Ramblings, musings, and most everything in between

Eric’s Impromptu Kasseler

I’m not going to lie, I’m addicted to smoking, and no it’s not what you think. A combination grill/smoker was the first purchase Jenny and I made when we moved into our new town home, as we finally had a back deck and outdoor space to accommodate our mutual love of cooking and eating outdoors. Getting that smoker felt like being a five year old on Christmas all over again, as I had literally spent years coming up with and tweaking existing recipes to try when I finally got one. The ad-hoc methods of smoking food I employed with my old grill simply did not compare with with what I knew the dishes could be. Needless to say I really really love my smoker, and I use and abuse it as often as I possibly can. 

At this point dear reader you may be thinking “Gee Eric, that’s all well and good, but this is January, why would you be posting a recipe that requires cooking outside?” Well friends, I’m posting a recipe that requires cooking outdoors because it was 65 degrees and sunny today in Arlington, VA, and I damn well felt like cooking outside. You can blame this gorgeous weather on any number of things from climate change, to Canadians, Zoroastrianism, R’hllor, or whatever else have you. The point still stands that it was an excellent day to be a man cooking with fire. 

The dish I made today is a German smoked pork loin called Kasseler. I previously made two of them for an Oktoberfest party I had with my classmates, and they were entirely demolished by the end of it. Traditional German recipes call for this dish to be a whole pork loin smoked over alder wood, but being the clever person that I am (read broke) I’ve come up with a variation that preserves the traditional flavor of the dish while having ingredients that are easier to find and less expensive. This dish is a miniature odyssey of sorts, as it takes three to four days to properly execute, but I assure you that it is totally worth it.

The most important ingredient in this dish is of course the pork. As I said the recipe calls for a pork loin, but if you can’t find one at a reasonable price you can substitute a cheaper cut such as a picnic roast or the perennially cheap cut called the Boston butt (it comes from the front shoulder and does have a bone in it). Be mindful that if you choose one of these cuts that you may have to trim away excess fat, as both cuts generally possess a great deal of your arteries’ sworn enemy. However, I have tried this recipe with both cuts, and I will say that the flavor is phenomenal regardless. 

The other big ingredient that probably has some of your scratching your heads is the alder wood for smoking. This ingredient can also be substituted for more common smoking woods such as hickory, maple, or apple (my personal favorite, and what I generally employ). Remember that smoking is a fairly forgiving means of cooking, as the low and slow heat allows for a longer period to absorb the flavor. With that said, if you find you don’t have enough wood chips for instance, you can take the time to soak some more and it won’t hurt the end product. 

Recipe:

Time: 3 days for curing, and 6-8 hours of smoking.

Ingredients:

Brine:

8 cups of water

1 cup salt

1/4 granulated sugar

2-3 cloves garlic, minced 

1 tablespoon dill

1 tablespoon sage 

1 tablespoon thyme 

1 tablespoon coriander (substitute dried cilantro leaves if you wish)

1 tablespoon juniper berries (if you can find them, I generally have to forgo them)

1 tablespoon oregano (optional) 

The Rest
1 whole pork loin/roast of your choice 

Smoking chips of your choice 

Heat source of your choice (note if you smoke using wood instead of charcoal, then you can probably forgo the smoking chips depending on the wood you have).

Preparation

Combine the curing ingredients in one large stock pot and bring them to a low boil for at least a minute. Let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Place the pork in a large nonreactive container and cover it with the curing mixture. Cover and place in the refrigerator. I generally use my crock pot for this step, as it is both large and ceramic, but any glass, ceramic, or plastic container ought to work.

Allow at least three days to elapse, rotate the roast once daily if it is not completely submerged. Drain after the time has elapsed. 

After three days fire up your smoker, and make sure to soak your wood chips as per the instructions they came with (at least half an hour). They simply burn without releasing much smoke if they aren’t wet. Add chips to the fire periodically throughout the smoking process. 

Place the pork in your smoker so that it receives both indirect heat and smoke. Cook undisturbed for 6-8 hours or until the pork has an internal temperature of at least 140 degrees Fahrenheit (the temperature at which bacteria burns). Add coal and wood chips periodically to keep the heat and smoke constant. If you find the internal temperature is not high enough, then you can finish the dish off in the oven at 350 degrees. It should come out looking something like this.

I served this with German hot potato salad, sauerkraut, and a green mixed salad. My beverage was a Paulaner Bavarian lager. Everything was delicious to say the least.

Guten Appetit! 

Eric