In my quest to make the the best pork tenderloin and pork chops, I've recently discovered brining pork. Brining is a process of soaking meat in a salt solution. The meat absorbs the moisture so that when it is cooked, it remains moist and becomes more tender. When pork tenderloin is brined properly, you can cut it with a fork.

Brining Pork Recipe

1. 1/4 cup of salt
2. 1/4 cup of granulated sugar (substitute light brown sugar)
   
3. 1 Tbsp of onion powder
4. 2 quarts of water

Dissolve the sugar and salt in the water. Submerge the pork into the water. Cover with a lid and put in the refrigerator for 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove the pork and rinse. It's very important to rinsed brined pork because it will be very salty if you don't. Pat the meat dry, season with pepper or a dry rub. Be careful with adding additional salt. I usually use a little garlic salt, pepper, and rosemary as a dry rub.

Barbecue the pork on your grill by heating the grill to a high temperature. My grill only goes to about 500 degrees. I sear all sides of the pork and then drop the temperature on the grill to about 375 degrees. I place a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the meat and cook it until a 145 degrees. The USDA recommends cooking pork to 160 degrees, but I find this to be overdone for my tastes. I prefer it a little pink. Then, I remove the pork from the grill and place it in a covered clay pot for ten to fifteen minutes. The clay pot keeps the meat hot and allows it to continue cooking as the meat rests.

When it's time to eat, I remove the pork from the clay pot and serve. If I'm serving pork tenderloin, I slice it in 1/4 round medallions. People typically serve themselves about four slices. After it's brined, grilled, rested and sliced, it will be very juicy and just a tiny bit pink.

* This brining recipe will work for pork, chicken or turkey.