Rack of Pork Dry Rub
- 3/4c Paprika
- 1/2c White Sugar
- 1/4c Granulated Garlic
- 1/8c Brown Sugar
- 2 tbsp. Chili Powder
- 2 tbsp. Salt
- 1 tbsp. Cayenne
- 1 tbsp. Cumin
- 1 tbsp. Black Pepper
- 2 tsp. Oregano
- 2 tsp. Onion Powder
- 1 tsp. Thyme
Smoke the Pork at 225F
Turn on your pellet grill at set the temperature to 225F. I was using a Z Grills pellet grill but this recipe works fine on a Traeger, Pit Boss, etc.
I used Hickory pellets for this cook but other great choices would be Pecan, Cherry or Apple. To be honest, this cook takes less than three hours so the choice of pellets is not that important.
There is also nothing magical about the temperature of 225F. You can run hotter if you want but I wouldn’t go past 275F as you don’t want to scorch the sugar in the rub.
Get the rack of pork on the smoker with the thin fat cap down. Having the fat closer to the heat source is going to help it render better at these low temperatures.
Here is the process I followed:
- Smoke at 225F for two hours.
- The internal temperature will be about 130-135F at this point.
- Glaze the meat with barbecue sauce.
- Smoke for another 30 minutes until an internal temperature of 145F is reached.
- Remove the rack from the smoker.
I wanted to continue to build on the Sweet Heat flavor profile so I used Head Country Apple Habanero barbecue sauce. I suspect that you could also use something like Sweet Baby Ray’s Red Chili Sauce and also get great results!
Slice and Serve the Smoked Rack of Pork
Once the pork hits 145F get it off the smoker and slice it up.
There is no need to let the meat rest as it was pumped full of pork broth and was gently cooked. The juices are plentiful and do not need extra time to “redistribute” through the meat.
I sliced the boneless edge sections super thin with a granton edged slicing knife. Once I got to the bones I sliced them into thick “steaks” with the bone still attached.
The pork was super juicy and the Sweet/Salty/Spicy/Smoky flavor profile was just about perfect.
This would be great served with the traditional side dishes like mac n cheese, baked beans, Cole slaw and potato salad.
Smoked Rack of Pork
A 5 pound rack of pork is seasoned with a dry rub, slow smoked and glazed with a Sweet Heat barbecue sauce.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes mins
Cook Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins
Total Time 3 hours hrs
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Calories 325 kcal
Ingredients
- 5 lbs Rack of Pork
- 4 tbsp Award Winning Rib Rub
- 1 cup Head Country Apple Habanero BBQ Sauce
Instructions
Remove the pork from its packaging and pat dry with paper towels.
Season the pork liberally on all sides with the dry rub.
Let the meat rest for 30 minutes so the rub can work into the meat.
Set your smoker to 225F.
Put the rack on the smoker fat side down.
Smoke the pork at 225F for two hours.
Baste the pork with the barbecue sauce.
Smoke the pork for another 30 minutes until it reaches an internal temperature of 145F.
Remove the meat from the smoker, slice and serve.
Keyword Smoked Rack of Pork
