Grilled Pork Loin with Apple-Cranberry Filling on a Charcoal Grill

FOR THE FILLING: Bring all ingredients to simmer in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until apples are very soft, about 20 minutes. Push mixture through fine-mesh strainer to extract as much liquid as possible. Return liquid to saucepan and simmer over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 5 minutes; reserve glaze. Meanwhile, pulse apple mixture in food processor until uniformly coarsely chopped, about fifteen 1-second pulses. Transfer filling to bowl and refrigerate while preparing pork.

FOR THE PORK: Soak wood chunks in water for 1 hour. Meanwhile, following illustrations 1 through 3 above, cut meat to even 1/2-inch thickness. Season inside liberally with salt and spread apple filling in even layer, leaving 1/2-inch border (illustration 4). Roll tightly and tie with twine at 1-inch intervals (illustrations 5 and 6). Season exterior liberally with salt and pepper.

Light large chimney starter filled with 5 quarts of charcoal (about 85 briquettes) and allow to burn until coals are fully ignited and covered with thin layer of ash, about 20 minutes. Build modified two-level fire by arranging coals to cover one half of grill. Drain wood chunks and place on coals. Open bottom vent fully. Position cooking grate over coals, cover grill, and heat grate until hot, about 5 minutes; scrape grate clean with grill brush. Lightly dip wad of paper towels in oil; holding wad with tongs, wipe cooking grate.

Place roast, fat-side up, on grate over cool side of grill. Cover grill and position vent, halfway open, over roast to draw smoke through grill. Grill-roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of roast registers 130 to 135 degrees, 55 to 70 minutes, flipping once halfway through cooking time. Brush roast with half of reserved glaze; flip and brush with remaining glaze. (You may need to reheat glaze briefly to make spreadable.) Continue to cook until glaze is glossy and sticky, about 5 minutes longer.

Transfer roast to cutting board, loosely tent with foil, and let rest for 15 minutes. (Internal temperature should rise to about 145 degrees.) Cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices, removing twine as you cut. Serve immediately.